When I received my latest e-newsletter from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, I was pleased to find an interesting interview with Charles Drayton, which made me recall my own visit to historic Drayton Hall in 2007. [Click here to read that National Trust article].
If you’ve never been, Drayton Hall is a stunning, circa 1742 plantation house outside Charleston, SC — and it is the oldest surviving example of Georgian Palladian architecture surviving in the United States. It is also the only surviving plantation on the Ashley River to survive intact to today, and is a National Historic Landmark. See the beautiful official website here.
My wife and I toured Drayton in December of 2007, and I probably snapped a hundred pictures. Here are a few of those, with more after the jump. The first is the rear facade of the mansion (Ashley River side):
Looking over the front lawn from a 2nd floor balcony:
Click here for more photos of Drayton Hall… Read more…
An Historic 2 bedroom, 2 bath House in New York City has just sold for $2.1 Million. In and of itself, that isn’t all that newsworthy, but owners in the market to sell historic homes that are on the smaller side can take heart at this sale- the house is 990 square feet, just 42′ long and only 9 1/2′ wide ! Located at 75 1/2 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village, it is reported to be New York City’s narrowest house. It is squeezed into an alley between 75 and 77 Bedford Street. Today, every square inch of Greenwich Village is valuable space to build on, and that seems to have been true even back in 1873 when the house was built.
Alex Nicholas, listing agent with Corcoran Real Estate, described the inside: “The interior of the house is only 8-1/2-feet wide and 42-feet long and has a trapdoor in the kitchen floor that leads to a finished basement. At the rear of the house are floor-to-ceiling French doors on the first and second floor that open onto a tree-shaded back yard that is shared with neighbors. With a garret skylight on the third floor and oversized windows the house boasts an abundance of natural light.”
Sounds nice. Some celebrities over the years have thought so, too. Anthropologist Margaret Mead and Poetess Edna St. Vincent-Millay both called the skinny house home for a time. Author Ann McGovern also lived here, and her experiences inspired her to co-write the novel Mr. Skinner’s Skinny House. Actors Cary Grant and John Barrymore also allegedly once lived in the house.
Skinny houses seem to be popular the world over- check out these narrow houses across the Globe, and these, too. Boston also has its own famous skinny house at 44 Hull Street, though it’s not for sale. It’s just under 10 1/2 feet wide and is right across from Copp’s Hill Cemetery along Boston’s Freedom Trail. It was built in the 1870s or 1880s and legend has it that it was built as a spite house. According to the story, the property owner had a falling-out with the owner of an adjacent property and built this house to shut off air and light from the offending neighbor. There are other versions of the story, too.
At the height of the goldrush, in the year 1849, Daniel Ward left St. Joseph County in northern Indiana in pursuit of gold in California. Two years later, Ward returned with a “small fortune.” By the end of the Civil War, in 1865, he had erected a grand Itaianate mansion in Granger for his family, proud of this rare example of high-style architecture in rural Indiana.
However, the grand Italianate house is now threatened, and it appears the house will not stay where it was built. The Ward House and a large tract of surrounding land is now owned by State Representative B. Patrick Bauer, trustee of the Burnett C. Bauer Trust, and there are plans underway to develop the land — plans that do not include the historic Ward House.
A proposal to redevelop the land on which the Daniel Ward Home sits calls for relocating the historic structure, currently home to Flourish Boutique and Gallery, about 300 yards north, to make way for a drug store and other commercial buildings. Surprisingly, rather than fight the move, the Historic Preservation Commission, which enforces preservation standards in the county, has given it its blessing. “We all agree it’s going to be more sensitive to the historic structure itself,” commission director Catherine Hostetler said of the proposed new location, on Gumwood across from Toscana Park. In 1980, when the county first designated the house a local historic landmark, the surrounding area was still largely farmland, Hostetler said. But over the past several decades, development on Mishawaka’s north side has inched steadily northward, she said, threatening to engulf the two-story clapboard house. [Full story- South Bend Tribune]
One of the most fascinating things about historic homes is their unique story — and sometimes even the historical artifacts — associated with the home. Obviously, these historical tales and antique objects are powerful in connecting old house lovers with the one-of-a-kind past of their historic home. They also can be powerful marketing points when offering a historic property on the market; potential buyers may look beyond the slick photos and sticker price in search of a deeper emotional attachment to a future home. And of course, to actually make a discovery while living in a historic home might be one of the most powerful experiences one can have with an old house.
