Here’s one in Texas.
And one from Indiana.
A cabin in California.
And… a cabin in Virginia (I built this one 🙂
Here we have four cabins from Texas, Indiana, California and Virginia… From the deep South to the North, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, this is a nation of cabin folks!
Have you got one for yourself?
Originally posted 2015-09-02 12:41:41.
Another colonial Williamsburg outbuilding…
This would be a great starter home, cute, well built, and any debt created would be easy to pay off, then save enough money to expand the home as one can afford it. Forget the banks!
Think small, think quality, think debt free!
I once had an architect point out to me that the tops of the windows should always be at the same height as the top of the doors. Hmmm… this house got away with breaking that rule don’t you think?
This is the boot and shoemaker shop at Colonial Williamsburg. Who wouldn’t want to report to work in such a nice building with a large window to keep an eye on what is going on outside?
Notice that it has one dormer window. Just one. This is not the only building in CW with a single dormer.
I struggled with this single dormer look for a while… I think we are somehow trained to view dormers as objects that come in sets… and not as “stand-alones”.
But with time, I gained a great appreciation for the cyclops look… after all, one was all that was needed… two, would have been too many on such a small building.
This is “said to be” the carpenters and joiners house in Colonial Williamsburg.
But I know that is not the case.
As a carpenter myself I can confidently say that no carpenter ever finishes his own home (much like the cobbler his children have no shoes). This home is clearly finished… therefore it cannot be a carpenter’s home. lol
Originally posted 2015-09-01 13:29:52.
This is Hartwell Perrys kitchen in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.
You know, it’s a funny thing, but I can go into any subdivision and my eye immediately begins to focus on all the design errors made on modern cookie cutter homes.
And then, I go to a place like this and I am just stunned at the design perfection.
Why just look at those dormers!
And here is the kitchen that is out back of the James Anderson House.
Just look at that massive chimney! Clearly there is a massive cooking fireplace to be found within.
I’m impressed not only with details found on this structure, and the overall attractiveness of the ktichen, but also how it is a totally different design from the kitchen found on the Hartwell Perry house kitchen. It seems that it mattered greatly then that everyone strove for beauty and uniqueness, even in their outbuildings.
How did we lose that?
From a builders perspective I can say it does not take that much more effort to build an attractive structure than an ugly one… it’s just a matter of how the lumber and masonry pieces are arranged when put together.
Originally posted 2015-08-31 13:45:08.
Here’s a photo of George Washington’s kitchen… not a lot of cabinet and counter-top space is there?
I bet there are over a hundred places in this country that claim that “George Washington slept here”. The one place that we can be most certain is his home, Mt Vernon, and in his own bed there…
Originally posted 2015-08-31 12:54:50.
Davy Crockett (better known as “the king of the wild Frontier”, (thanks to Walt Disney), was born here… Morristown, Tennessee.
His parents ran the local tavern… here’s a recreation of it…
Originally posted 2015-08-30 13:36:48.
This is the Mary Stith House, located in Colonial Willamsburg, Virginia.
What a gorgeous building.
“Mary Stith lived to see independence and the establishment of the Republic. She wrote her will in 1813. Among its beneficiaries were her African American servants, to whom she left her shop. Her will shows her depth of feeling for them:
“All the coloured people in my family being born my slaves, but now liberated, I think it my duty not to leave them destitute nor to leave them unrecompensed for past services rendered to me. As in the cause of humanity I can do but little for so many, and that little my conscience requires me to do, therefore I subject the whole of my estate to the payment of my just debts, and to the provision which I herein make for them.”
With the exception of few small legacies to white friends, Stith left most of her considerable estate, including three buildings and the ground on which they stood, to her freedmen.”
Learn more about her at…
http://www.history.org/almanack/places/hb/hbstith.cfm
Originally posted 2015-08-29 15:12:19.
For those who appreciate the “bones” of an old house here’s one for you… the roof system of an old estate home in England.
Most people have little interest in those parts of a home that aren’t seen after a house is completed, which is one of the reasons that homes are built so poorly these days and with materials that are more glue than they are wood.
Originally posted 2015-08-29 13:47:36.
I have a dear friend who purchased a new home a few years ago complete with a front porch. But, for some reason (likely money savings), the architect and builder made the porch only four feet wide. A porch this narrow is wide enough to put furniture across it, and allow people to squeeze in there with barely enough leg room to not touch the railing. Go figure.
I have found the ideal size of a porch to be eight feet. Any larger and the porch often overwhelms the house (unless it is a large home), and any smaller and it’s just not practical.
Originally posted 2015-08-29 13:28:18.
I suppose you could call this a “boathouse”.
A boat is certainly designed to keep the water out so why not make use of a boat to protect yourself from water coming from above?
Originally posted 2015-08-28 18:05:37.
I really like this stone farmhouse.
Isn’t she beautiful?
I like all stone houses, at least any built prior to the 1900’s, and many of them afterwards. But for some reason, I find this one pleases my eye more than most… and I have to ask myself why is that? (which is a good habit for everyone to develop)Â It’s not the color of the windows, it’s not the level of quality in the stonework. Nor is the location, which is very nice. And thankfully there is a nice roof on the house and not an asphalt shingle distraction.
So, what is it about this place?
I think what makes her special is that she is small… and tall.
Most older stone homes have three windows across the front, they are longer, and the result is more of a farmhouse look… or even that of a fortress. By shortening this house by a third the builder has created an impression of a stone cottage.
It appears that an addition has been created off of the one end of this house… which gives the house the same square footage as her larger sisters… Well done! and a tip of the hat to this builder!
Originally posted 2015-08-28 17:53:30.
