Inside a 1961 Ranch House With Few Alterations
While not exactly frozen in time, this sixty-year-old house in suburban Chicago has survived largely intact due to the fact that it has been continuously occupied by the original and current owners. Modifications are largely confined to furnishings and decor; the...
Trees Arrive at the Keys House!
After many delays over the course of many months (they were supposed to be planted last fall), the trees we selected to shade the Keys House have finally arrived! Trees have been a part of the landscape of this house since it was new; the various species -- and their...
Cinderella Homes: Mid-Century Magic in Suburbia
The brainchild of designer/developer Jean Vandruff, these fairy-tale-inspired ranch houses were an instant hit in Southern California when first introduced by him and his brother Shannon in 1955. Sometimes referred to as "storybook ranches", these houses differed from...
New Discoveries, Old Wallpapers Revealed…
As you last remember, the kitchen of the Keys House was being relieved of decades of accumulated indignities (including carpeting, a drop ceiling and wall paneling). Similar work has been done in the bathroom and the north and south parlors -- allowing for new...
Organic Architecture: Inside Bruce Goff’s Collins House
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, is fortunate to have eight houses by Bruce Goff in its vicinity; the Collins house is among them. Commissioned by Russell Collins and built in 1959, the house survives today in remarkably near-original condition. Its recent sale allowed me to...
Craftsman Bungalow Nirvana: The Captivating Designs of Jud Yoho
If the old saying "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" is true, then Jud Yoho should have been mighty flattered! Anyone who has spent any time poking around search engines looking for information on Craftsman bungalows has likely run across his name. Sadly,...
A Customized Version of Radford’s Design No. 1509
Among the first offerings by the Radford Architectural Company, Design No. 509 appeared in the company's debut publication, "The Radford American homes : 100 house plans", in 1903. Later marketed as Design No. 1509, the design was offered for many years and was quite...
Keys House Update
Work continues to progress at the Keys House project, even if somewhat sporadically. Finishes are being peeled back in some rooms, shedding more light on their original appearances. On the exterior, the north and south walls have been relieved of vinyl and are being...
Mausoleums: Architecture for the Dead
Happy Halloween, everyone! Today, in observation of just about everyone's favorite holiday, we'll take a look at a very special architectural form. People have long interred the dead above ground, and for a variety of reasons. Some locations with high water tables are...
Random Observations – Part 15
There has not been much downtime recently, and today I found myself with a whole two hours to kill! Jim had his second cataract surgery earlier today (and, yes, it went well... just like the first one). He was a little woozy coming out of it, but is fine and resting...
You Just Never Know…
You just never know what horrors are lurking beneath seemingly innocuous surfaces in a house (old or new) until you begin to investigate. The last few weeks have revealed numerous issues which will need to be resolved, but have also revealed many happy discoveries!...
Original Siding Color Revealed and Other Fun Finds!
This weekend was one of discovery. A peek beneath the vinyl siding -- and some selective sanding -- brought to light the various layers of exterior siding paint choices... including the heretofore elusive original color. The most dramatic finds were made by Jim. He...
Work Resumes on the Keys House
Little has happened at the Keys house in recent months, but that is beginning to change. We're finally able to devote some more time to the project and will continue pecking away it it in small increments. We've also found some things for the house which are of...
Iowa’s Concrete Houses of the 1930’s
In an effort to popularize and promote the use of concrete in residential construction, a now-obscure booklet was published by the Portland Cement Association's Des Moines, Iowa, chapter sometime around 1940. Simply titled Iowa Concrete Houses, this little gem of a...
A Retro Look at the Motel… Our Home Away from Home!
Spring has officially sprung here, and I've been itching to get out and about. Usually by this time of year I've already posted about an annual auction we attend. This year, however, (as you can surely guess) it was held online. I didn't even bother with it. More than...
Old House Makeovers from Yesteryear
While many of us tend to idealize the past (rightly, in many ways), the past certainly had its share of imperfections. People have been altering and remodeling old houses ever since houses were first built. Today we'll go back in time 93 years and take a look at home...
R. W. Shoppell’s Shingle Style Design No. 580
Appearing in the 1886 edition of Shoppell's Modern Houses, Design No. 580 is a massive house with a central stair hall and wide, asymmetrical, façade. While many of the plans offered by Robert W. Shoppell's Co-Operative Building Plan Association of New York were...
A 1970’s Shed Style House… Updated!
“Updated?!” Those who frequent this blog will know that the word is typically only used here in a disparaging sense. Last summer, however, I was contacted by someone who had read my post about the Shed style. He and his wife happened to own a Shed style...
