Anyone one else into it as another hobby or am I the only one openly admitting that I’m ?
Edit: cause this may turn into a thread that I might be able to micromanage along with all my other threads
We bought a ~1900 Victorian in south Georgia last year. At my age, we may have everything done before they bury me. 10 days after we closed a 100 year old oak tree inn the front blew down and damaged the front right side of the house - took out most of the tower roof and interior damage to the first and second floor rooms on that side. Took a contractor 7 months to finish all the work. bill to the insurance company was almost as much as we had paid for the house.
I wouldn’t consider it a hobby of mine but it is my favorite style/era of architecture. As a woodworker my favorite furniture style is Queen Anne which pretty much goes hand in hand with the Victorian architecture. I love the gingerbread and use of multiple gables, and all the off angles. So no your not the only one. One of the highlights of my wood working adventures was when I learned to make a cabriolet leg.
It is a genuine piece of American culture. Victorian architecture, that is. Being a carpenter, I would have loved to have been employed in those days, with one exception, the wages. I was fortunate, however, to have worked mostly on historical restoration projects for most of my career.
There are a few very good examples of restored Victorian homes in my area. The main issue with Victorian style homes is the upkeep. That is one reason why they were mostly all painted white for most of the twentieth century. Now with the newer materials maintaining the exteriors is somewhat easier, but not easy.
Dan, how is Victorian architecture a genuine part of American culture? Of CANADIAN culture, sure, but you guys threw off the ‘yoke of tyranny’ and all that it entailed when you became independent. right?
Just askin’.
tac
Ottawa Valley GRS
Tac,
I agree with Dan and honestly just because it was called the Victorian era doesn’t mean all of it was British based. Quite a few of the styles were home grown here in the states. Not to mention it had Asian,Greek and Roman influences as well.
tac Foley said:
Dan, how is Victorian architecture a genuine part of American culture?
Maybe kinda similar to the way that the English language is a genuine part of American culture?
It was Style not Politicks
Guess so.
tac
Like all things American we borrowed from other cultures and made it ours. What does it truly mean to be an American style. While there are some things in our very short history that are grass roots American, the vast majority of who we are and our style is borrowed, adapted, and made uniquely American. I don’t believe Dan said we invented Victorian style, he said it was a piece of American culture and its surely is. It was and is again to an extent a distinct period in American architecture.
I am fortunate to live in an area with a lot of old buildings that are in good shape.
Many are older Greek Revival style or even older colonial styles but we do have some pretty cool buildings:
This one in Bath dates from 1855.
we have lots of summer cottages, this one on Squirrel Island off Boothbay: note the “model” of the house on the porch
The West Gouldsboro public library:
These are not really the archetypal Victorian but are really cool and do date from that time frame. they also have some of the elements used in Victorian architecture.
When I was in St Paul I was just beside myself driving through some of the older more affluent neighborhoods. Just a rich history of architecture. One of the down sides of living in an area that is barely 100 years old is we don’t have that depth. Don’t get me wrong we have some nice architecture in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene but not what back east has (nevermind what Europe has). I felt the same way when I was in North Carolina and Virginia not to mention the history of two wars that happened before Idaho was settled.
Eric
I like the Carpenter Gothic house from 1855 …what’s cool is that the steam scroll saw was all the rage then as you can see. My house was built in 1852 and saw cannonballs fly by it when the Confederates shelled the town square during the Civil War. I call my house “Stick” as it predates Queen Anne and has no rounded lines as such. It did have plenty of straight line and angled ornamentation but has been pretty bastardized especially in the past 50yrs.
It just amazes me at some of the lost art/skill from that era. I have trim in my house marked on the backside ship to (someone) Hamner via the CVRR. It’s written in crayon but still pretty cool stuff. I’m trying to learn some of the artistry that has been lost and reapply it without spending a millions of dollars. I’m finding that it can be done if you know how to do it …The art that is !
Forrest Scott Wood said:
tac Foley said:
Dan, how is Victorian architecture a genuine part of American culture?
Maybe kinda similar to the way that the English language is a genuine part of American culture?
I was trying to think of a good come back for what Tac said. You nailed it for me. Good one Forest !! All in fun
Devon Sinsley said:
Like all things American we borrowed from other cultures and made it ours. What does it truly mean to be an American style. While there are some things in our very short history that are grass roots American, the vast majority of who we are and our style is borrowed, adapted, and made uniquely American. I don’t believe Dan said we invented Victorian style, he said it was a piece of American culture and its surely is. It was and is again to an extent a distinct period in American architecture.
Yes, and we all borrowed from the Greeks, including the ancient Romans.
¿ ɹəʇsooɹ said:
Eric
I like the Carpenter Gothic house from 1855 …what’s cool is that the steam scroll saw was all the rage then as you can see. My house was built in 1852 and saw cannonballs fly by it when the Confederates shelled the town square during the Civil War. I call my house “Stick” as it predates Queen Anne and has no rounded lines as such. It did have plenty of straight line and angled ornamentation but has been pretty bastardized especially in the past 50yrs.
It just amazes me at some of the lost art/skill from that era. I have trim in my house marked on the backside ship to (someone) Hamner via the CVRR. It’s written in crayon but still pretty cool stuff. I’m trying to learn some of the artistry that has been lost and reapply it without spending a millions of dollars. I’m finding that it can be done if you know how to do it …The art that is !
If you can afford it, there are tradesmen out there, myself included, who can still do the type of work that we may think is a lost art. In my career, I had the good fortune to work on many historical projects. When we were replicating or repairing historical buildings, we used the same tools used over a hundred years ago. It is only in more recent times that alot of the parts that go into historical work are factory produced. Even before I retired in 2004, the younger guys were in awe of my Yankee screwdriver, folding rule, plumb bob, etc. I used to say to to them if you know how to use a slide rule, you will not be up sh*ts creek when the power goes out…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)
¿ ɹəʇsooɹ said:
Eric
I like the Carpenter Gothic house from 1855 …what’s cool is that the steam scroll saw was all the rage then as you can see. My house was built in 1852 and saw cannonballs fly by it when the Confederates shelled the town square during the Civil War. I call my house “Stick” as it predates Queen Anne and has no rounded lines as such. It did have plenty of straight line and angled ornamentation but has been pretty bastardized especially in the past 50yrs.
It just amazes me at some of the lost art/skill from that era. I have trim in my house marked on the backside ship to (someone) Hamner via the CVRR. It’s written in crayon but still pretty cool stuff. I’m trying to learn some of the artistry that has been lost and reapply it without spending a millions of dollars. I’m finding that it can be done if you know how to do it …The art that is !
A steam scroll saw? How cool I wondered how it was done. I knew about pedal driven ones but not steam. Googling it it looks like the ones I see are belt drive?
I think that even the availability of cheaply available mechanically sawn dimensional lumber had a great deal to do with the proliferation of ornamentation in house architecture.
Slide rule, now that is something. Give a slide rule to most kids now, and they can’t figure out how to work the thing. In pilot training, I learned how to work the E6B “Wiz Wheel”, which is essentially a circular slide rule. Neat contraption.
I have to admit I have no clue how to use one. And I am not what you would call a kid at 45. There are a lot of things like that I would like to play with and learn. I used to be an avid sailor. I want to learn to navigate with a chart and sextant. I am amazed that ships that had to basically sail with the wind all the way could sail out of Europe sail all the way down to the equator come across the center of the planet and then follow the trades up North and hit anywhere close to where they wanted to be after a month at sea by only using a paper chart and the stars.
Same applies to construction and architecture. No lasers, no CAD just some real know how.