LastspikemikeHouse "restoration" reminds me of classic car restoration. Nice idea but not at all rational.
Thank goodness that not everyone is entirely rational!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
SeeYou190My daughter has her 1905 Queen Anne completely gutted, all four stories worth!
This is what often happens with passenger car "restorations".
Quite often the cars ar gutted (Ringling Brother's style) especially if the car has sat in the elements for any length of time or has been converted to another use, maintenance of way, for instance.
Unless the new owner has exceptionally deep pockets, a "replacement" interior has to be cobbled together from ever-diminishing sources of Pullman hardware or fabricated from scratch.
Regards, Ed
-E-C-MillsNow, here's one that maybe a clever modeller could bash together https://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/26/splayed-shipping-containers-joshua-tree-residence-james-whitaker/?fbclid=IwAR0rDMVLH4ANcJ1DXDYDFw6xqYSaJVw0IPPTrzDuKVz0tVHbKNNRYhER3Vo Not sure I would want to live in it but it sure does look cool.
https://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/26/splayed-shipping-containers-joshua-tree-residence-james-whitaker/?fbclid=IwAR0rDMVLH4ANcJ1DXDYDFw6xqYSaJVw0IPPTrzDuKVz0tVHbKNNRYhER3Vo
Not sure I would want to live in it but it sure does look cool.
Here's the original concept, and a reference to another 'container-based' home by Patrick Bradley:
https://www.dezeen.com/2015/03/26/james-whitaker-affordable-workplace-concept-cluster-shipping-containers-visualisations/
The first thing that came to mind is how much this reminds me of Miesian design language: 'industrial' tropes as metaphor. What was that house on the Fox River where grinding the welds in the girders 'perfect' cost as much as the erection? It's not about containers but the "vocabulary" ISO standardization and widespread shipping familiarity evoke. That the actual structure likely has to be ridiculously overbuilt with fancy structure and seals as with most Gehry buildings, and likely as ridiculous to heat, cool, or indeed live in as the Incinerated House, is pretty much beside the point...
tstage SeeYou190 My daughter has her 1905 Queen Anne completely gutted, all four stories worth! It is getting built inside like a completely modern house with all new construction inside the walls. Nothing inside will reflect the 115 year old age of the house. I am so glad she is about 1,000 miles away. Seeing that in person would break my heart. -Kevin You ain't kiddin', Kevin. I don't have a problem modernizing an older home - up to an extent. I would want to upgrade important factors (insulation, outlets, plumbing, etc.) but still keep the interior charm of the house intact - i.e. as long as it is salvagable and doesn't compromise the integrity of the structure. Tom
SeeYou190 My daughter has her 1905 Queen Anne completely gutted, all four stories worth! It is getting built inside like a completely modern house with all new construction inside the walls. Nothing inside will reflect the 115 year old age of the house. I am so glad she is about 1,000 miles away. Seeing that in person would break my heart. -Kevin
My daughter has her 1905 Queen Anne completely gutted, all four stories worth!
It is getting built inside like a completely modern house with all new construction inside the walls. Nothing inside will reflect the 115 year old age of the house.
I am so glad she is about 1,000 miles away. Seeing that in person would break my heart.
-Kevin
You ain't kiddin', Kevin. I don't have a problem modernizing an older home - up to an extent. I would want to upgrade important factors (insulation, outlets, plumbing, etc.) but still keep the interior charm of the house intact - i.e. as long as it is salvagable and doesn't compromise the integrity of the structure.
Tom
This is actually what I do for a living. You buy the 1895 Queen Anne, we keep and restore the original architectural details, but we modernize the wiring, plumbing, HVAC, etc.
We tastefully make changes to improve the function of kitchens and baths while keeping them in the style of the original house.
We keep and restore plaster wall in many cases, we have trim custom milled to match so our repairs and minor changes blend in seamlessly, we repair or replace windows so they are energy wise without loosing the style, proportions or details of the original design.
And so on.....
Sheldon
SeeYou190 ATLANTIC CENTRAL Inside it is true to many of its original details of both styles as well, and the new owners did not seem in a hurry to change it. My daughter has her 1905 Queen Anne completely gutted, all four stories worth! It is getting built inside like a completely modern house with all new construction inside the walls. Nothing inside will reflect the 115 year old age of the house. I am so glad she is about 1,000 miles away. Seeing that in person would break my heart. -Kevin
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Inside it is true to many of its original details of both styles as well, and the new owners did not seem in a hurry to change it.
That is a shame.....
Check your Email.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
ATLANTIC CENTRALInside it is true to many of its original details of both styles as well, and the new owners did not seem in a hurry to change it.
Living the dream.
My father was an architect. I grew up in a modern style house that he designed, finished in 1969. Not too many but, plenty of windows and a low profile flat roof with fairly large overhangs. The flat roof not very practical in Lakewood Colorado. But it was a great house, nice view, and had a train room!
