Friday Fantasy (Labor Edition)

Happy Friday readers.

Today’s edition of Friday Fantasies is dedicated to the celebration of laborers since Labor Day is just a few short days away. I though I’d make today’s post about the Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford, Massachusetts. I know slavery isn’t often though of as a northern thing ( thus why the Royall slave quarters are thought of as the only ones in the Northern U.S.) and that slavery wasn’t really what they had in mind when they started Labor Day, so forgive the stretch.  Don’t get me wrong, slavery is a social injustice that left a deep wound in the heart of American history, and I believe that the best way to avoid reliving the past is to learn about it, good or bad.  Accordingly, the Royall house and Slave quarters really are quite a gem, as they tell the story of a frequently forgotten chapter in the story of slavery.

The site was first owned by Colonial Governor John Winthrop, who built a house here in 1637. That home was replaced with a 2-1/2 story brick house, which remains today as part of the main block of the house.  Isaac Royall, a weathy merchant from Antigua (heavily involved in the rum and slave trades) purchased the house in 1732.  Renovation of the original home was started in 1732 and lasted for roughly 5 years, during which time Royall built the slave quarters and brought 27 African slaves from Antigua. Ten Hills Farm, as the house and property came to be known, soon passed to Issac Royall, Jr.,  who continued remodeling the house into the impressive Georgian mansion we see now. The Royalls, a Loyalist family, eventually fled the house for the safety of England during the American Revolution.  General John Stark set-up his headquarters in the vacant house shortly before the evacuation of Boston.  General Washington is rumored to have paid a visit to the home, where he may have interrogated British soliders taken prisoner who were held on the property. The house passed through many hands following the Revolution, but that’s not what makes it unique. It is unique, of course, for the only intact slave quarters still in existence in New England, as well as its elegantly refined Georgian details. Since this isn’t a blog about social injustice and the past sins (however numerous they are) of our American forebears, I won’t go into great detail about slavery in the north, but I will leave you with a great link to a blog called US Slave that talks in detail about slavery and how it ties to the Issac Royal House.  Please check it out because it’s very interesting!

Below is a picture of the Royall House from C.S. Manegold’s site. C.S. Manegold wrote a book about the Ten Hills Farm and  forgotten slavery in the North.  As you can see, the facade of the main house is wood made to look like stone with very classical details.  The level of detail and craftsmanship that went into this facade were a testament to the Royall family’s status in society.  The facade pictured below is actually the rear, or garden, facade. The buildings to the right are the “out kitchen” or slave quarters.

The front facade, which is less ornateyet still classically detail, is pictured below.  Note the spandrels between the windows and the ranking of the windows, typical in the Georgian and Federal periods. This picture came from Artwanted.com, and I believe the prints are available for sale if you search for Warren Ballard.

Well that’s all for today.  I’d highly recommend reading up on slavery in the North and the role that the Royall House plays in making sure it isn’t forgotten!

-Etta

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Goodnight Irene

Hello readers,

Tropical Storm Irene is over and Ash and I came out of it relatively well, with just a few downed branches.  Everyone we know is safe and sound, and that is the important part (though my prayers go out to the families that did lose loved ones).

Today’s post will be very quick, as things are in disaster recovery mode here at Old Stuff, Inc., which coincides with tax credit submissions this time around, so things are hectic here to say the least!  I wanted to take a moment to put the spotlight on Vermont.  Vermont suffered worse than any other New England state due to extreme flooding from the storm, and there are some towns that are still underwater, or cut off from everything because of damaged roads and bridges!

They also lost one historic covered bridge (the Bartonsville bridge was swept away by the Williams River) and the Quechee bridge  is barely hanging, on as you can see below:

I’d like to give a quick shout out to blogger (Kaitlin) at Preservation in Pink and many of my Preservation School classmates up there who are based out of Vermont. I was glad to hear that everyone was safe, but I know they have a lot of dehumidifying to do and river sludge to clean up.  Good luck with the long recovery process, you guys! You’re in my thoughts.  I’d also like to ask any of my readers out there to give a hand to the good people of Vermont if they are able.  I know that any kind of support will be well appreciated.

