for sale

  • 4th Annual Arts & Crafts Chicago show & sale

    Just got this press release in my inbox. If any of you go, please send me photographs! And remember, the Frank Lloyd Wright home & studio is in River Forest, too, so you could easily make a nice weekend out of this:

    The 4th Annual Arts and Crafts Chicago Show and Sale is coming back to
    Concordia University in River Forest on Saturday, May 30th and Sunday,
    May 31st 2009. Focusing on mission furniture and accessories of the
    American Arts and Crafts Movement (approximately 1890-1920), this show
    will truly be one you won’t want to miss. You’ll find 20th Century
    Decorative Arts including furniture, metalwork, pottery, textiles, art
    and lighting; everything from Stickley, Limbert, Roycroft, Rookwood and
    much more. Over 50 of the nations leading dealers will be on hand to
    answer questions and advise on how to decorate your home. This
    specialized event has proven to be one of the premiere antique and
    contemporary shows in the Midwest.

    Dealers attending this year’s show are coming from all across the
    country. We have dealers from Massachusetts, New York, California,
    Texas as well as the best dealers from the Midwest. JMW and Crones
    Collectibles from Massachusetts will be featuring high-end pottery from
    the Northeast such as Grueby, Saturday Evening Girls and Marblehead, as
    well as furniture and accessories. Jack Papadinis Antiques,
    Connecticut, will be showcasing some of the premiere lighting in the
    country and David Surgan from New York will offer the best Heintz
    Collection for sale in the country. Paramour Fine Arts, which
    specializes in arts and crafts era woodblocks and art, will be on hand
    showcasing some fabulous artwork from the era. Local dealers such as
    John Toomey Gallery will be exhibiting as well, highlighting Midwest
    artists such as Frank Lloyd Wright, TECO and Jarvie.

    Not only is this an antique show, but the weekend will showcase the
    highest quality contemporary craftsfirms as well. Ephraim Faience
    Pottery, Door Pottery, Arts and Crafts Hardware and Dard Hunter Studios
    will be in attendance, just to name a few.

    With the success of the show over the last three years and with the
    rich tradition of bungalows, as well as the Prairie School heritage of
    Frank Lloyd Wright, Chicago has proven to be a perfect fit for this
    specialized show.

    Homeowners interested in educating themselves as to the appropriate
    furnishings for their turn of the century bungalows and craftsman style
    homes shouldn’t miss the 4th Annual Arts and Crafts Chicago Show and
    Sale, Saturday May 30th, 2009, from 10 am – 5 pm and Sunday May 31st
    from 11 am – 4 pm at Concordia University at Geiseman Gym in River
    Forest, Illinois. Admission price is only $7 each. Free parking on site
    in a 5-level garage. No parking on Monroe.

  • Fawcett House, FLW California ranch, for sale: $2.7 million

    Fawcett-wide

    Los Banos ("the baths," named after no longer active mineral springs, apparently) sits on the outer edge of Merced County, a few hours from San Francisco. It's farmland – the soil is black and loamy, and the slight scent of cattle will assail your nose, sometimes, when you're driving these dusty roads. It's not where you would expect to find a Frank Lloyd Wright home, but the master architect did design and build a house here at the end of his career, amid the feedlots and windmills. James Temple has the story in last weekend's San Francisco Chronicle:

    It is the third-to-last California residence drawn by the master of suburban homes, and one of only two currently on the market.

    Obscured from the road by a cluster of walnut trees, the cinderblock
    structure forms an angular, shallow U. The living room at the base
    looks onto the garden through a wall of windows and French doors. Twin
    wings swing open to 120 degrees, a row of bedrooms radiating outward on
    the north side, the kitchen and play room on the south, before giving
    way to a palm-shaded swimming pool.

