• Alfred Faber, Portland architect

    James Heuer has put together several SmugMug photo galleries, including one on homes built by Portland-area architect Alfred Faber, who was active as a residential designer from 1904 to 1917. I stumbled across that gallery this morning, and was struck by the level of detail and the tight symmetrical grids that Faber seemed to enjoy. I was very surprised that he dropped off the map, as it were, after moving to Los Angeles for a very early retirement, right when these elements were very much in demand by builders throughout the Los Angeles area.

    The M. B. Nease House is a particularly attractive example of Faber’s work, with all kinds of attractive woodwork – builtins and other architectural detail – still intact.

  • news roundup, July 2007

    Several bits & pieces of interest to old-house aficionados, rehabbers and others interested in A&C:

  • Charles Rennie Mackintosh(esque) kitchen remodel in W Virginia

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    Monongaehala PA cabinetmaker Pat Herforth recently channeled the spirit of Charles Rennie Mackintosh to build a new kitchen for client Carrie Russell’s 1920 Tudor/Craftsman home in Morgantown, West Virginia.

    Once in a great while, if you’re very lucky, you’re sorry to see a work
    day end so soon. Pat Herforth felt that way when he created a kitchen
    for Carrie Russell.

    "I was at work eight hours, and it seemed like 15 minutes," said the Monongahela woodworker.

    "I didn’t sleep at night — for excitement."

    The thrill was in building cabinetry, trim, light fixtures and
    furniture in the style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a Scottish
    architect/designer whose take on Art Nouveau jelled with the European
    Arts & Crafts movement near the turn of the 20th century.

    photograph by Darrell Sapp for the Post-Gazette

  • a modern Craftsman kitchen

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    Taunton publishes lots and lots of good books devoted to historic architecture in general and the Arts & Crafts movement specifically. I was happy but not surprised, then, to pick up a few back issues of The Inspired House, an (unfortunately out of print?) at a local used bookshop.

    The magazine seems to have halted publication mid-2006, but mining their online archive yielded lots of good stuff, including this article by Debra Judge Silber on a very modern yet classically attractive Craftsman kitchen remodel in a 1915 historic foursquare:

    When they found their brick foursquare in the
    mid-1980s, Ed and Kathy Friedman couldn’t believe their luck. They’d
    spent 10 years building a collection of Arts and Crafts furniture and
    decorative objects, and here was the perfect home in which to display
    it. The 1915 foursquare, with its built-in benches and bookcases, was
    as well preserved as if it had been locked in a time capsule.

    Except for the kitchen. Remodeled in the ’50s, the boxy room had plastic tiles running halfway around it and
    white metal cabinets backed awkwardly against the walls. Not just
    outdated, it was completely at odds with the purposeful beauty of the
    rest of the house.

    Visit their site for the full article. Floorplan by Martha Garstang Hill, whose illustrations and architectural drawings adorn many Taunton books.

  • Russ Billington: Arts & Crafts mottos from England

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    Russ Billington is an artist living and working in the village of Pimperne in Dorset, England. He’s recently begun producing a line of hand-drawn and painted mottos, as nice as anything I’ve seen from the Roycrofters and other great graphic artists of the Arts & Crafts Movement. Each is on 100% cotton Arches, and in addition to his stock of standards, he will also adapt or customize any motto of your choice. Russ takes personalized projects as well; do drop him a line if you have something unique in mind.

    Each piece is 8 x 12 on a sheet approximate 12 x 16 inches, and they start at US$125.

    For enquiries in the US and Canada, contact David Ford at fordcraftsmanonline.com. To contact Russ for a custom project, email russlisa2@yahoo.co.uk.

  • we’re #1 (for houseporn, at least)

    I noticed today that we were getting an awful lot of visitors who found us from Google searches for "houseporn." 200 today alone! After checking, I found that we were the number 1 result for this rather odd search term. Not that I’m complaining.

    So, to accomodate all of you, some very G-rated houseporn (my favorite kind):

    Houseporn

    This was created with BigHugeLabs’ neat Mosaic Maker. Too bad it doesn’t generate a clickable html/javascript mosaic!

    The photographers are as follows. Click on each link to see the original photo:

    1. Heintz Art Metal Collection, 2. details, 3. IMG 1431, 4. Detailed woodwork, 5. Our Dining Room, 6. Arts & Crafts door, 7. Secessionist style Art Glass Door, 8. Plinthy, 9. Roycroft Hanging Lantern, 10. MG 0447, 11. Rockridge – 30, 12. Kitchen Remodel – After, 13. Maybeck church

  • restored Indianapolis bungalow sparkles

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    Abe Aamidor has a short piece in this weeks’ Indianapolis Star on the recent restoration of a 1920 Arts & Crafts home in that city’s Southside neighborhood.

    This Southside Arts and Crafts home looks much the way it did when it welcomed its first family in 1920.

    The one-story bungalow has the same yellow bricks
    and clapboard siding painted in period Rookwood antique gold, and even
    the original wood storm windows and storm doors have been retained, or
    faithfully restored where necessary.
    This is neither McMansion nor artifact of some famous, long-dead architect.
    But
    it is everything home ought to be, says Paul Krasnovsky, director of
    choral activities at the nearby University of Indianapolis, who has
    owned the property for more than 20 years.
    Yet he didn’t always feel that way.
    "When I first looked at this house, I didn’t want to buy it," said the divorced father of two.
    "The previous owner had layers of drapes on the windows. It was so dark and constrictive. And the carpets just smelled."
    Even
    worse, an earlier owner had cut down the bottoms of several interior
    doors so they could clear the thick shag carpeting she had installed.
    Krasnovsky ripped out all the carpets and was pleasantly surprised to
    find original wood flooring in good condition underneath.

    photograph by Gary Moore for The Star

  • delicious del.icio.us: Craftsman links from all over

    Delicious is a great way to keep track of your bookmarks between machines – and between people. I’ve been steadily adding to my own bookmarks, and hopefully will soon have several hundred links – furniture makers, blacksmiths, tile dealers, sellers of architecture salvage, antique buyers’ guides, auction notices, do-it-yourself directions and lots more.

    Eventually, I’ll get around to organizing it all, but until then, I’m sure you’ll find plenty to browse.