Oh and here is a link to an article on the damage sustained by Vermont’s covered bridges in the Burlington Free Press (where the picture above came from).

Stay dry and be safe, Vermonters and everyone else in states that saw damage from Irene!  If you were lucky to come out unscathed, like Ash and I, please try to help out in any way that you can!

-Etta

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Friday Fantasty (Hurricane Edition)

Happy Friday readers!

Since Hurricane Irene is currently bearing down on my doorstep, I’ve decided to bring you a hurricane edition of Friday Fantasies.  As we don’t get hurricanes a lot where I am, I’ve decided to take you to hurricane central: Florida, and that can really only mean one thing, folks… Art Deco! Yes, that glorious style that was ubiquitous during the 1920s and 30s that brings to mind shiny platinum, zig-zags and aero-planes.  It’s a style that is know for its creative melding of futurist, almost cubist, lines with sumptuous decorative motifs often drawing inspiration from Egyptian and Aztec roots, such as the great photo below from peacfulresources.com.  Here, acanthus leaves are woven into the sleek lines of the door surround along with geometrical designs, beneath a wide cornice, creating the impression of a grand entrance to an Egyptian temple, for a signature Art Deco look.

Now, I know I’ve wandered a little bit and haven’t introduced today’s Fantasy yet, but that’s because I want you to have a little background on one of my favorite styles before I do!  For any of my Preservation friends out there, you may be a little surprised to hear me admit that anything built after the turn of the 18th century is my favorite (as I am  well known for my distaste for Frank Lloyd Wright and other architects that I consider to have designed “new” architecture.  Yes, I realize that it makes me a bad Preservationist, but everyone is a hypocrite in one way or another…) but Art Deco is, in my opinion, the last great style, and  everything starts to go downhill after that, in my opinion. Which is not so say that there were no good buildings built after the 1930s, it’s just that I think they are fewer and farther between.  But anyway, on with the mini history lesson!  We begin post-WWI: Europe, finding itself broken and lacking a lot of architectural stock, as a result of the war that had just ravaged much of the continent, decided it is time to rebuild.  Since they have been known for their design prowess since the early days of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the French really take the helm.

“Ah, but ‘ow shall we rebuild, mon petite chou?” They ask as they smoke their cigarettes and absently munch on their baguettes (I imagine, because in my head they are sitting in a cafe under the still-newish Eiffel Tower, sipping wine and speaking in an out-ra-geous French ack’sent). The answer? They design a combination of old and new. Neoclassical and Egyptian motifs mingled with sleek lines and bold geometry, in a very Picasso meets Pythagoras way. The biggest boost for Art Deco occurred in 1925, with the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Art , where Art Deco reached its apex and was reflected in everything from jewelry and graphic art to architecture, as it reflected a change from the flowing, organic lines of Art Nouveau to the sleek lines of the new futurist and cubist styles that were taking hold. All of this culminated to a style that we Americans recognize most readily in the Chrysler Building. Surprisingly, Art Deco also took hold in a rather surprising place: Florida.  This trend brought about the development of blocks of Art Deco buildings in places such as Miami and South Beach, where they still exist to this very day. That brings us finally to today’s Friday Fantasy: The Carlyle Hotel in Miami. Now, to some, a hotel might not seem like much of a Fantasy, but I’m given to believe (from my extensive television viewing and book reading) that some people actually live in hotels (people like Harvey from USA’s new series, “Suits”, and precocious little Eloise from her book adventures).  That being said, why not fantasize about living in a great hotel?

The Image Below is an historic postcard of the Carlyle from the Drexel Grapevine:

You may recognize the Carlyle as titular nightclub from the movie, “The Bird Cage” . A number of other movies have also been shot at the Carlyle, and for a list of those movies, you can check out this website dedicated to the Carlyle.