    …

    The elongated structure and the lines of the low-pitched roof,
    banded with a copper fascia, echo the flatness of the fields around it.
    The wings stretch out like open arms to the Coast Range in the
    distance. Where the sections of typical homes feel squared off and self
    contained, the obtuse angles, walls of windows, loggia and terrace open
    up the space, blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior.

    "He softened the whole effect of the place on that barren center of
    a valley by using the 120-degree angles," said William Storrer, author
    of "The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion." "It just seemed to be right for
    the space."

    The centerpiece of the family room is a 6-foot-high, 12-foot-wide
    fireplace, a veritable cave where Randall Fawcett would tend massive
    walnut logs that burned for days. Built-in mahogany cabinetry and
    furniture accent corners and spaces throughout the home.

    The 6 bedroom, 4.5 bath, 3700 square foot home – on 80 acres – is listed for $2.7 million. For more photographs and information check out the official website & listing.

  • for sale: Greenway House, Bisbee AZ – $1.25 million

    Reader Scott Cahill writes to tell us that he recently visited the 1906 Greenway House in Bisbee AZ, which is currently up for sale for what seems like a good deal to someone who wants to live in that part of the country. American Bungalow recently ran a nice spread on the house, which sits on about 2.5 acres of attractively landscaped high desert. This enormous (10 bed / 13 bath) brick Craftsman "bungalow" – I use that term with some trepidation given the complexity and size of the place – has been well-maintained and is an excellent example of the style, with Western details taking the place of the Asian influence often seen in Southern California's similarly-sized "ultimate bungalows." Almost all of the original features – including Victorian stamped tin ceilings and rococo gingerbread to gorgeous custom-made stained glass, light fixtures, tilework and beautiful painted / stenciled trim – are still in place.

    The original owner, Brigadier General John Campbell Greenway, was a fellow Rough Rider to Teddy Roosevelt and the latter is believed to have visited this home on several occasions. The house is handicap-accessible and includes a fully-functional 1930s Shepard Elevator to the second floor. Main house is approximately 8550 sq ft, not including: carriage house, 2500 sq ft; attic, 4000 sq ft; basement, 1000 sq ft.

  • Live Auctioneers has plenty of treats

    Picture 1
    Live Auctioneers are a gateway / aggregator to hundreds of live (and non-live) antique auctions. Among the thousands of items viewable and biddable, there are hundreds of terrific items of interest to Arts & Crafts aficionados. Here are a few of my favorites from upcoming auctions:

  • for sale: 4 bed/2.5 bath, Los Angeles CA, $899,000

    First of all: real estate agent Marty Walker has one of the best heads of hair I've ever seen. I'd commit crimes to have that hair on my head. Same goes for this house, except I wouldn't want it on my head. This beautiful 3,000+ sq ft, 4/2.5 1907 Craftsman is simply gorgeous, and the newly-restored interior woodwork really shines. Marty, if you read this, send us some high res photos – we'd love to see the rest of it!

  • for sale: 1915 Cox Estate Home, Saratoga CA: $1,095,000

    Cox_LR2

    This is the first time the Cox Estate Home is being offered to someone outside of the Cox family. Built in 1915, this home has been designated an historical property by the City of Saratoga.

    Neglected for many years, this home is now looking for someone to restore her to the beauty that she deserves! According to the Saratoga Heritage Website, this is an excellent example of the Craftsman style of architecture, with its squat creekstone pillars, stone chimney and broad low pitched roof. It was built by Joseph Cox on part of the Cox family’s 315 acre Saratoga holdings. Joseph’s father, William, had come to California by covered wagon in 1852 and had become a prosperous rancher. Up until July 2008 the house was still occupied by members of the Cox family.

    • home: 2174 sq. ft. / lot: 17,305 sq. ft.
    • 3 car detached garage
    • 4 bedrooms
    • lovely wood surfaces throughout, original glass in much of the house
    • new composition roof
    • new copper repipe throughout
    • possible candidate for Mills Act

    For more information visit 19161cox.com and see photos in our Flickr set.

