Every historic building has a story to tell
The evocative nature of abandoned houses permeated my childhood. I spent countless hours exploring forgotten houses on our farm, spinning stories in my head, and brandishing a dust rag at the curtains of cobwebs. Cleaning, I suppose, was my way to bring order to rooms given over to hay bales and critters. The Internet has (read more)
The American Revolution was not only a political liberation, but a cultural one too – and I think the best way to visualize that cultural revolution is to look at the architecture produced in this country during the 19th century. The classical world was put on a pedestal, and one of the styles to emerge (read more)
Every profession has its own vocabulary. When I got my first “real” job out of graduate school, I incorporated words like “fenestration” and “corbelling” into almost every conversation…a vastly annoying habit. I’ve tempered my approach since then, but I thought beginning a new series of posts about the language associated with historic buildings would be (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Historic Preservation, Kentucky architecture
Tags: architectural terms, balusters, Balustrade, porches, words
“I hear the train a comin’, It’s rolling ’round the bend…” The first two lines of “Folsom Prison Blues,” sung by Mr. Johnny Cash, not only brought the man in black fame, but it catapulted California’s second oldest prison into popular culture mythology.* There are no catchy mid-20th century songs about the 19th century stone (read more)
May 1, 2016. You may have many items on your calendar for today, and for the rest of the month. My old Farmer’s Almanac calendar (you can take the girl off of the farm, but you cannot remove the farm from the girl) informs me that it is May Day, or Beltane, the Gaelic holiday (read more)
I didn’t grow up lazing away hot summer evenings on a spacious and shady front porch. (Those evenings usually found me, along with my sisters, weeding in the world’s largest vegetable garden, with 100-foot rows that stretched on into eternity…) As an adult, however, I’ve fully embraced my porch obsession, and I hope my next (read more)
I went to a lot of museums growing up – but the most compelling exhibits that lingered with me were the streets I traveled down, whether walking around my small hometown, or watching in rapt attention as a traveler in the backseat. One of those memories from the “backseat files” involves the grand historic houses (read more)
I am not a trainspotter. That said, I completely subscribe to the romance of travel by rail (even having experienced the seediness of rail travel in many European countries) – a transportation option not readily available in the Bluegrass. Perhaps a tiny bit of the railroad is in my blood – after all, the railroad (read more)
Science was not my strongest subject in school, but chlorophyll always fascinated me. In my mind’s eye, scores of thirsty plants absorbed the rays of the sun with zeal after winter’s gloom – nothing short of magic. Not unlike those plants, I too gravitate toward the light streaming from the sky this time of year. (read more)
The restoration of a historic building is a process of love and labor – one that has been made wildly popular by HGTV and other media outlets. I love watching a historic building come back to life – but the rebirth of the very land upon which that building rests – that is another story (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Historic Preservation, Kentucky, Kentucky architecture, Kentucky Gardens, Lexington Kentucky History, Lexington neighborhoods
Tags: African American history, Dr. Harriett B. Marble, Gardening, Gardens, Jim McKeighen, Kentucky gardens, Lexington gardens, Old Georgetown Street, Western Suburb
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