Built in 1939 (admittedly pushing toward the end of the Art Deco era), it took its place among a block of Deco buildings known as Ocean Drive (they have fabulous neon at night).  It’s not anywhere near as isolated as seen above. Another interesting design point on the Carlyle: the condos inside look just as sleek and modern as the outside. Explore the website I linked above for more info.

Here is a more recent photo of the Carlyle from the hotel’s Website. If I am ever in Miami this is where I’d like to Stay:

Well that’s all for today, ladies and gents! Stay Dry!

-Etta

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Whole Lotta Shakin’ going on.

Good afternoon readers. I had intended to post yesterday, but then a funny thing happened. Our building starting shaking!  I’m sure that any West Coast readers I may have won’t find this to be a big deal at all, but to someone who is used to the earth NOT moving under her feet, it took me a moment and much Google-ing to realize I had just experienced an earthquake, and not a spell of the vapors.

The Earthquake of course made me think about this little gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oxVayUe56U

Still, it also made me think about historic buildings (especially Monticello and Montpelier, which are quite close to the epicenter, not to mention buildings in D.C.) that might be damaged in the wake of natural disasters.  Since I’ve done a post on natural disasters before, I’ll just link to it here, but I do want to point out that Montpelier suffered no lasting damage and leave you with this link. I’m still looking for Monticello articles, but I haven’t found any yet. I assume little damage was suffered there either.

Also, here is a link to an article in the Washington times that details the damage to the National Cathedral.

Oh, and a friendly little reminder that Preservation Brief 41 details seismic retrofitting!

Keep your feet on solid ground.

-Etta

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Friday Fantasy (Gothic Revival Edition)

Happy Friday all.

Today’s fantasy takes us to my hometown of Kennebunkport, Maine (well, technically it’s in Kennebunk, but you get the picture) to see the Wedding Cake House. The Wedding Cake House is one of the most photographed homes in the country, and on a recent visit home I played tourist and took some photos to share with you all.

The Wedding Cake House is a brick Federal that was originally built in the 1820s, but got it’s “frosting”  in the 1850s. Local legend has it that Captain Borne, the man who built the house, was a ship captain who left his beautiful new bride to head out to sea “before she could eat her wedding cake”.  So, when he came back, Captain Borne elaborately decorated the house in the “Carpenter Gothic” style to make it up to his wife.  The truth behind the legend is that the house suffered a fire, losing its carriage house, and that during the renovation the well-traveled sea captain fell in love with Gothic Cathedrals and decided to use his woodworking abilities to create his own cathedral resulting in this:

Well I hope you enjoyed a taste of where I grew-up. Though the Wedding Cake House isn’t open for tours, you can pull over to the side of Summer Street and take a look. All of the photos in the post belong to me, but let me know if you’d like to use them .

Have a great weekend!

-Etta

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Friday Fantasty (well, for Casper maybe…)

Happy Friday everyone.

Today’s fantasy: The Myrtles is said to be one of America’s most haunted homes.  Since it is also a Bed and Breakfast, you can experience the fright for yourself if you happen to be in St. Francisville, Louisiana, if you can make it through the night, which it seems some guests cannot. The Myrtles, seen below (photo from the This Old House website), was built around 1796 for General David “Whiskey Dave” Bradford.

Architecturally the home is best known for its lace grill work and double dormers, but in the media world and pop culture, the Myrtles is best known for its spirits. Most notably the spirit of a slave named Chloe, who supposedly (but not in reality) poisoned her master’s wife and children by baking oleander leaves (which are highly toxic) into a cake. Still even though Chloe is innocent of the crimes she is accused of, there are plenty other specters to choose from since 10 alleged murders took place and The Myrtles.

Pictured below is the Myrtles at night. (Pictures from nola.com)

Not sure you have what it takes to make it through a night at The Myrtles? Don’t worry! They offer daytime tours, if you’d rather limit your terror to a shorter stint in the day-time hours. Tours are offered everyday from 9 to 5, and if you would like a little more intrigue, they offer mystery tours on Friday and Saturday evenings (but reservations are highly suggested).

