Every historic building has a story to tell
There are certain things all Kentucky schoolchildren learn (at least those of us who went through the public school system). All 120 counties, and the county seats. Daniel Boone, blazing a trail through the wilderness. That Derby Day is a sacred holiday, and that while basketball may be the Bluegrass religion, we revere a 19th-century (read more)
I never intended to be a preservationist – and I certainly never daydreamed about the wild and hedonistic lifestyle of an architectural historian. No, from the age of 11 (after my goal of being a veterinarian was derailed by my father informing me that I needed to take more of an interest in science and (read more)
I’ve been very, very lucky to spend three of the past five summers in England. But while I was away, playing across the pond, morning glories took over my garden, my dogs lost any semblance of obedience, and my pocketbook…well, let’s just say that historic preservation is not a career one pursues for the utmost (read more)
It can be hard to look at something from a time you recall and have it labeled “historic.” Of course, in fashion, a decade is all it takes for styles to be revamped and recycled, which perhaps leads to a more open mindset among the fashion-conscious crowd? Architecture tends to strike a more personal chord (read more)
Categories: Bluegrass, Historic Preservation, Kentucky architecture, Mid-century Modern
Tags: Architecture, Atomic age, Mid-century modern, recent past
Never has plywood seemed so threatening and ominous then when it appears to sign the death warrant of another (usually historic) building in Louisville, Kentucky. I’ve been lucky enough to work in many neighborhoods in the Derby City, and one of highest densities of interesting architecture (and plywood) is located in West Louisville. A few (read more)
I cried piteously on the first day of kindergarten, as my mother left me with a room of strange adults and even stranger children. My mother and the comforts of home were promptly forgotten, however, and I threw myself enthusiastically into, if not academics at that tender age, at least into the new experience. By (read more)
All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players… Architecture has long served as a platform for status and self-expression – even seemingly humble dwellings (vernacular architecture) reveal layers of information about where the builders and inhabitants came from, how they used the rooms in their house, and even how trendy (read more)
Categories: Historic Preservation, Ohio architecture, Other Places, Theaters
Tags: Cincinnati, Cinema, Historic architecture, Historic theaters, Over the Rhine
I first visited the Handy House in Cynthiana, Kentucky, on a sunny and mild day in February 2005. It wasn’t, at first glance, a straightforward building. Like a frothy wedding cake, the house presented multiple layers of stories, people, and varying ideas of style and taste. My first rule of historic preservation? No historic building (read more)
Categories: Bluegrass, Harrison County, Historic Preservation
Tags: Cynthiana, Handy House, Harrison County KY, Preservation
I am a child of frame tobacco barns, heavily laden with burley tobacco, dust and dry bits of leaves dancing together in the air. These barns, with their straightforward appearance, clad in vertical boards, spread out across the farms of my childhood. Located on hills, to take advantage of the wind, they balanced on stone (read more)
Categories: Bluegrass, Farming, Historic Preservation, Kentucky architecture
Tags: #historicbarns, #tobaccobarns, barns, farming
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