  • library card catalogs for sale on Craigslist & elsewhere, part 3

    I’m not sure if it’s the amount of knickknacks we tend to accrue these days or just an innate interest in the grid, but whatever the reason is, folks really seem to like old wooden library card catalogs. I’ve seen them repurposed for storing everything from digital media to art objects to painting supplies and even small books. One collector of postcards used a large unit to house his more than 10,000 historic postcards, all organized by topic and cross-referenced by year of printing! I’m sure Baudrillard would find something amusingly meta in using a device that once held references to other objects to hold the objects themselves.

    In 2007, I combed Craigslist and a few other vendors for these items of furniture and I did the same earlier this year; consider this part 3 in an ongoing series.

    • you can pay a premium for provenance, if you wish; this card catalog supposedly comes from Yale University, and costs about four times what a similar card catalog from any university might cost (with the exception of the architecturally significant one listed next): $1300 / New Haven CT
    • enormous, almost sculptural / architectural 312-drawer double-sided catalog, circa 1910, from UC Berkeley; includes brass fittings and multiple pull-out shelves & corner pillars designed to match those at the Doe library, "works well as a room divider" – for a big enoug room, no doubt, and makes the Yale model above look like a bargain: $5000 / Berkeley CA
    • three oak catalogs, in a 1950s design: $offers / Middlebury CT
    • two somewhat similar 15-drawer cabinets: $65 ea / Omaha NB
    • vintage Globe Mfg cabinet, 24 extra-large drawers: $600 / Raleigh NC
    • possibly "library style" chest: $190 / Charlotte NC
    • attractive & enormous 84-drawer catalog with pull-out tables/drawer-rests: $155 / Crozet VA
    • overpriced but big well-used large oak ex-school card catalog: $499 / Austin TX
    • interesting vertical file (or are they stacked?) with extra legs, tops & case: $350 / Schertz TX
    • single 15-drawer catalog section with platic handles, some broken: $25 / St. Louis MO
    • pretty and well-maintained maple catalog with pull-out tables & shiny brass fittings circa 1972: $650 / Springfield MO
    • vertical 4-(large) drawer catalog: $125 / Wichita KS
    • 30-drawer catalog with pull-out table: $200 / Chicago IL
    • mid-century / modern design 24-drawer cabinet: $100 / Colorado Springs CO
    • 12-drawer catalog with brass fittings: $60 / Portland OR
    • big 60-drawer oak catalog with brass fittings: $400 / Stockton CA

  • the Dishmaster: gateway to a 1948 kitchen

    Reader Pam Kueber emailed us about a new faucet design she’s selling. While the era is just a bit past what most Hewn & Hammered readers might be looking for, it’s still a very neat product. The circa late 1940s Dishmaster comes in several models, and has spawned an entire fan site.

    What is Dishmaster Living? Slow down. Cook up a storm. Make a happy
    mess in your kitchen – then have some more fun cleaning up. Yes – the
    Dishmaster’s circa-1948 faucet makes washing the dishes fun via the
    "Push Button Dishwashing" action of the special aerator brush wand –
    which dispenses soapy sudsy water and rinses clean, too. Feel good
    about use of precious resources as well: The Dishmaster conserves
    water, energy and detergent. And, it’s Made in America, by a small
    company right in Indiana. If you need a new-old kitchen faucet – I hope
    you will consider buying a Dishmaster from Pam of RetroRenovation.com. Read more at RetroRenovation.com or at
    her special new site, DishmasterLiving.com.

  • for sale: Long Beach Bungalow, $899800 wtf?

    I get lots of entertainment from laughing at stupid people, but of course I know that are plenty of people laughing at my mistakes too. Helps to have a sense of humor.

    The blogger behind Real Estate in the LBC gives me today’s dose of humor, lambasting a seller or agent whose sense of economic reality is equal to our president – who last week famously said that our economy was "strong."