Now, here's one that maybe a clever modeller could bash together
Shock Control ATLANTIC CENTRAL Just to be clear, "Victorian" is a time period, not a style. There are about 11 distinct "styles" that make up the Victorian Architectural period. Well, there is a difference between using language technically and descriptively. If someone from Philadelphia says she lives in a Victorian twin, the locals will all know precisely what that means.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Just to be clear, "Victorian" is a time period, not a style. There are about 11 distinct "styles" that make up the Victorian Architectural period.
Well, there is a difference between using language technically and descriptively. If someone from Philadelphia says she lives in a Victorian twin, the locals will all know precisely what that means.
No question, and that is perfectly OK.
A great many northeast and mid Atlantic city row homes of that period are Richardsonian Romanesque in style, one of the many "Victorian period" styles.
And many duplexes are Queen Anne or Colonial Revival, or a mix of the two.
And yes, to the unindoctrinated I have refered to my own house (the blue one in my other post, actually now previous house of 25 years) as a "Queen Anne Victorian" or even simply as a "Victorian"
If we really want to get fussy, most Architectural historians would call my blue house technically one or both of these:
"Mature Queen Anne" or "Colonial Revival infuenced Queen Anne", owing to its late construction (1901) and blending of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival features, which are accented by the Colonial Revival color scheme we chose when we restored it in 1996.
Inside it is true to many of its original details of both styles as well, and the new owners did not seem in a hurry to change it.
I love Architecture, almost all good Architecture. Mid Century Modern has it jewels, and its stinkers, as do all the styles. But it is not a style I would pick for myself personally.
After 25 years in 4000 sq ft of "Victorian opulence" I now live in an average but well built 2500 sq ft 1964 Rancher. Much better suited to retirement and making time to play with trains in the large basement.
The Victorian house was the adventure of a lifetime, awards, TV appearence, unexpected local attention, but now it's time for a new adventure.
I am however still the historic restoration carpenter/consultant guy in town.......
ATLANTIC CENTRALJust to be clear, "Victorian" is a time period, not a style. There are about 11 distinct "styles" that make up the Victorian Architectural period.
MisterBeasley It's not large, but I think such a structure would dwarf other model homes and look out of size, even of built properly to scale.
Same here.
My house is quite modest. It is basically 60 by 24 with a couple of 200 SF protrusions coming out. It would occupy a space of about 9 inches by 5 inches if built to HO scale, much larger than most commercial plastic houses.
I've occasionally thought of modeling my own home for my layout. It's not large, but I think such a structure would dwarf other model homes and look out of size, even of built properly to scale. Most of my structures are on the small size, particularly residential buildings. Is this a result of model railroaders wanting more space for trains, so manufacturers make smaller buildings?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
As an ex-roofing sales person, I would not recommend that design anywhere where there are raccoons, squirrels, pigeons..... The gap between the angled roof sections and the flat roof invites anything and everything to move in! I guess it would be okay in HO. The HO raccoons don't move around too much.
tstageI grew up on the west side the Jax in a neighborhood where the majority of houses were ca. 1920s.
I have a friend named Steve that lives in one of the oldest communities in Fort Myers. A developer dug circular lakes in the 1920s and built small cottages on pizza-slice shaped lots and sold them to wealthy people up North as vacation homes.
In the 1950s the community was re-developed. In sections of three cottages, one was razed, and the other two were connected by a huge sunken living room to form a large single-family house.
It is a magnificent neighborhood, and I have not seen anything else like it anywhere. A true time-capsule of mid-century design combined with old Florida art-deco style.
I grew up on the west side the Jax in a neighborhood where the majority of houses were ca. 1920s. I guess that's where I developed an affinity for older homes.
tstageGiven the trees, I know that photo wasn't taken in FL.
You are correct.
There are some older communities in the Northern part of Florida with some interesting residential architecture, but this far south it is hard to find anything really beautiful. Sarasota is about as far South as you can go and find beautiful old homes.
Miami would be the exception. There are some wonderfully beautiful neighborhoods in Miami. Oh... of course Caroline Street on Key West stands out as well.
Shock Control
Atlas offered a kit for a similar house - indeed so close that it may well be the same tooling, since they offered other structures at the time that were clearly European in origin (in contrast to the lumber yard, interlocking tower, water tank and other structures that were "their" tooling and not just imported.
Our circa 1953 house is mid-century modern with traces of a Frank Lloyd Wright influence in the use of woods, stone, slate, large windows and an angled room (rather like this Faller/Atlas kit) with a flat roof over that room. The suburban village I live in has many mid century modern houses and a few genuine F.L. Wrights, some with entirely flat roofs and let me tell you those flat roofs are not practical for our climate.