Clues in the Attic
On a whim, I ventured into the unfinished part of the attic last week. A previous jaunt had revealed some antique drapery rods and curtain hardware. What else may be hiding between the dusty joists? A chimney, ever so slightly stepped to the left, marks the transition...
Window Sash Repaired and Painted
It's been over a month since I last posted! Partly because we've been really busy at our ever-expanding day job (the interior of the house may be finished, but now there are outbuildings and site work issues to tackle) and partly because not much has happened at the...
Porch Paint Colors… and a Revision to the Bay Window Color Distribution!
In the course of preparing sketches of the proposed color schemes for the front porch, I was delighted to run across some notes I had previously made about the bay window. Somehow, when doing the color sketches of the bay window, I had completely forgotten that the...
1960’s Time Capsule Interior Falls Victim to Banal Makeover
Another one bites the dust. For the second time! A Second Empire "twin" house in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood, built around 1880, witnessed an exhaustive makeover in the late 1960's in a semi-successful effort to transform the narrow townhouse into a...
A Petite Second Empire with a Big Attitude
Likely built in the 1870's, this surprisingly small Second Empire style house definitely thinks big as it displays details more typical of a house five times its size. Built of native stone in the Kansas vernacular, the house has languished for years, appearing to...
“Design” on Wheels: Inside a Campy Camper!
Sometimes I'm drawn to the kitschy and camp as well as the practical and refined. I'm generally not a fan of vehicles of any sort, but earlier this fall friends showed me the interior of their recent acquisition... a 1978 Delta Motorhome. I was impressed! Today, I'm...
New Finds… and a Sordid Past!
Tantalizing bits of information about the house continue to surface. In addition to a few recent finds (shown below) we've learned that the house was reputed to be the scene of numerous poker parties at some point during the years of prohibition (from 1881 to 1948 --...
Original Bay Window Paint Colors!
Today I finished priming the bay window. It's all white and kind of boring, but it looks better than it did before and the wood will be protected during the winter months. I still have some (a lot of) caulking to do, so don't look too carefully! The scraping,...
The Stereotyping of Old Houses as “Haunted”: A Look Back at the Indoctrination!
Happy Halloween, everyone! Have you ever wondered why it is that popular opinion has long viewed old houses as creepy, scary and almost certainly "haunted"? Many will be quick to blame television -- or Hollywood in general -- but movies are only partly to blame. The...
A Quick Update…
It's been seemingly forever since I last posted; it has been a busy time. Recently I took time off to visit the Decatur County Last Indian Raid Museum, which serves as a repository for local history, in the hopes of finding more information about the house and its...
Inspired Design: A Vision Takes Form
Recently I attended a birthday party for a retired friend -- the location of which was his outdoor entertaining area. A multi-year construction project, the site is now nearing completion. Built entirely from scrap or otherwise salvaged items, the structures there...
The Porch Supports Return!
Today the house regained more of its dignity! Jim has been rehabilitating two of the beautiful -- but very decrepit -- porch supports off-site, and they have now recovered fully. It was time to bring them back! As you last remember, the house was looking quite sad...
The Bay Window Progresses and the Arched Window Surprises…
Here's a look at what the process of nurturing the bay window looks like as it continues... The cornice of the bay had been wrapped in aluminum. I've begun taking sections of it down. The wood cornice which had been hidden by the aluminum is visible at left. The piece...
Extensive Porch Decay Revealed and Tackled!
We knew that the vinyl siding was hiding lots of problems, but didn't know just how bad the damage would be. Yesterday we found out. While not attractive, the damage is absolutely repairable. It's unfortunate, but not a death sentence for the porch. Jim has been hard...
A Craftsman Bungalow Denuded: A Look at the Lath Beneath the Stucco
A Craftsman bungalow -- built with a stucco exterior -- is in the process of being clad in vinyl siding. In a presumed effort to facilitate the installation, all of the original stucco is being removed. Amazingly, the stucco had never been painted and featured a...
More Clues, More Details
I got an unexpected break yesterday when my chiropractor, after adjusting my back, forbade me from doing any ladder work right away. So, instead of working on the bay window, I explored the house a little bit more. The flash on my camera is working again (finally!)...
Porch and Bay Window Restoration Begin
With the days getting shorter and the exterior trim on the house getting more weathered, we decided to tackle the most vulnerable features of the exterior before the weather changes. Jim is working primarily on the porch and I'm working primarily on the bay window. In...
Anomalous Details and a New Project…
The goal of finding a house to restore which was both architecturally and historically interesting has been simmering in the background for some time now. Life has a way of distracting us from our goals (most recently getting involved with the renovation of someone...
