More to Come Soon...

I recently adopted a kitten so that my dog, Audrey, would have a friend to play with. They get along great and are constantly playing and chasing each other. However, I haven't been able to post in a few weeks because the kitten, Jackson, chewed my laptop cord and it is no longer functioning. I finally bought a new cord this past weekend and left it in my mom's car. So I'm still without power. Keep checking back in the next week or two, I eventually to have hope more than 40 minutes of battery time left and get some new posts up. I've never had a dog that chewed and it never occurred to me that a cat would...

The troublemaker

My girl who needed a friend...

Factory Rehab and New Construction

Check out the two buildings below - one is new construction and the other is a historic rehab. Can you tell which is which?

The first picture is a historic rehab. However, this project has been in the works for the three years that I've lived near it. I don't think they are ever going to finish, but they did finally get the new windows in. It's supposed to be condos...

The new construction is the second picture - townhouses in the Brewer's Hill neighborhood next to the Natty Boh Tower. These were built a few years ago and finished as the recession hit...I don't think any have sold. They were originally priced too high and although they've come down some, I guess not enough - they're still listed in the $475,000 to $500,000 range. And that's a bit too much when you can get a rehabbed house around the corner for $250,000 or less. But they do have two-car garages! And I checked out the online listing, the interior looks awesome!

I love that the new construction looks like it could have been an old industrial building. I think it helps it to blend into the neighborhood. You can see from the picture above that it is larger than the existing rowhouses, but so is the old factory historic rehab below (see the rowhouse on the left).

The other reason I think the new townhouses work well in their setting is that the Natty Boh Tower complex is just across the street, and the scale and massing of the buildings increase substantially. If anything, the townhouses create an intermediary zone and the height gradually changes instead of more drastically changing. Below is a picture of the Natty Boh buildings on Conkling Street. You can see how the buildings gradually get taller and take up the entire block.

My favorite part about the exterior of the new construction - the windows, which remind me of the windows on an old factory just down the street!

The Cornice

The cornice, in my opinion, can be one of the most striking elements of a building. At whatever point when siding and formstone became the thing to do, so many cornices were removed or covered. In this instance, they did it all.  

Wouldn't you be jealous if your neighbor had this beautiful painted cornice and you the large mass of  vinyl?

They come in all colors, shapes and sizes...but they're all better than not having one, or having one covered!

Some of the more plain variety, but still great!

I love these!

I love these too!

This whole row is awesome!

These owners should have agreed upon a color...

I could keep going with this, maybe more another day. I just happened to take these on a walk this beautiful afternoon! Which one is your favorite?

New England Vacation!

This past spring I went to visit one of my good friends in the Providence area.  I love New England, and if they didn't typically have worse winters that we do, I think I could easily live there! I fell in love with Newport, RI over this vacation, it reminded me a lot of Charleston, SC (where I went to college).  We also drove up to Boston for a few hours, had lunch with an old friend, and then walked around some. The parking situation in Boston almost makes me never want to complain about the parking in Baltimore...almost.

First up, Newport - a charming coastal town with a quaint, but lively, downtown, great vernacular architecture and the most ridiculously beautiful mansions...

Why I did not grow up in a house like this is beyond me...mom, care to answer?

and to have a view like this?

If I was a photographer, this stone wall would look a lot cooler...

I think this building is part of Salve Regina University's campus

I didn't take enough pictures of Newport, the houses we drove past were insane, but it was hard to photograph from the car...looks like I'll be planning another trip!


Now to Boston, Commonwealth Ave in particular, another street I wish I'd grown up on...any one of these houses will do...

Although I love a good mansard roof, so the house below would be nice, plus it looks like they have a little side yard to garden in!