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selected homes for sale
2008-06-07 00:00:00
June brings several new listings to the few dozen I've been tracking for the last month or two; now is certainly a good time to buy. Of course, the biggest savings are to be found in the $1 million plus...
More About: For Sale , Sale , Homes

Stickley on Craigslist: June 2, 2008
2008-06-03 00:00:00
As usual, I've tried to edit out everything that is not authentic - shame on all the folks who try to hoodwink (or simply get more traffic) by disengenously labeling anything vaguely Mission as "Stickley style" or "Stickley era." single...
More About: June , Craigslist , 2008

alt.home.repair
2008-06-01 00:00:00
With most folks Usenet access now coming through Google Groups, I guess it's easier to refer to these things as the latter than the former. Either way, check out alt.home.repair - it's a tremendously busy group, with thousands of visitors...
More About: Home , Home Repair , Repair

Japanese Gardens in the US
2008-05-30 00:00:00
The United States includes a number of first-rate public and private Japanese gardens, some being the cause and others the result of the immense importance that Japanese formalism has had upon American landscape and architectural design, most visibly in the...
More About: Gardens

Heritage Salvage, Petaluma CA
2008-05-30 00:00:00
Selling reclaimed materials (mostly wood, from slabs to milled boards and all sorts of bits and pieces of trim) and billing themselves as a "salvage boutique," Heritage Salvage certainly knows how to market themselves to Marin County. In addition to...

buyer beware: deception in the antiques trade
2008-05-23 00:00:00
A very interesting article in today's New York Times explores the apparently shadowy world of antique dealers and restorers. Apparently this reputation-destroying article is the result of a bit of a war of attrition among big-name antiques business insiders: Michael...
More About: Buyer , Trade , Beware , Antiques , Deception

Arts & Crafts Tours
2008-05-20 00:00:00
Elaine Ellis' firm, Arts & Crafts Tours , produces specialy-crafted tours - led by world-renowned experts in the field - of private homes, gardens, exhibitions, collections and sites important to the Arts & Crafts Movement. Currently in development are a few...

apologies for light posts this week
2008-05-16 00:00:00
Sorry for the light posts this week. Had a small heart attack and am back from the hospital with stents in and lots of new medications. As a result I may not get back to the usual Hewn & Hammered...
More About: Week , Light , Posts

Chicago Arts & Crafts Show, May 17 & 18
2008-05-13 00:00:00
Longtime reader David Ford of Ford Crafts man Studios reminds us of the upcoming third annual Chicago Arts & Crafts Show , this coming weekend - May 17 and 18. Dozens of dealers will be present at the show, which is held...

Avery Pottery & Tileworks, Seagrove NC
2008-05-11 00:00:00
Husband and wife Blaine and Laura Avery are ceramic artists in Seagrove, North Carolina, just 45 minutes south of Greensboro. Strongly influenced by the Arts & Crafts Movement and the organic forms of Art Nouveau, their urns, plates and teapots...
More About: Pottery

events this month
2008-05-11 00:00:00
now through August 10: Gustav Stickley: The Enlightened Home - Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown NY. May 10: 7th Annual Home & Garden Tour, Los Altos CA - $40 per person to tour many of the area's most historically important...
More About: Events , Month

James Mattson Coppercraft
2008-05-03 00:00:00
James Mattson fell in love with the idea of making his own light fixtures when he saw a picture of a 1910 Limbert copper, mica and oak lamp. After building a similar lamp for himself, he learned the fundamentals of...
More About: James

foreclosure heat maps from hotpads.com
2008-05-02 00:00:00
Hotpads.com presents various types of housing maps, including those that cost out buying vs. renting over time in certain areas. One new feature of the site is a heatmap showing foreclosures, with most large cities nationwide represented. I didn't find...
More About: Foreclosure , Heat , Maps

Pasadena Architectural Salvage
2008-04-29 00:00:00
I've mentioned this company before, but I just took a few minutes to browse the online inventory on the Pasadena Architectural Salvage website and man do I wish I could jet down to LA to take a look at their...

a bargain for telecommuters: $88800 in Temple, TX
2008-04-25 00:00:00
This 1917 bungalow in Temple , Texas (about halfway between Dalls/Ft. Worth and Austin) includes the original hardwood throughout, a pretty front porch, an attractive upstairs loft and a decent-sized yard. at just under 1600 square feet (3 bedrooms & 2...
More About: Bargain