Brian Lees and Gay Carter Lees, a couple from Kent Island, MD, began unearthing historic artifacts almost as soon as a construction company tore out their old kitchen a month ago. In the dirt, under what used to be the floor, were parts of old shoes, part of a pipe, bones from a wild boar and other animals, oyster shells, bells, bottles and many pieces of pottery. For now, the artifacts, most still covered in a thin layer of dirt, are being held in bins.
The Leeses knew their home was historic, dating back to the mid-18th century and featuring the same kind of brickwork common at London Town in Edgewater, but just how historic remains to be seen. An archaeologist and a team of volunteers began an extensive examination of the site this weekend. After that, the space will be sealed off and the kitchen renovation will resume with Taurus Enterprises of Edgewater, Gay said. Meanwhile, experts will start to catalog the findings, date them and put the information into a database.
The hope is that some of the artifacts might be from the earliest settlements on Kent Island in the 17th century, said archaeologist Mechelle Kerns-Nocerito of Severna Park . . . Read more at the The Capital (Annapolis, MD).
In America, the Greek Revival style was sometimes called the “National Style” because it was so dominant and widespread through all parts of the nation. Archaeological discoveries in Rome and Greece fueled renewed interest in Classical architecture initially during the Federal Period.
This interest peaked because of 4 factors during the 1820s: 1) The War of 1812 caused many Americans to turn away from copying the styles of their Britis
h enemies, which was a death blow to the “Adam” or Federal style; 2) the Greek’s involvement in a War for Independence gained the sympathies of the young United States; 3) most Americans were reform-minded in the 1820s-1840s, and many saw the young “democracy” as a method towards a better society, and celebrated this by mimicking Greek style; and 4) the proliferation of printing allowed the style to be disseminated widely through guide books for carpeneters, such as Asher Benjamin’s The Practical House Carpenter (1942) and Minard Lafever’s The Modern Builder’s Guide; The Beauties of American Architecture.
The Greek Revival was very adaptable, and permeated all qualities of building, and all types of buildings—not just houses, but banks, churches, public buildings–from high end to low-brow. The style is very recognizable in large Southern plantation mansions with 2-story, Greek columns on the facade.
What to look for:
Perhaps the most prominent feature of the Greek Revival style was how the building, itself, was oriented – with the gable to the front. This way of building was called the “temple form” in Greek Revival because it mimicked the Grecian temples that inspired the design. Also common is a lower pitched roof, a departure from the more steep roof on Georgian and Federal homes. This style usually includes a wide band of trim on the cornice beneath the roof, representing Greek entablature carvings.
Most Greek Revival buildings have porticos or porches with Greek-style columns, as well as a front door surrounded on three sides by narrow rectangular sidelights and transom lights. Also, for the first time, shutters became popular (called “blinds” at the time). In Cape Cods built during that era, it is common to observe frieze band windows — “half” sized windows in the half-story upstairs. Another major change arriving with the Greek style was that WHITE paint became very common, which mimicked the light-colored marble of Greek temples.
Read more…
On the stately, tree-lined Reeves Drive in old Grand Forks, the stories have gathered for more than a century. The stately homes with sweeping yards that stand guard over the old neighborhood seem to have endless tales to tell. And one of these historic homes can now be yours: 504 Reeves Drive– a restored Queen Anne Victorian house with great stories and even the picture of Jane Russell (all grown up) – for just a tad more than a half-million dollars.
The house was built about 1901 from a mail-order architectural plan for Gustav Rhienhold Jacobi (1866-1949) and his wife, Amelia. Its construction likely reflected the Jacobi family’s prosperity during what was called the Second Dakota Boom, a period of rapid growth for banks and other institutions in the Red River Valley as mortgage-seeking immigrants swarmed into the state.
