• saving historic Seattle bungalow a “no-brainer”

    reader Keith Harrison forwards this article about a fellow preserving some of his own neighborhood’s character by saving an historic 1917 Craftsman home that was slated for demolition. Nicole Tsong has the full story at the Seattle Times; here’s a short excerpt:

    Frank-Michael Rebhan was not looking for a new house when he walked his dog past 6317 Phinney Ave. N. in late January.

    He already owned a small house a few blocks away. But this
    sandy-gray beauty was a 1917 Craftsman-style home with leaded
    stained-glass windows, dark wood built-ins and box-beam ceilings. And a
    notice said it was slated for demolition.

    Rebhan had an outlandish idea: What if he saved the home by moving it to his own lot?

    Rebhan hadn’t even been inside yet, but the 37-year-old quickly did some intense calculations. He added up costs for moving the house, demolition of his own home, excavation and the other issues involved in moving a house.

    He figured out how much it would add to his current mortgage and realized: "It’s a no-brainer."

  • Bungalow Relocation in Fort Lauderdale

    One of the most central tenets of the Arts & Crafts movement was the situation of a home in its landscape – even a kit house needed to be picked to be a good match with its surroundings. But better a well-built old house be moved than be demolished for a parking lot, I suppose. It is sad that people would rather go with ugly urban blight than a pretty old house, though, but I suppose we will eventually learn. Maybe.

    Here’s an article by Brittany Wallman in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on the upcoming move of a 1916 bungalow which had to be moved once before to make room for a parking lot. No, I’m not kidding. Maybe we do drive a bit too much. Maybe raising the gas tax to $5 a gallon would solve this problem:

    Progress is chasing the Annie Beck house around town.

    Historic preservationists are preparing to move the 1916 bungalow to its third location, again to avoid demolition.
    The cottage was home to
    one of Fort Lauderdale’s prominent pioneer couples, Annie and Alfred J.
    Beck, and is a "traditional Craftsman style, front-facing gable
    bungalow" characteristic of the vernacular-style houses of early Fort
    Lauderdale, according to a city memo.

    Its
    original location, before downtown boomed into a high-rise district,
    was at 334 E. Las Olas Blvd. But in 1977, the house was relocated to
    310 SE 11th Ave. to make way for a parking lot.

    read the whole article