Cute Adaptive Reuse Nightmare

A co-worker directed me to this compilation of stories on WebUrbanist about adaptive reuse projects. They range from an airplane-now-home to an airplane hanger that is a completely contained beach resort.

Architect: John Perkins

One story that really intrigued me was this one on the bureaucratic nightmares involved in a seemingly simple project; converting a garage into a small residence that would fit into the preexisting urban landscape and meet all city codes.

So not as easy at it would seem.

Images: bottleworld.net

Virginia House - Building and Grounds

Virginia House

(Richmond News Company, K3954)

Architect: Henry Grant Morse, William Lawrence Bottomley (Loggia)

Landscape Architect: Charles Gillette

It was fascinating to find that the plan of Virginia House was based on the owner's wish that someday their home would be the headquarters of the Virginia Historical Society, who now owns and operates the structure.

Two separate houses supplied the inspiration for these roof sections


Views of the leaded glass windows

Loggia and small balcony

(Capitol News Agency, 68024)

This glass door leads from the house to the gardens shown below

Images: Historical postcards along with other historical postcards of Richmond, VA are available here ; all photographs are my own

A Proper Cup of Tea, My Lady?

This post is just a teaser. I still have over twenty pictures I need to clean up in Photoshop first but I wanted you to see where I spent my office holiday party.

Yup. Can you believe it? The Virginia House, also known as the former home of Ambassador Alexander and Virginia Weddell, is listed on both the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places as DHR ID #127-0255. Built in the style of European manor homes it is actually a reconstructed composite of many native English structures, spanning in age from the 12th century to 1940s Classical Revival. It is complete with medieval leaded glass windows, dark oak paneling, hidden passages, plaster coffered ceilings, and a Tudor garden. To read more about the house and its architecture, check out the 1989 National Register of Historic Places nomination here. More pictures coming soon.

* The Virginia Historical Society owns and manages the property.

World's Fair Survivors

At work we get an email of links to news article relating to preservation in the State of Virginia and nationwide. I just came across this mention of a structure in New York, the New York State Pavilion at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park that is now eligible for state landmark status. This building was erected for the New York World's Fair in 164-65. 

A book that I've mentioned before on this blog is The Devil in the White City, a murder story (not a mystery) based in Chicago during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Within it's story it also describes the architectural goals put forth by the exhibition building committee and the fact that none of the building were meant to last "the test of time." Therefore, the remaining examples we have from the fairs are truly worth saving, for they are true survivors. Also many of the buildings were designed by architects who later became known as masters of their craft, such as Louis Sullivan and Phillip Johnson.

Years ago, on a business trip I vowed that I would one day get married in the St. Louis 1904 World's Fair Pavilion. Isn't it lovely?!

   

But then while doing research for this post I found that the Pavilion didn't even exist during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, instead it was built as a monument to the fair and financed from the revenue accumulated there. 

Oh well. I also haven't moved to St. Louis yet and I don't have a husband-in-waiting.

St. Louis images: Chandler Curlee and gobucks2's Flickr stream

Hmmm...much better?

Beware: My PhotoShop skills are not great.

Well, I couldn't stop myself from experimenting with the colors. I do think I make my point.

I feel the way to make this building more attractive is to paint out all of the blue on the top half of the building (since it only appears there and not below) and replacing it with the yellow from the first floor. Then I think the "sundial" detail would be more appealing if the stark black, gray, and white combination was dialed down to a more subtle 50% strength and the outline was changed from dark blue to a medium gray.

I think then the design would be more cohesive; not such a multitude of colors competing with each other. What do you think?

109 East Grace Street, Richmond, VA:

in real life

In PhotoShop

Here's where I tried my very first idea of replacing the blue with the orange outlining the "sundials".

Please forgive me. Very bad idea.

And here's the full monty:

Before IRL

After PhotoShop

So I got rid of all the blue. Didn't your heart palpitations slow down when you got to the After shots? Mine sure did.

So, Is It An Improvement?

109 East Grace Street before and after

I think this means the building is finished and ready for occupancy. So, what do you think?

Funny thing is, the building has just showed up on the Thalhimer website. Each twin retail space is 1,050 square feet. Of course, you already know how I feel about the paint job but again I have to question their choices. Since the space has been split up into two separate stores; what two retail operations (unless they were related businesses) would want to look "exactly" the same? Especially when that look is so high profile?

The building was built in 1935, which explains the Art Deco influence. What they recently added:


Shiny, reflective, stamped metal and...


attractive copper and steel sconces.*

A look inside:


(Pictures taken through the glass window)

I have to admit I really like the interiors with the skylights and the tin ceilings. I'll have to chat up the workers next time so I can go in. You see, the exterior of the building seems like two stories; much taller than the interior, so I'm curious as to what you see through the skylight. Is there really a higher floor or does the building have a false front on top of the first floor?

So, what do you think now?

* They have been on 24-hours a day since they were installed. What's up with that?

