Every historic building has a story to tell
As the product of a rural environment, having cut my teeth (and prompted a few more gray hairs on my parents’ heads) on winding country roads, I’ve always been aware of the stories behind the names of those roads. Family names, nearby waterways, topographical features – and mills – all figure into many a historic (read more)
Oxford, first settled by Saxons, and now populated with students, tourists, and harried residents, is one of my favorite towns in Britain – and is a different town, I think, for each person who visits. The University of Oxford dates to the 12th century, and the architecture of the colleges and town combine for a (read more)
Categories: Architecture, England, English Heritage, Tourism
Tags: Ashmolean, Blackwell's, Bridge of Sighs, England Travel, Oxford
Last night, while having dinner with my parents, I groaned in mock despair, as the inevitability of genetics was driven home once again – there is no doubt whose daughter I am! Mannerisms, temperament – these traits can, sometimes, be traced back to our families of origin. And other things too, crop up in the (read more)
My bowling skills are near non-existent. At a nephew’s birthday party a few years ago, I demonstrated a spectacular lack of grace by falling face first onto the slippery bowling lane. Despite my public humiliation (my nephews found it incredibly amusing), I have a great appreciation for both bowling alleys and a very ancient sport. (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Historic Preservation, Kentucky architecture, Louisville
Tags: Bowling, Bowling Alleys, Butchtown, Louisville, St. Joseph Church, Vernon Club
I’m a voyeur. At least where historic buildings are concerned – don’t worry, I’m not standing in front of your windows… I restrict my historic house lust to buildings actually open to the public. (Or abandoned houses in my native land, but that’s another story.) Combine my penchant for historic architecture with being a recovering (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Country house, England, Tourism
Tags: Brideshead Revisited, Castle Howard, Death Comes to Pemberley, Evelyn Waugh, John Vanbrugh, Yorkshire
Romance never goes out of style. Your views on the subject may change, depending on age and experience, but romance figures large in the human condition – and in architecture. The Romantic movement in America roughly spans the period from 1820 to 1880 – a time of great change in our young country. Even as (read more)
Too often, historic buildings are lost to the siren song of redevelopment, bulldozers sending dust and debris flying so quickly that it is hard to believe that generations of people used and occupied the structures so quickly tumbled to the ground. When I read in the paper this morning that the building at the corner (read more)
It’s been years since anxiety gripped me about getting lost in Kentucky. Back when I succumbed to those fears, it was my driving skills that should have caused nervousness, not the likelihood that a wrong turn would result in me getting hopelessly lost for days. County roads meander like a crop of morning glories across (read more)
My wanderings around Britain usually spring from something I’ve studied or learned about as a professional. Not every destination draws me in with thoughts of flopsy bunnies, hedgehog washerwomen or determined woodmice with slightly obsessive compulsive cleaning habits. But the world – and characters – created by Beatrix Potter has captivated millions, and I couldn’t (read more)
Categories: England, Historic Preservation
Tags: Beatrix Potter, Hill Top Farm, Lake District, National Trust
No, there hasn’t been movement at the CentrePit site – there will not be a reconstruction of Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey) on Main Street. But on Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at the Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan House at 210 North Broadway, I will be talking about my experience as an Attingham Scholar in the 2014 (read more)
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