Modernist House Muted with Color
One of the most popular -- and easiest -- ways to "re-style" a house is through the use of paint. Countless Victorian-era houses, for example (formerly sporting multi-hued exteriors), were painted white beginning in the 1920's in an effort to make them appear more...
The Odd Blue Doors Explained…
Much like porch alterations, replacement doors have the ability to change the way a house looks or is perceived. Unfortunately, most people just buy what they like and give little thought to maintaining the architectural integrity of the exterior when purchasing a new...
Don’t Try This at Home: History Trashed, and at Great Expense
Recently while perusing area real estate listings I ran across an all-too-common offering -- the unfinished renovation of a house which had retained a good deal of originality prior to being gutted to the studs. At least it affords us the opportunity to take a...
A Visit to the Cottonwood Ranch
Built in three stages beginning in 1885, the house at Cottonwood Ranch in Studley, Kansas, reflects not only the place and time in which it was built, but incorporates some traditions of builder John Fenton Pratt's native Yorkshire, England, as well. The center...
A 1970’s BH&G Plan Book House
Print media, while not as influential as it was in decades past, remains a popular platform for the sale of house plans. When readers of Better Homes and Gardens magazine selected House Plan No. 3709-A as their favorite of those presented by the magazine in 1972, the...
A Gothic Revival with a Jerkinhead Roof!
Now that's something you don't see every day... especially on the High Plains of northwestern Kansas! Both the architectural style and the roof type are atypical of the region. The Jerkinhead roof, a compromise between a gabled roof and a hipped roof, is used with...
The War On Old Buildings – Part 2
The ongoing war against the remnants of our historic built environment continues unabated. Our previous examination of this topic (Part 1) dealt with elementary school textbooks which propagandized children and instilled a bias against historic buildings in the...
“Reading” an Old House
Most old houses have had alterations over the years -- very few come down through time just as they were built. Unless a house was altered with an extreme attention to maintaining details, it is usually possible to get a fairly good idea as to what the house looked...
Pop Quiz: What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Each house or building in the following six photos has at least one thing wrong with it -- from the viewpoint of architectural or physical integrity, that is! Some are quite obvious while others are a bit more subtle; some will have multiple offenses while others may...
Door Hardware, Part Two: 1850 to 1900
In Part One we looked at some types of door hardware which were common prior to the mid-nineteenth century -- latches and rim locks made of iron. While mortise locks were in use, they were not common. Surface-mounted rim locks remained popular in the latter half of...
A Sears Maytown – Largely Intact!
After a century of use, many old houses have been updated, remodeled or otherwise altered to the extent that they are scarcely recognizable. Others, like this Sears Maytown in Struthers, Ohio, are able to transcend time with only slight changes. Owner Dawn Hartzell...
Empty for Sixty Years: Inside a Modest 1880’s Farmhouse
When a vernacular farmhouse on the High Plains of western Kansas was abandoned in favor of a sleek new ranch-style house in the mid 1950's, it was emptied and forgotten about. It had received minimal (if any) maintenance in the following sixty-odd years and is today...
Auction Action – Part 3
This past weekend I attended an annual consignment auction hosted by the Lions Clubs. As usual, there were a few things of architectural or design interest. I didn't buy anything this year because the few things I wanted to bid on were not going to be offered until...
Prim 1880 Second Empire House Harbors 1960’s Time Capsule Interior
The exterior of this c. 1880 twin house in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood does little to suggest the surprisingly intact mid-century makeover found inside. Late 1960's aesthetic preferences popular with the masses abound: Fake masonry, fake paneling, fake...
The Architectural Observer rarely looks at “important” buildings; the focus is upon overlooked ones. Some will be antique survivors which have come through time surprisingly intact. Many will be old buildings which have been altered without regard to their stylistic integrity while others will be new construction which never had any stylistic integrity to begin with.
The decline of architectural integrity is just one more facet of the prolific and ongoing devolution of our culture. The Architectural Observer calls it like it is! Are there more important and pressing issues facing us now? Yes, but everyone needs a distraction from those other issues once in a while. And besides, this is relevant and much more fun!
There are four kinds of distractions here:
OBSERVATIONS highlights the lowlights of our built environment – and observes occasional architectural details which might otherwise be overlooked.
PLAN BOOK AND KIT HOUSES examines structures built from mail order plans or actual kits.
PROJECTS follows the progress on a variety of design-related endeavors.
DRAG QUEEN ARCHITECTURE showcases buildings built in one style but which are trying to pass themselves off as a different style.
Let’s face it; we built better buildings in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries than we do now. Let’s take a cue from the past and start to remember how buildings are supposed to look and function. Thanks for joining me – please use the contact form for polite inquiry or to gripe at me.
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