OLD HOUSE RESTORATION VIDEOS-Architectural Salvage
In this internet age, there is very little that you can’t find on YouTube so I have put together a list of old house restoration videos, arranged by skill/trade/interest for you to view. Whether you plan to do a project yourself, or hire a professional tradesperson,...
WHAT THE HECK IS A BUNGALOW ANYWAY?
I see it all the time on Facebook groups. Someone asks what the architectural style of their home is and someone comments, "It's a bungalow." And even if the statement is correct, the answer is wrong. That's because the term bungalow does not reference an...
RICHARD P. FEYNMAN, FLOWERS & HISTORIC BUNGALOWS
"I have a friend who's an artist & has sometimes taken a view which I don't agree with very well. He'll hold up a flower and say 'look how beautiful it is,' & I'll agree. Then he says, 'I as an artist can see how beautiful this is but you as a scientist take...
BUNGALOW ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE RESOURCES
I put a call out to my Facebook followers for their favorite bungalow architectural salvage resources. I have long been a fan of the idea of salvage, as well the the practicalities of the practice. In my previous article, I write about the cultural, economic &...
BUNGALOW ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE
If you should be fortunate enough to have a bungalow, architectural salvage can be your BFF. Merriam Webster defines salvage as "property saved from destruction in a calamity (such as a wreck or fire)." Cambridge adds, "to try to make a bad situation better." Not...
THE TUDOR/ CRAFTSMAN HOUSE CONNECTION
There are a lot of styles with crossover elements that can make them confusing to classify (and sometimes make architectural historians argue). Craftsman (1905-1930) and Tudor Revival (1890-1940) are two house styles that were popular around the same time period in...
BEFORE YOU HIRE AN OLD HOUSE CONTRACTOR
Once upon a time, I was standing in line at a Japanese take-out (great place!) & stepped back when I noticed the grungy guy in front of me. He was wearing a t-shirt that had seen 1,000 better days. It was a bit hiked up in the back, & I could almost see his...
THE STORY OF THE CHICAGO BUNGALOW
The story of the Chicago bungalow isn't about the houses, it’s about the humanity. I call it, “Grits & girdles history.” Because our houses tell the stories of the lives of the people who built them & how they lived, worked & formed their communities- the...
OLD HOUSE CLASSES
By attending old house classes, a conscientious steward can learn the basics of old house repair & maintenance. Owning an old house is not for sissies, nor for the uninformed. When I owned The Hare House, my 1910 Craftsman in Eagle Rock, I made some mistakes that...
BUNGALOW CHARACTERISTICS, Part 1
Let's break down some bungalow characteristics to better understand what makes a bungalow, a bungalow. Character defining features, as further explained in the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Historic Preservation Projects is a term that means the way the...