Victorian Advertising: Cabinet Card Collecting: A Chicago Collectible

While some collect  cabinet photo cards for their images or for examples of Victorian Dress often the value in these cards is not necessarily the image on the front but rather the advertising image on the back.

Such is the case with this cabinet card photo we got in. Its a usual pose of a young gentleman on the front and inscribed Louis H Rudolph (photographer)  957 Milwaukee Ave. Chicago. However the back is an exceptional architectural example of the photographers studio and Chicago's grand 'lost architecture.

Talk about "Victorian excess" The building has every form of grand ornamentation with classical and beaux arts ornamentation. This was Victorian marketing in its purest form. Unlike many simple cabinet photos this photographer artfully incorporated advertising on the back of the card so when asked "where did you acquire such a fine photograph", one only had to flip the card over.

So when you are out looking at old cabinet card photos, turn them over and you might find a treasure like this one.

We always have a collection of cabinet cards in the shop, but this one is pretty special.

Victorian Architecture: Exotic Elements, The Onion Dome

The Victorian had a love of the exotic and often applied those exotic elements from their travels to their homes.

The rarest of the rare are onion domes. While widely seen in Easter Europe and Russia and parts of the "Ottoman Empire". The Onion Dome essentially has the look of an onion bulb. There were many variants of this design but they all had one thing in common. They were hard to build. Often requiring the services of a boatbuilder who understood the complex curved framing  to build one. They were often prone to leak as well after a period of time. many were simply 'lopped off' and today they are an even rarer site.

Perhaps the best known is the Morey Mansion located in Redlands California. It was built in 1890 for the then extravegant sum of 20,000.00. It is well known for its elaborate onion dome.

Another one of these rare birds can be seen in Minneapolis Minnesota. The Bardwell House didnt start out like this but was the result of a later remodel when the two onion dome structures were added along with other "moorish' detail., this redesign was done by Norwegian born architect Carl Struck . It was added to the national register in 1984.

Interestingly commercial buildings were treated to these exotic treatments as well. The fire house in Aurora, Illinois had this delightful onion dome on it. During WW2 it was lopped off as part of a metal drive.

 This building was seriously deteriorated before local residents took up the cause and restored it back (Including the onion dome) and today it is a firehouse museum.

Our Annual Antique Sale June 5th and 6th

Friday and Saturday will be our 5th (and Final) Indianapolis Antique Sale, Held at our home in Indianapolis 417 N Arsenal, Indianapolis 10-6. We will we selling a variety of items. We hold this sale at this time every year because the annual Woodruff Place Flea Market is just two block away and draws a national audience. The good stuff sells quickly!

Items Include: Fireplace mantle, Victorian Newel Post,Victorian Parlor Chairs, MT table, Stenciled top victorian table, Dining room Buffet, Victorian baby buggy, Stained glass Windows, Antique books including a complete set Library of standard Literature circa 1895, Back issues Old house Journal, This Old House, Victorian Homes Magazines, Murano art glass bowl, Hundred of Antique Lithographs from the 1880's, Sterling silver, estate jewelry, Oriental rug, ESTEY Pump Organ, Misc chairs, Upholstry fabric, Vanity mirror, Lighting fixtures: 1930 Lincoln ART DECO chandelier, Rare 1920's crystal three drop chandelier. Noritake bowls, Staffordshire English China, Antique table lamps, EMPORER Mantle clock, Craftsman Andirons, Arts and Crafts table, and boxes of small items, statuary and Bric a brac.

Always a well attended sale and Additional items will be brought out on Saturday

Architectural Terra Cotta

Terra cotta is a ceramic based building material that was very popular from the late 19th century until the 1930s. This material was largely used on commercial buildings but you often find it in residential applications. This material can be glazed to match brick and limestone in color and often on commercial buildings is glazed. There are large concentration of buildings with terra cotta detail in Louisville Kentucky where it was popular on the many late victorian Mansions on 3rd and 4 th street in Old Louisville. Becasue it was in an urban environment prone to exposure to air pollution and chemicals often it will be deteriorated. The National Trust has a preservation brief on its maintenance and preservation. http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief07.htm

The 1st example in the photograph is on Mass avenue in Indianapolis on a commercial building and is the colored glazed variety. The home is the Wentz Mansion in Louisville I used to live in and has elaborate detailing on the tower, windows and doorway.

"Vase Logic" Photography

I am still learning to use our new camera a Canon Powershot SD 750 after years of using our German digital Agfa, which I still love. I did some shooting the other night and I call this one "Vase Logic". It was taken in our formal dining room on the window ledge. I found these really interesting 'frosted" vases and they take on an almost sculptural quality. Of course as always there is plenty of Architecture stuff on my Flikr site from Cincinnati, Indy and other places. http://www.flickr.com/photos/victorian_antiquities_design/

National Trust: This Place Matters Campaign

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has a new website called This Place Matters. It is a forum to showcase important architecture, from homes, commercial buildings or site with the public and let people know whats important to you.

