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Stopping in from the Sizzling South

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sweetpotatoboy
Bibliophile
Posts: 1641
Joined: August 2008
Location: London, UK

Post by sweetpotatoboy » Thu June 9th, 2011, 5:24 pm

Welcome to the forum. Great to have you here.

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Thu June 9th, 2011, 5:33 pm

Welcome! So, I'm curious--is your moniker because you like to read about old houses, or visit them, or do you live in one?

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Matt Phillips
Reader
Posts: 100
Joined: August 2009

Post by Matt Phillips » Thu June 9th, 2011, 6:48 pm

Hi Caroline - Glad to see you made it over here!

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oldhousejunkie
Scribbler
Posts: 41
Joined: June 2011
Location: South Carolina
Contact:

Post by oldhousejunkie » Thu June 9th, 2011, 8:08 pm

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome.

As to my moniker... I am a historic preservationist (architectural historian) so I love old houses and buildings. My dream job (contingent on the real estate market turning around) would be to restore historic houses and sell them. I would live in them all, but that would require a lot of furniture! :-)

I have lived in a few (my favorite a Californian Craftsman bungalow) and hope to live in another one soon!
I blog about all things writing and historical at Caroline Wilson Writes!

I'm also on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads!

Now Available: "Rebel Heart," a romantic historical fiction set in Civil War America and Victorian England.

Available at Amazon

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User avatar
MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Thu June 9th, 2011, 9:11 pm

Ah, a kindred spirit! As an architect's daughter (my dad apprenticed under Frank Loyd Wright's partner, Rudolph Schindler) I love old houses. Although I'm not fond of any of the 50'-80's modern styles.

The California bungalow is all over our area--I've designed several remodels for such houses. Love 'em.

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Ariadne
Bibliophile
Posts: 1151
Joined: August 2008
Location: At the foothills of Mt. Level

Post by Ariadne » Thu June 9th, 2011, 10:54 pm

Hi Caroline, and welcome to the forum!

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Michy
Bibliophile
Posts: 1649
Joined: May 2010
Location: California

Post by Michy » Fri June 10th, 2011, 3:00 pm

[quote=""Alisha Marie Klapheke""]I wonder how many of us have kitties. Cats and books seem to go together like tea and sugar but perhaps that's just me.

[/quote] Maybe because cats tend to be low-maintenance? As in, you don't have to put your book down to go walk the cat. :D

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oldhousejunkie
Scribbler
Posts: 41
Joined: June 2011
Location: South Carolina
Contact:

Post by oldhousejunkie » Fri June 10th, 2011, 3:08 pm

[quote=""MLE""]Ah, a kindred spirit! As an architect's daughter (my dad apprenticed under Frank Loyd Wright's partner, Rudolph Schindler) I love old houses. Although I'm not fond of any of the 50'-80's modern styles.

The California bungalow is all over our area--I've designed several remodels for such houses. Love 'em.[/quote]

MLE--are you serious?!? Your dad worked for FLW's partner? That is insanely cool. (Sorry--geek out moment). Like all good architectural historians, I think FLW is a rockstar. :-)

I almost went the architecture route before signing on for historic preservation. I'm terrible at math so I thought I was toast, but now most everything is computer generated. I wish I did now because sadly, there is not a lot of work for architectural historians in South Carolina. Where I work now is about it. It's pretty depressing. I've thought about going back to school, but the concept is pretty daunting. I guess it is never too late though.

Craftsmans seem to be a predominant architectural style in South Carolina, at least in the in-town neighborhoods. As much as I love them, I wish we had more variety. SC has filled up with new subdivisions featuring Neo-Craftsman style homes. It's pretty depressing. Personally, I'd kill for a good Tudor Revival to renovate! They are few and far between (and often prohibitively expensive). And I would rather cut off my arm than live in a new house--a sentiment my husband cannot understand. We are looking at a late 40s "Min Trad" ranch. It goes against my principles in theory but it is such a neat house. It has casement windows, and I'm a sucker for those. :-)
I blog about all things writing and historical at Caroline Wilson Writes!

I'm also on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads!

Now Available: "Rebel Heart," a romantic historical fiction set in Civil War America and Victorian England.

Available at Amazon

Image

User avatar
oldhousejunkie
Scribbler
Posts: 41
Joined: June 2011
Location: South Carolina
Contact:

Post by oldhousejunkie » Fri June 10th, 2011, 3:09 pm

[quote=""Michy""]Maybe because cats tend to be low-maintenance? As in, you don't have to put your book down to go walk the cat. :D [/quote]

Yes, but you do have to fend off your lap if a book is placed there. My eldest cat is always high jacking my book--er, my lap. I don't think she likes to share my attention.
I blog about all things writing and historical at Caroline Wilson Writes!

I'm also on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads!

Now Available: "Rebel Heart," a romantic historical fiction set in Civil War America and Victorian England.

Available at Amazon

Image

User avatar
MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Fri June 10th, 2011, 5:01 pm

[quote=""oldhousejunkie""]MLE--are you serious?!? Your dad worked for FLW's partner? That is insanely cool. (Sorry--geek out moment). Like all good architectural historians, I think FLW is a rockstar. :-)
[/quote]
Actually, my dad was Schindler's last apprentice (and HE was born in 1915, I'm a post-WWII leftover kid) so the old guy was getting up there. He and FLW had fallen out over some high-rise in Tokyo which withstood a massive earthquake. Schindler had done the engineering and the steel, and FLW took the credit. I'm afraid everyone who was close to him found him abrasive.
My mom as a young bride accompanied my dad to a party where FLW and Schindler were both there, and she says that FLW tried to grope her, and she didn't know how to handle it and was horribly embarrassed. Somehow every time I do a Prairie-style remodel I keep remembering that story. :rolleyes:

I find that you can tell the development era of any twon or subdivision by looking at the style predominant at the time of its growth boom. That's why there are more Queen Anne style victorians in San Francisco than there ever were in Queen Anne's own country-- they were quite the rage in the late 1800s when SF was built.

Back east, a really old house would be classical revival, right? I'd love to have a shot at one of those, but never have. This is California.
Disclaimer-- I'm not an architect myself, just a lowly designer who has Dad (now deceased) and brother to sign off on any of my fancier stuff. But I do a much better kitchen than either, if I do say so myself.

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