Still, one thing is certain: if you love a good ghost tour (I know I do!) or you just can’t get enough antebellum architecture, The Myrtles is the place for you.

That’s all for today, have a lovely weekend.

-Etta

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Friday Fantasies (Harry Potter Edition)

Hello.

Some of you may not know this, but I am a Harry Potter superfan! I have read all of the books at least 10 times each, I’ve seen all of the movies and I am undefeated in Harry Potter Scene-It amongst my friends. So, it seems only fitting that, while I both celebrate the final Harry Potter movie and mourn the loss of new Harry Potter things to look forward to (until Ms. Rowling releases the encyclopedia), I should theme today’s Friday Fantasy according to another of my loves, besides Ash, Preservation and Rainbow Brite.

Obviously there isn’t actually a castle with moving staircases and rooms of requirement, but the Hogwarts we see in the movie (pictured below they way a 1st year would see it) that we all know and love was still based on a real castle. Alnwick Castle to be exact (please note there are a few other buildings used in the filming but I am narrowing it down to one for Friday Fantasy purposes) North West view of Alnwick pictured second below.

Alnwick Castle was first constructed in 1096 to guard against Scottish invasion. Through the years it has been expanded multiple times.  Today, it is the second largest inhabited castle in England,  and the Percy family (heirs to the title of Duke of Northumberland) have lived there since the 1300’s.

There are many great things about Alnwick castle other than its Harry Potter connection.  One of those things, in my opinion, is the gardens at Alnwick, and more importantly, their Tree House! It’s the largest in the world.

Alnwick has a good website that you can learn about the gardens and the history of this great castle, but if you can’t get to England you can always visit Hogwarts and enjoy a Butterbeer in Hogsmead in the US by visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando seen below.

Whichever one you get to, enjoy the Magic!

-Etta

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Up, Up and away… In Real Life

Morning everyone (well, morning for me anyway).

A while back, I made a list of movies and books that were Preservation-themed and I realized recently that I left one off. How in the world I could over-look this gem? I have NO clue, but I did, and that movie is the Pixar Gem: UP. UP is the story of a grouchy old man named Carl who is going to lose his house to development pressure… or maybe just find himself waking up in the linens aisle of a new box store.  Carl loves his house too much for that, so he attaches millions of balloons to his house and floats away to paradise! Here is a movie still of Carl’s house before it takes flight.

 

Well, it seems that IRL (In Real Life, for those not up on the internet-speak) some people don’t think that Carl’s idea is that far-fetched, or at least they think it makes for great visual commentary on their Preservation quest. Who knows?  Maybe balloons will someday be as prevalent as “This Place Matters” signs in the Preservation community. So, because I’ve seen a few houses with balloons over them on the internet lately, I’ve decided to bring you some real life “UP” house as seen around the internet:

Here is a house owned by a lawyer in Portland, Oregon, whose house is now surrounded by college dorms and transportation projects. You can find an article on his Preservation Battle here.

The next Real Life UP house is not actually a Preservation story, but it comes to us from National Geographic. This guy simply wondered, “How hard can it be?” and in an episode of a show entitled exactly that, they attach 300 balloons to a 16×16 house (significatly smaller than Carl’s Queen Anne, by the looks)  and this is what they got:

And last, but cetainly not least, we go to the UP house in Utah,to a  home built by a  Disney Movie buff like myself. Again, this house isn’t the center of a Preservation story, but I bet people will fight to save this house one day.

Blair Bangerter and his brothers build custom homes and while watching UP, he realized he could build a house like that. Once they had the green light from Disney, that’s exactly what they did. Read about it here. Oh, and another cool thing about the UP house in Utah? It also has a replica of Andy’s bedroom from Toy Story! If only I lived in Utah.

I hope these great places have lifted your spirits for the week ahead. Have a great day!