For more information you can visit thier site. http://my.preservationnation.org/site/PageServer?pagename=thisplacematters

Historic Covered Bridge Destroyed!

A tornado destroyed the Historic Moscow Covered Bridge which crossed Big Flatrock River , in Moscow, Rush County. This double span Burr Arch Truss structure had a length of 330 feet, or 346 feet including the 8-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 15 feet 6 inches wide by 13 feet 6 inches high. Built in 1886 by Emmet L. Kennedy, this was the only double span bridge still standing which the Kennedy family constructed.

The F3 tornado with winds up to 150 MPH ripped through Rush County on Tuesday and destroyed several historic buildings in the town as well. This occurred just a few short weeks before the annual covered bridge festival. State and Federal authorities are still surveying the damage left by the tornado. It is unknown at this time if the bridge will be reconstructed.

Indianapolis: Woodruff Place Flea market this weekend

80 acres of bargains, entertainment, and food from 8-5 PM on Saturday and 10-5 PM on Sunday! Woodruff Place is one of Indianapolis' most distinctive neighborhoods with its collection of fountains, statues, urns all situated in the public esplanades that divide our three main streets. The flea market is one of the many activities the neighborhood organizes throughout the year.

The participating vendor donates 10% of proceeds to the Woodruff Place Civic League for restoration of fountains, urns, statuaries, and to maintain public grounds of WP.
Woodruff Place is located between 10th and Michigan Streets just east of Arsenal Tech High School (roughly 1800 E. Michigan

Comeback kids: Flowers and Old houses

As you can see my carnations are a bloom! nothing special until you know that these are from last year and they are still alive! I bought the basically indoor plants last year and used them in pots on either side of the front steps , after they were done blooming, they were just greenery. I changed the plants out but since they were obviously alive I didnt have the heart to pitch them. So I threw them in a flower box I built on the back deck. I couldnt seem to get anything to thrive there, because of the heat generated by the deck in the morning. Amazingly they survived. Well when fall came aroung I normally put in pansys or ornamanetal kale in that box but I decided what the heck, lets just leave them in there.

Despite our cold winter and snow and ice, they made it through the winter (they did turn a little brown in the middle of winter) but, Lo and Behold this spring they turned green as did the two I put out in the back yard by the pond and waterfall. As you can see, against the odds, they are blooming! Flowers are alot like old houses and neighborhoods, just when you think they can't make it they come back!

Restorers Resources: Where to buy it!

I plan on adding a regular feature to the blog on Restorers Resources since many of my readers are old house owners and in mid restoration of their homes. One of the most frequent emails is where do I find this or that? The hardest part of getting that perfect look is in the details. One of the best resources for Wolf House Wallpapers LLC, based in Mt Vernon Ohio.. They have an exciting line of Period wallpapers that are perfect for Italiante homes with high ceilings. they also offer reporoduction services as well. You can take look at their complete line of papers at http://www.wolffhousewallpapers.com/

Photo courtesy of their website

Cottage Home Tour

The Cottage Home neighborhood will host a Home and Garden Tour this Saturday and Sunday, 12 homes and gardens will be featured on the tour. Cottage Home, just east of downtown and west of the Arsenal Tech Campus has enjoyed a rennaisance in recent years. For more information about cottage home please visit www.cottagehome.info

A Spring Evening at home

We really had an almost perfect evening the other night so I took some pictures. There are times when I forget I live downtown our house is like living in a resort. I'm planning our new "urban" envirionment in Cincinnati as we speak, I can only imagine a rooftop deck!

New Resources for Victorian Restorers

In the early years those of us trying to restore old houses struggled with trying to find historic interior suppliers. Fortunately it gets easier every day. Now I don't want this blog to just be a rant but to be informative and provide restorers with resources. One of thsoe resources is Aesthetic Interiors, one of the new small specialty wallpaper companies. Their site:

http://www.aestheticinteriors.com/sc/store.php?crn=212 has a nice line of period papers. I estpecially like their Anglo-Japanesque line of Aesthetic Monvement papers. Samples are available and they have complete room sets or you can just buy friezes or borders.

Lights, Camera, HGTV!!!!

Today was a somewhat interesting, if not also maddening day. HGTV came out today to film our 1915 Craftsman Bungalow for a "inspiration segment" on the new HGTV show 'Rate My Space'.

I had posted the house on the site months ago only to be contacted in January by a producer asking if I would like to be on the show. Well a couple of months later here was producer dragging a bunch of TV and lighting equipment with him.

It actually take longer to set up and breakdown the equipment than to do the actual shoot. basically 4 hours of film condensed into probably 2-3 minutes of actual air time. I video conference with the host of the show and the lucky homeowners who recieved a free makeover. They featured the formal dining room which we had posted on the site as the inspiration for the makeover of their room:

http://ratemyspace.hgtv.com/SNC/GroupSearch.aspx?pguid=6db6be3f-1720-4ba3-a081-999042c09b6b&username=bungalow417

Its good promotion to sell the house here, now that we are an "inspiration house" for a new TV show. But I am glad we are done it was a LONG DAY!