Does the Mills Act decrease public school funds?
2008-04-24 00:00:00
California's Proposition 13 is the bane of public education in the state - and for the most part benefits the richest single segment of the population, relying on the old straw man of "senior homeowners on fixed incomes" (when tax...
More About: Public , School , Funds

stuff I like: BoWrench
2008-04-21 13:00:00
It's not often that I get excited about a new tool - after all, while new and useful gadgets do appear on the market from time to time, the old standbys of saw, hammer, screwdriver, pliers and wrench seem to be working just fine for awhile now. Advertised as a decking wrench, this untique $40 tool would be good in many other applications as well, including subfloor & fencing installation. The Cepco BW-2 "BoWrench Decking Tool" is basically a clamping lever (that fits onto a joist) that allows you to straighten long boards and holds them so that they can be nailed into place. It'll join tongue & groove pieces, can push and pull, and will close gaps as much as 2 inches.
More About: Stuff

3 practical suggestions to get your home ready for sale
2008-04-21 00:00:00
Our friend Joel McDonald writes regularly on real estate & home ownership topics. He sent in the following article a few days ago: Prepping your home for sale, especially an older home with its accumulation of what you like to...
More About: For Sale , Home , Sale , Ready

Sale at California Historical Design in Berkeley CA
2008-04-21 00:00:00
This coming weekend - Saturday April 19 and Sunday April 20 - California Historical Design in Berkeley CA is having one of their annual 20% off sales. The shop is located at 2988 Adeline Street at Ashby; if coming north...
More About: Sale

Craftsman homes for sale - California edition
2008-04-14 00:00:00
A quick & dirty rundown of older Craftsman homes for sale all over California . Some believe this is the perfect time to buy, and others think that this is just the beginning of a much longer depression and that prices...
More About: For Sale , Sale , Homes

Durham bungalow saved from the wrecker
2008-04-11 00:00:00
407 Ottawa in Durham NC was recently saved from death-by-backhoe when neighbors bought off the wrecking company with $900 in cash. Obviously the city doesn't give two craps about historic preservation; at least this neighborhood does. These people care so...

Berkeley Mills kitchens
2008-04-08 00:00:00
In addition to their beautiful furniture, Berkeley Mills also brings their blended Japanese / Arts & Crafts aesthetic to kitchen design. The Wabisabi kitchen (pictured) is both minimalist Japanese and Craftsman; the Madera is a deceptively simple design with plenty...
More About: Kitchens

historic homes in Redlands, California
2008-04-04 00:00:00
David Estes, aka Flickr user Cyclotourist, lives in Redlands - a town of about 60,000 near San Bernardino in Southern California . Redlands is not particular noteworthy compared to some of its neighbors, but it does have several attractive neighborhoods chock-full...
More About: Historic , Homes

beautiful Illinois bungalows slated for demolition
2008-04-03 00:00:00
To make room for gardens and other landscaping around a neighborhood drug and alcohol treatment center, several historic properties in Charleston IL will be razed in upcoming weeks. The homes - 5, 15, 21 and 95 Harrison (see photograph by...
More About: Illinois , Beautiful , Demolition

April fools: Ikea not really absorbing Stickley-Audi
2008-04-03 00:00:00
Note: the following was a not-particularly well-thought-out April Fools' joke, and is totally untrue. I apologize to those of you who thought it was real news, and hereby retract it as requested by Stickley-Audi . I also apologize for the reference...
More About: Ikea

Gustav Stickley exhibit opening in Cooperstown tomorrow
2008-04-01 00:00:00
Cooperstown's Fenimore Art Museum will open their long-planned Gustav Stickley: The Enlightened Home exihibit tomorrow, April 1 2008. The large exhibit - including more than 40 Stickley-made items - will run through August 10. The items, which include furniture and...
More About: Opening , Tomorrow , Cooperstown , Exhibit

recommend your favorite Arts & Crafts shopping
2008-03-28 00:00:00
Could you all do me a small favor and, in the comments below, list the shops you know of anywhere - in the US, Canada, the UK & elsewhere - that specialize in Arts & Crafts related items? I'm thinking...
More About: Shopping , Favorite

new architecture, new materials, new reading
2008-03-25 00:00:00
Even though I'm not interested in living in a modern house, I've always been interested in the new materials that contemporary designers use - many of which are much more environmentally sound than the materials of two decades ago -...
More About: Reading , Architecture , Materials

Rick Tauzer Craftsman armoire in Sacramento: $2000
2008-03-23 00:00:00
Rick Tauzer was Sacramento 's best-kept secret for many years - a talented cabinetmaker and finish carpenter who built some of the prettiest custom furniture in town, and did gorgeous interior architecture for many years. He's retired to Oregon, but his...
More About: Rick , Craftsman

remodel snapshots
2008-03-19 00:00:00
A bit of digging around over at Flickr found three large groups (agglomerations of photos from dozens of different users) devoted to remodels. Many of the remodels documented are in and of historic homes, and some are better than others....