Richmond Glass Building Update

According to this, the developer Justin French wants to make the Richmond Glass building into student housing for Virginia Commonwealth University. I understand the logic since the building is in the perfect location, just a block from the other two freshman dorms. However, I think it's a waste of what was once (and can be again) a gorgeous building. Using the refurbished Richmond Dairy Apartments, a few blocks away at Marshall as an example, the quality of the building can go down depending on the tenants.


201 West Marshall Street by 100wordminimum

I checked out the Richmond Dairy Apartments years ago when I first moved back and they were quite a disappointment. The apartments themselves looked great; high ceilings, and interesting loft layouts, despite the horrendous choice of wall-to-wall carpet* for apartments that were being marketed to beginning college students. I'm not denigrating all college students, hey, I'm still one! But freshman students, straight from living at home? Puh-lease! That carpet was marked for death at the get-go!

However, because they had decided on college students as desired tenants, the doors of the apartments were already littered with posters and personal notes. Yes, posters like you would see on dorm walls but these were outside in the public hallways! I clearly remember this as being the practice when I was in the Rhodes Hall dorm back in 1987, but even then the school supplied cork bulletin boards for this purpose. At Richmond Dairy, people were just stapling and using thumb tacks and tape on the actual doors. As I was touring the building, the employee who walked me around didn't even mention it, choosing instead to ignore the mess. That was all I needed to see that this was not the place for me (or any other adult) to live in.

So, I say to the developers working on the Richmond Glass Building, please rethink the final use of this building!

Image: from 100wordminimum's Flickr set

*I am sure they have regretted that BIG time by now.

This Town Is Testing Me

Another building is being "refurbished" near me, and yeah, I'm scared. How could I not be?


814 W. Broad Street

Also known as the Richmond Glass Factory since the 1950s, this is what it has looked like ever since I've been in Richmond. Lovely, wasn't it? Not. For some reason a lot of Richmond buildings were covered in this type of aluminum siding. I'm now curious about the "real" look of a lot of buildings in this town.

I can't remember when or where, but some time ago I saw a picture of what this building looked liked years ago and it was gorgeous. I'm sure I saw the picture at work but I haven't been able to track it down since. Which is bad because someone working on the new construction in that area came into work to see pictures of what this block looked like decades ago and we had none. Our pictures were from surveys taken after all of this "urban revitalization" crap was done to the facade. I gave them some organizations to get in touch with, the Virginia Historical Society, the Library of Virginia, the Historic Richmond Foundation. I SO hope they contacted them because it didn't seem that they had an architectural historian working on the project at all.

I forget to show you what the building looked like before. Here you go:

In 1952

And in 1907.

Believe it or not it was actually a electric rail station, the Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway station, in fact. See that great staircase through the door, all gone. And that Italian Renaissance/Beaux Arts architecture has all been hidden under stucco panels and aluminum siding for more than twenty years.

The building is part of the 2004 Broad Street Commercial Historic District's Boundary Increase on the National Register of Historic Places. More information about the building (and the district) can be found on the nomination form.

Flickr user F33 is on the case and photographing the changes being made to this building. We can watch the progress (fingers crossed) here.

Images: VA Department of Historic Resources, "Rails in Richmond" via deadlouisville's Flickrstream

Is Richmond Renting To Clowns Now?

Then (1982)
109 East Grace Street

In Architecture in Downtown Richmond I found an old picture of the latest building, 109 East Grace Street, in my neighborhood to get a makeover. This building's makeover; going on just around the corner, is not a favorite of mine. In fact, I'm pretty upset about it. Checking the archives I was also able to see what it looked like in 1996.

Then (1996)

Yes, very non-descript. In fact, when they started working on it, I couldn't even remember what it looked like. I could remember the Great Graphic poster shop and Perly's diner, but not the building between them. Now I can see why.

Here are some recent photos I took to show what it looks like now:

Now! (2009)

Yeah, it seems like circus clowns are apparently moving into my neighborhood! (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) But this place now has two shades of blue, black, white, gray, orange, and yellow paint on it! A few weeks ago, when they started, this was all in white and looked quite lovely with the sculpted arch medallions, the two curved windows, and the glass blocks. In fact, the bottom half still looks nice. However, when more paint arrived they did this:

?!

Oh, how I hope this is just a gimmick so that the building gets noticed. Because.... believe it or not, these places are available to lease from Thalhimer but I still can't find it on their site? Yes, this is what they did to it before getting a tenant! Do they need to watch some Discovery Channel or HGTV shows and get some tips on making a property enticing or what?

Images: Black & White from VDHR, color images by myself

Richmond Makeovers - A Time-Honored Practice

Sometimes, even after almost two years, I find books at work that I've never seen before. Most of the time, I suspect it's because a co-worker has taken the book to their desk and never officially "checked" it out. Bad employees, bad!

Well, here are two great resources for historic pictures of my neighborhood; Architecture in Downtown Richmond by Robert P. Winthrop and the oversize gem, Broad Street Old and Historic District: Richmond, Virginia, both were compiled and published by the Historic Richmond Foundation and are out of print.