And one of the Jacobi’s daughters was Geraldine, mother of the famous actress Jane Russell. Russell apparently lived in the house when she was a young girl, and she was actually born in a lake cottage the family also owned nearby. For more info, visit this article at [Grand Forks Herald].
The long-awaited restoration of Flushing’s historic Bowne House could be completed by 2012 after the city acquired the property last week, making it the 23rd home of its kind to join the city’s Historic House Trust. Described as “the best-preserved example of Anglo-Dutch vernacular residential architecture in the country,” the house still sits on its original site, and will undergo a $2.3 million restoration. For more info, visit: [NY Post] [Bowne House Historical Society] [Queens Courier]
It may seem like the economy is worse than we thought when $1.00 is too much for buyers to spend on a historic house!
In the desirable town of Barrington, Illinois, that is exactly what has happened. Three old houses were slated for demolition unless a buyer (or buyers) saved them from the wrecking ball by promising to pay just $1. However, there WAS a catch . . . the buyer would also have to pay to move the house(s) to another location, which could cost $50-$100K per house. Apparently, no one thought the total cost was worth it to save the old houses from demolition.
The “historic-ness” of the houses– or lack thereof– may be a bit of an issue for some potential buyers. The house on Main Street (left) is clearly the 
oldest & largest of the three. The other two, both located on West Station Street, are small 1920s Crafstman houses — one more quaint & attractive than the other (right). So perhaps the architecture or history associated with the houses just wasn’t appealing enough to rally support. All of that said, it does seem surprising that no one thus far has taken the town up on its offer. It raises the same question we discussed recently in the post about when to save, and when to demo.
However, there is still hope: town officials have delayed plans for demolition, and are going to give the houses more time to sell before making a final decision. And Barrington— a suburb of Chicago— has a median home value of $385,000 and median income of $85,000. Surely, someone must have the means, sense of mission, or investment impulse to save these old houses?
For more info, visit this article and the town website.
(Almost) every week on this blog, we highlight a historic property that captures our attention. Each Listing of the Week is currently offered for sale and listed on our sponsor website, www.HistoricHomesMarketplace.com. We hope that you will not only enjoy a look at a beautiful antique property, but you might even pick up some marketing ideas for selling your historic listing. Today, we feature “SawMill”- an 18th Century Pennsylvania Stone House.
This one caught my eye right away . . . what curb appeal! If you love the charm, character and mystique of the 18th century, but still want all the upscale amenities and convenience of a modern lifestyle, then 3314 Saw Mill will not disappoint!
The owner/contractor of this stunning home has painstakingly preserved the “Old World “craftsmanship of the original 18th century farmhouse and seamlessly blended in the updated designer touches that today’s buyers crave and expect. The farmhouse and its “Wrap Around” addition feature over 4500 (A) square feet of living space. The main floor features an “Open Floor” plan with a seamless flow between the “Grand” kitchen, cozy living room, dining room and the light filled five sided breakfast nook. The upper floor features 4 bedrooms plus an oversized “Master Suite” complete with a walk-in tumbled marble shower and an 
exceptionally large walk-in closet. The finished lower level contains a granite topped bar, wine cellar, game room and media area.
At $849,900, 3314 Sawmill is one of the best values in Newtown Square today. This property is listed by Dan Krzywicki of Fox & Roach Realtors. To see more photos of this unique property, get links to a virtual tour of this home, to contact Dan Krzywicki, or just to browse other historic homes for sale, please visit this property listing on our sponsor website, www.HistoricHomesMarketplace.com.
A FREE workshop on historic house research is to be held at the Birmingham Public Library on Saturday, July 18th. Sponsored by the Jefferson County Historical Commission & the Birmingham Historical Society, the event will feature 3 speakers and 2 authors who will be signing books. The event starts at 9:30am, at the Central Library (in Arrington Auditorium). Seems like a great chance for historic homeowners or Realtors who list historic properties to find out how to discover the history of their properties. For more, check out the article at [The Birmingham Times].