-Etta

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TARDIS: Time And Relative Dimension In Space

Hello All. Hope the weather where you are is as good as the weather has been here (well with the exception of today maybe). Today’s Post is about the overlapping of two of my favorite things in the world: Doctor Who and Historic Preservation. For those who might not know (but after this is over you’ll probably want to run out and watch it all on Netflix), Doctor Who is a British television show about an alien (The Doctor) who travels through time and space in a time machine that looks like a 1950’s/60’s Police Call Box called the TARDIS (which stand for Time And Relative Dimension In Space). The Doctor (almost) always has a human companion (most often a spunky girl/woman) who accompanies him on his travels. Now I know that that little description doesn’t really convey the awesomeness that IS Doctor Who, but really it’s just too difficult to explain the brilliance that is this show that’s been running since 1963 (with a break from 1989 to 2005), so you’ll just have to take my word for it and check it out!

Now, you might be asking yourself what in the world does a British television show have to do with HP? Well I’ll tell you, but first a bit of context. You see, the TARDIS used to be able to camouflage itself to blend in with its surroundings.  Basically, it didn’t always look like a blue police box, but somewhere along the line, likely during a visit to 1960s Britain, its chameleon circuit stuck (the thing that allowed it to blend in), and now it permanently looks like a police box. Police boxes were real things in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s, because “bobbies” didn’t have personal radios on them, so they could use the police boxes to call in to the station, or pop in out of the rain to get dry, or for any other number of reasons. With the advent of personal radios for police officers, Police Boxes became a thing of the past, but there are still a few left and they have become synonymous with the TARDIS and Doctor Who.  And now for the Preservation link!  The most famous “TARDIS” that’s still standing is located in Somerton, Newport, England and it looked like this:

Photo by: Chuck Foster

As you can see it was in VERY rough shape in 2009, suffering from rot that caused almost total structural failure and what the Brits call Concrete Cancer. But because of the love Brits have not only for Doctor Who, but also for Preservation, the Somerton TARDIS received several Preservation grants and was restored in 2010.  (Believe it or not this is actually a listed structure Grade II on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest… their list is a bit different from our National Register, but that’s a post for a different time) Check out the Final Results below:

Photo By: Dave Edwards.

  Beautious, huh?

After all the horror stories we Preservationists find in pop-culture perpetrating myths about how ridiculous we seem to be (but aren’t really) it’s nice to occasionally see the media HELPING our cause.

For more in-depth articles on the story of the Somerton TARDIS, check out this site for the efforts to save it, and this site here for the story of the grant that saved the TARDIS.

Hope you all enjoyed this TARDIS’ story as much as I did.

-Etta

Oh and a BIG thanks to Chuck Foster and his friend Dave Edwards for their Great TARDIS photos and my apologies for neglecting to mention them at first posting.

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Friday Fantasies skip across the pond

Happy Friday all!

Today’s Fantasy brings us across the pond to Derbyshire to see Chatsworth. If you have any Landscape Architecture training you’ll be very familiar with Chatsworth because of its extensive and picturesque grounds. Just look at all this beauty.

Still if landscape architecture isn’t your thing you might recognize this as the home of Mr. Darcy in the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice staring Keira Knightley (though Mr. Darcy called his magnificent estate Pemberly).

Chatsworth is the home to and seat of the Duke of Devonshire and the Cavendish family. Chatsworth has ties to all the way back to Bess of Hardwick in 1549 when good old Bess had a Tudor Mansion there, but the current iteration of Chatsworth dates from 1687-1707, with many changes and additions along they way.

For more information you can check out Chatsworth’s website, but I’d also recommend this wikipedia entry for all the meaty information (usual wiki-caveats apply, of course). But most of all, I’d recommend you book your plane tickets now and experience this grandeur in person, as even the Newport Mansions don’t quite measure up to some of the UK’s great estates (but they’re pretty darn spiffy, and you should definitely visit Newport!).

Have a great weekend!

-Etta

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