The magic of the oversize one is that is has panoramic shots of city blocks as they looked in the 1920s and then again in photographs from 1986. The most amazing thing about that is that you get to see wonderfully ornate (Edwardian Baroque?) building facades that were covered up in later years with "modern" facades in order to look contemporary. These are now the buildings most in danger because people think they are boring and plain. If only they knew?! Oh, to do an updated version of this book today!

Example: 13-17 East Broad Street, the Charles Stores, Co.

Original

As Remodeled

Demolished

The building went from Victorian brick to Art Deco stucco to...a parking lot.

Images property of the Valentine Museum Collection

Anthropologie, give some credit, ok?

I just received the latest Anthropologie catalog and from the very first picture I thought I knew where they had set this photo shoot. However, there was no information within the catalog to confirm. I'll have to search the Web for that, but before doing that, here is my guess:

An architectural masterpiece designed by Mexican architect Luis Barragan; Casa Gilardi, in fact? With maybe a few shots of his Cuadra San Cristobal too?

Check out the shots:


Compare them to pictures of his work and it's pretty clear to me. In fact on page 13 of this July 09 catalog there is this quote "Any work of architecture which does not express serenity is a mistake" by none other than guess who? So why not give the location; the incredibly gorgeous location, credit?

I have been a fan since I was a freshman art student in the late 80s. I actually heard of him through a great book that I bought, Casa Mexicana that had pictures of his buildings, his own home, and the homes of many others, including Frida Kahlo and Robert Lopez (aka El Vez!).

Images: Anthropologie July 2009 catalog

Historic Preservation In Pictures

This weekend I'm going to check out the Fredericksburg Historic District and take some pictures. I'm going with a friend who is a photographer. While doing research for the trip, I checked out our files at work and also checked the internet. Almost immediately I came across some great photographs on Flickr, all from the same account, one army.arch.

As it turns out, army.arch works as a architectural historian and travels around the country for work. His Flickr pool is amazing. His goal (which I commend) is to match up his photos with their corresponding National Register numbers. That is fabulous because the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places website doesn't yet have photographs available for all of it's listed properties and on it's own Flickr group, most of the names and numbers are lacking for the properties that are shown there.

So please check out his individual sets and get to love this country's past building accomplishments just a little bit more.

National Register of Historic Places

National Historic Landmarks

You Don't Know What You Have Until It's Gone (Almost always the saddest photos for me.)

Thank you for your work, army.arch!

Image: army.arch Flickr set (Carl's, National Register #05000642)

Romeo and Juliet on Park Avenue

While dog walking for a friend a week ago, I came across an interesting combination of porches and balconies. I had never seen a first story balcony and this one is quite unusual because of its fortress-like design. It immediately reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. I was hoping to find some more information on the building's design but could not.



This 1914 building, known as The Beauvoir, is located at 601 North Davis in the Historic Fan District and is part of the Monument Avenue Historic District. It is an old apartment building that has been made into condominiums* Almost all of the old apartments that friends and I lived in when in college are now condominiums.

I'm not sure what the original apartment sizes were but a recent condo for sale is listed at 1,720 square feet. Let's say that this is a combination of three 570 square feet one-bedroom apartments that might rent for $750 a month each. This condo; which remember is one of many and not a stand-alone home, is priced at $329,000 ($200 per square foot). I'm sorry but for that amount of money I don't want any neighbors upstairs or downstairs. I also would want a yard.

Love the variety of window types/styles on this one wall.


Say hi to my buddy Angie!

* Well, I guess it's the best way to make more money while still offering the same old product.

Images: CVRMLS real estate listing photo, all others taken by me.

Could I Stuff My Stuff in a Little House?

Loring from Tumbleweed Houses

Sometimes I think I could conquer this clutter problem if I only had a smaller home.

You know, if I was FORCED to get rid of a lot of stuff. Because, volunteering to let some things go is NOT my strong suit. Even though I don't buy much at all, there is so much stuff stored for the future. I guess getting rid of it is hard because it might mean I don't expect to someday use the heart-shaped cake pan or pancake molds (for someone other than me or friends), five flower vases, a Shaft-like leather coat (I feel so dressy in it), the BCBG satin cocktail dress (ditto), or the large traveler's backpack from my 2002 trip to Ireland.

I would love to fit everything I own in something like this little house, but even if I get rid of all the aspirational things, I would still need my magazines, my photo albums (pre-digital), and my animated character figurines. Above all, I would also need storage for my fabric, patterns, supplies, and sewing machine. So I don't think I'll ever fit into this little gem...

251 Square Feet*

But a girl can continue to dream, can't she?

Of course, their much larger homes (680-840 sq. ft. ) are adorable too, like the Enesti, Sebastarosa, and the truly cool-sounding (and almost identical to the Loring) B-53!

* The loft is not officially included in the listed 251 square feet. With it, the house is actually over 400 square feet.

P.S. Explore their site, there is so much information there. The comments on every house design page are fascinating; especially when it comes to the customization requests.