I am reminded that when Wright designed not just a famous office building but a personal home for the Johnsons of Johnson Wax fame, the Johnson family had just moved into the house and were having a celebratory dinner when it started to rain and S.C. Johnson called Wright angrily and told him that he was sitting in his new house and rain was failling on his head and what did Mr. Wright intend to do about it? Frank Lloyd Wright cooly told him "move your chair."
That house, Wingspread, is now a conference center in Racine WI.
Wisconsin has a Frank Lloyd Wright house that anybody can rent and stay in, although there is a waiting list, the Seth Peterson cottage, a neat little house in a beautiful setting. Peterson was not wealthy but he put together some funds, sent a check to Wright with a request for a house design, and Wright was so broke at the time he cashed the check and thus a legal contract was created. Peterson went broke building the house and alas killed himself, and the cottage was allowed to deteriorate. It was "found" decades later by some hikers who called attention to what the locals already about, and enough attention was created to gather funds to knew finish the house and make it part of a funded foundation. It is on Mirror Lake, a very scenic part of the state.
Welcome to the Seth Peterson Cottage | A 1958 Frank Lloyd Wright Masterpiece
Dave Nelson
Wright's work has never impressed me - lipstick-on-a-dead-pig, and with about the same warmth of character.
Wayne
Have you ever been to Taliesin? Its worth the visit.
Mike
Sheldon,
Thanks for the clarification on the term "Victorian". I do like the various styles of that era.
Kevin,
I agree with you on the Arts & Crafts houses. Warm and inviting.
Given the trees, I know that photo wasn't taken in FL...
SeeYou190 tstage Mid-century modern has never done much for me personally. I love Mid-Century-Modern furniture, and have enough to do the spare bedroom in that style. I do not care for Mid-Century-Modern architecture. I think Arts And Craft is my favorite, but my wife and daughters all prefer Queen Anne Victorian. My oldest daughter owns a 1905 Queen Anne. I simply love this style of house. -Kevin
tstage Mid-century modern has never done much for me personally.
I love Mid-Century-Modern furniture, and have enough to do the spare bedroom in that style.
I do not care for Mid-Century-Modern architecture. I think Arts And Craft is my favorite, but my wife and daughters all prefer Queen Anne Victorian. My oldest daughter owns a 1905 Queen Anne.
I simply love this style of house.
Yes, Arts and Crafts, and Colonial Revival, followed the Victorian period and gave us some of the most beautiful homes.
A few thoughts:
The Brady house is a "modern" style, just a slightly more practical to build 1960's interpretation.
I'm a residential designer and historic restoration consultant, I've restored a few mid century modern homes, and a few Federal and Greek Revival ones as well.
But the Victorians are my favorites, especially the Queen Anne's:
Just to be clear, "Victorian" is a time period, not a style. There are about 11 distinct "styles" that make up the Victorian Architectural period.
Frank Lloyd Wright was an interesting guy with interesting ideas, most of which I would not want to "live with" either.
No matter what style, I think they all have stylistic value, and their style should be respected by those who restore and renovate them.
As for my layout set in 1953, well I'm not really planning any "new" residential developements, but there will be a representive selection of all styles up to that point in time.
tstageMid-century modern has never done much for me personally.
SC,
That's great. Actually, I was speaking of the style in general; not necessarily as it relates to MRRing. I guess I just love older homes because they are generally well-constructed, exhibit an era where craftsmanship was the norm, and are more like...home to me.
I can appreciate a classic design like Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water. However, I'm not sure I would enjoy living in a home of that style. The surroundings, however, are different story.
tstageWhile interesting and innovative, mid-century modern has never done much for me personally. I find much more warmth from a well-constructed Victorian or company house. There. I said it.
This is precisely why I go to train shows. It seems that most model railroaders lean into your camp, which allows me to do a quick breeze-by and snap up the moderne stuff that no one wants. I totally clean up for very little dough.
While interesting and innovative, mid-century modern has never done much for me personally. I find much more warmth from a well-constructed Victorian or company house. There. I said it.
gmpullmanWith that cantilevered look it kind of reminds me of the Van Damme house in North by Northwest: https://hookedonhouses.net/2010/03/15/north-by-northwest-hitchcocks-house-on-mt-rushmore/ Carry on, Ed
https://hookedonhouses.net/2010/03/15/north-by-northwest-hitchcocks-house-on-mt-rushmore/
Carry on, Ed
Yes, I love that house! Featuring an early performance by Martin Landau!
With that cantilevered look it kind of reminds me of the Van Damme house in North by Northwest:
Yeah, this Bachmann model is closer to the Brady house:
CGW103Looks like a Brady Bunch home.
I think the Brady house looks a lot more traditional than mid-century-modern.
However, Mike Brady, the architect was supposedly known for his modern designs, so I guess it could be a "Brady" house designed by Mr. Brady!