Home. Design. The Beauty of Both.
Ickworth’s Rotunda took 47 years to build and is 103-feet tall at its highest point. I’m fascinated by round buildings and this one (along with the park and gardens) is quite impressive.
Ickworth | National Trust website
The Ickworth Hotel – Looks like a grand place to stay and visit!
Adaptive Reuse for Historic Post Offices
.
Can you imagine a historic post office as a residential home? I can. The US Postal Service needs to cut expenses and this may well be an opportunity to create a cool home. Or a small shop. Coffee house. Cafe. Legal office. Literary loft. What other uses can you think of for a historic post office? What would you use the post office boxes for? Would you incorporate them into the adaptive reuse design? And how about the mural?
“Find a new use for the Geneva post office so that it will continue to be a vital part of the historic downtown. Work with the U.S. Postal Service and other agencies to save historic post office buildings across the country.”
http://www.savingplaces.org/treasures/historic-post-office-buildings
I’m afraid the few times I’ve used a ZIP code recently have been for credit card validation or online, to locate a retail outlet near me. The vast majority of mail envelopes that I open are done so with a double click.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation describes historic post office buildings as National Treasures, put them on their list of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, and hired me to document 60134, located in Geneva Illinois. The building is like much of the real mail that arrives at my studio: battle worn but mostly intact, and occasionally hiding a beautiful surprise.
Painted in 1940 by Manuel Bromberg, the WPA mural is titled “Fish Fry in the Park.”
If you’re a fan of architecture and antiques, here’s a sale to check out this weekend. Explore a vast array of unique and desirable architectural pieces. These rescued items are the real thing, not reproductions. Categories include lighting, doors, windows, hardware, mantels and cabinets, ecclesiastical, and iron and stone items for both home and garden.
Architectural Antiques has been offering their salvaged, antique decor for over thirty years. They’ve been written about and featured in most of the prominent interior design, antiques and restoration magazines. Stop in and have a look. And, yes, that’s 40% off everything this weekend.
Sale Dates and Times
Friday, September 30th: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday, October 1st: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, October 2nd: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Architectural Antiques
1330 NE Quincy Street
Minneapolis
612-332-8344
Map for Architectural Antiques
~~~
.
The Irvine Park Historic District is a wonderful place to take an architectural walk.
Read more about the Irvine Park neighborhood and see photos of other homes.
~~~
.
This is one of the nation’s best preserved Victorian homes. It features carved walnut woodwork, marble fireplaces, crystal chandeliers, and many original furnishings. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house was built in 1872 in the French Second Empire style. Tours of this 15-room, 11,000 square foot house are offered year-round by the Minnesota Historical Society which owns and operates the home as a museum. The home is currently decorated for the holidays.
This home sits in an area known as Irvine Park, one of the first trendy neighborhoods in Minnesota. At the center of the area is a public square with an ornate fountain. Numerous historic homes surround the park. The neighborhood district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the city of Saint Paul has also designated it a historic district. Tour the charming neighborhood as well as the Alexander Ramsey House. History buffs and fans of historic architecture will be delighted. The public square is located by Ryan Avenue and Walnut Street.
Read more about the Christmas tour at the Ramsey House by clicking on the link below. Tours run November 27th through December 26th. Call before going as reservations are required.
.
A Victorian Christmas at the Ramsey House
~~~
.
This elegant and beautiful building is located at 2719 Humboldt Avenue South in Minneapolis. It’s a short walk to both Lake of the Isles and Uptown. The association is comprised of seven units, six that are almost 1800 square feet in size and one garden level unit that is less than 1000 square feet.
The building was originally built as an apartment house and retains most, if not all, of the exquisite exterior detailing from when it was constructed in 1913. The front steps lead to a two-story, exterior entry area; the doorway is framed in an arch and the opening at the second level is also arched. The top floor units have arched windows along the front of their units which provide continuity with the framing arches on the first and second floors.
There is currently one unit on the market, priced at $349,900.
Contact me for more information about these units and other condo properties in Minneapolis.
Kate Walsh, Realtor®
Lakes Area Realty
612.220.3309
info@designhouse9.com
.
Listing provided courtesy of Edina Realty, Inc. and Coldwell Banker Burnet.
Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Lasted updated on October 24, 2010 at 17:39pm.
© Copyright 2010, Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc. All rights reserved.
The data relating to real estate for sale on this site comes in part from the Broker Reciprocity program of the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc. Real Estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Lakes Area Realty are marked with the Broker Reciprocity logo or the Broker Reciprocity house icon and detailed information about them includes the names of the listing brokers. DesignHouse9.com is not a Multiple Listing Service MLS, nor does it offer MLS access. This website is a service of DesignHouse9.com and Lakes Area Realty, a broker Participant of the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc.
~~~
.
For additional properties, please see Select Homes for Sale.
.
This Old House magazine offers up great home improvement advice. I love the Before and After photos shown and discussed in this article about curb appeal!
I saw this home in St. Paul earlier this week. It not only has a bow window, but the upper panes feature beveled glass. Beveled glass has angled edges. One benefit of beveled glass is that the angled edges act as prisms in the sunlight, providing a spectrum of colors not present in regular clear glass. Imagine a rainbow of color streaming in your home through a beveled window! This color diffraction also highlights the beveled glass, making it more of a focal point within the room than other glass. An antique beveled glass window will give this magical effect with both natural and artificial light sources.
Most, if not all, beveled glass windows were made by hand in the 19th and early 20th centuries. There were many time-consuming steps involved in the process, thereby making this type of glass expensive. Even so, Americans embraced these visually stunning windows and, as such, our country produced the widest variety and best quality of these elegant windows. An antique beveled glass window is superior to a modern version due to the differences in glass composition, the thicker glass which allows for a more refractory surface on each piece, and the inherent extraordinary craftsmanship of a hand-made bevel that allows for greater prismatic light.
~~~
As a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, I like to raise awareness of the benefits of repairing windows rather than replacing them. Often times people think they are improving the energy efficiency by replacing the windows. Perhaps not.
“More heat is typically lost though your roof and un-insulated walls than through your windows. Adding just 3 and 1/2 inches of insulation in your attic can save more energy than replacing your windows.”
Has this quote caught your attention? It’s pulled from an article published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Read it for information about the benefits of keeping your old windows (they’ll last far longer). It also covers wood window basics, maintenance of wood windows, lead-based paint safety, and winter tips (including the most important job of a window lock. Hint: it’s not for security).
Windows Tip Sheet (National Trust for Historic Preservation-July 2008)
If you’d like to read more, go here: Historic windows and energy efficiency
And here’s another blog entry regarding Help for Historic Windows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“A man looking out of an open window never sees as much as the same man looking directly at a closed window.”
–Charles Baudelaire
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~
Built in 1890. A “Not So Big House” that is charming and sweet. I love the red!
DesignHouse9