#historic-preservation

#historic-preservation

Shortly after lightning sparked dozens of wildfires in California's Sierra Nevada foothills this week, author Stephen Provost received news that devastated him. Fire was sweeping through Chinese Camp, a Gold Rush-era town that a group of Chinese miners founded in the 19th century after they were driven out of a nearby settlement. The town's almost 100 residents were forced to evacuate and news reports showed flames consuming historic buildings.

After moving to Marfa in the 1970s, Judd purchased 22 buildings in the small Chihuahua desert town and transformed them into spaces to live, work, and display art. Among them are a former military complex turned residence and galleries for his large-scale pieces, an adobe house for his paintings and collection of antique Swedish and Shaker furniture, and an old Safeway for his art studio.

Project to project, the two endeavor to build conceptual through lines, referencing past successes without resting on repeats. "We always want to create new recipes, but we have ingredients that we know work," reflects Giancarlo. "Maybe we'll add a new spice here, a new sauce there. In this field, you create your own rules, but you can also break them."

Lucile Lloyd was a prominent [Works Progress Administration] muralist; she did work all among the schools in this area," said concert promoter Wilkerson. "There are photos of her in menswear smoking up in the rafters back in the 1930s. She had a tragic life, and ended up committing suicide. We thought all of the panels she did here were gone.

"There would be a string and they then hook it, and you would just ride it up and down, and that was fun," said Zamora-Solak.

Noakes Cross Farm is a 14th-century Grade II-listed farmhouse in Essex that has undergone a sensitive renovation to adapt it for modern living. Part of Fenn Wright's Signature collection of distinctive homes, the project carefully balances rarely seen historic features with practical contemporary spaces. The result is a property that perfectly blends medieval structure and detailing with light-filled, functional family living areas.

Firefighters battled a three-alarm blaze that broke out at an abandoned youth center early Friday morning, authorities said. The fire started at the building that formerly housed the Mexican American Community Services Agency, or MACSA, Youth Center on the 600 block of Sinclair Drive, according to a social media post from the San Jose Fire Department. The blaze was called in at 1:08 a.m. Firefighters performed defensive operations and were able to keep the fire from spreading beyond the building, authorities said.

According to the station, firefighters starting receiving calls about a fire in the town around 3 a.m., with the reports initially indicating there was a large brush fire on the side of Route 11 or Lakeshore Drive. Crews found the fire at the castle, at 59 Lockes Hill Road, but the flames quickly spread to the surrounding brush, burning about 2-acres, according to WMUR.

Currently, the city of Austin is working to negotiate ownership of the trestle, and until (ownership is established) it's not really appropriate to move forward with a bunch of alternatives for designing and rehabilitating this asset when it's not 100 percent clear that the city has complete ownership.

Welcome to another installment in the Rag's Historical Photo Challenge. The image above was taken somewhere on the Upper West Side, sometime in the past. Can you figure out where, when, and what it shows? Look closely; this week's challenge photo, like the others in the series, includes clues that will help you identify the scene, if you're a dedicated UWS history sleuth.

Here at Property Watch, we love Portland's "everyday houses": the common foursquares, ranches, and bungalows that line our streets and make up much of the city's housing stock. While they tend to be less showy and ornate, they're no less important, says architectural historian Thomas Hubka, for "their significant contribution to the over-all quality of our city's quality of life." Even more so when they become the subject of a creative makeover, like this jewel box of a bungalow in the Roseway neighborhood.

The Old City of Fongshan County, the oldest preserved walled city in Taiwan, reflects over two centuries of socio-economic change. In line with the client's goal to regenerate the site, an elevated walkway was implemented to maintain minimal visual and physical footprint while enabling modern exploration. This walkway, with its varied design, adapts to different needs along the city wall and integrates design elements into a single linear structure.

Garnier also calls limewash "as DIY-friendly as it gets." It's traditionally applied to porous and absorbent surfaces, such as drywall, plaster, stucco, cement, brick, and concrete. She praises the "beautiful tonal variations" in a limewash texture, saying, "When the lime begins to dry, it just starts blooming, giving you the highs and the lows of the colors." (N.B. Our story on Everything You Need to Know About Limewash Paint is one of our most popular of all time.)

A sign for Green-Wood is already in place on one wing of the new L-shaped building at 750 5th Avenue, which was designed by Architecture Research Office. The bright green of the historic building pops against the sleek terra-cotta panels of the two-story building, and the onion dome of the greenhouse still manages to dominate the corner. Landscaping, by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc., is also in place. A green roof tops the one-story glass wing that connects the greenhouse to the new structure.

The Hammer House sign on Wardour Street harkens back to the building's former use as the home of Hammer Film Productions, known for its horror movies.

Linda Marticek, a long-time resident, fears that the proposed 40-foot billboard would disrupt her peaceful neighborhood, impacting her home and the nearby historic church and cemetery.

The Sunnyvale Art Club is holding a juried art show Aug. 16-17 at the Sunnyvale Public Library, featuring 90 works of art.

Carroll has overseen the designation of nine historic districts and nine individual landmarks in Brooklyn, including the first historic district in Bushwick and several significant sites.

Santa Clara County is awarding $785,549 for projects that stabilize, preserve, rehabilitate, restore, or interpret historic resources in publicly accessible parks.

The house's hazardous condition has caused extensive damage to the roof and walls of the attached home on the right, which is still occupied.

The circa 1880 brownstone at 408 Macon Street was featured as a Brownstoner House of the Day in 2019 after a redo turned three units back into a single-family.

"There have been a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns in trying to figure out how to keep these buildings intact," said Historic Preservation Division Manager Kim McKnight. "We do have very clear direction from Council to do whatever is necessary to get this dealt with in terms of removing historic designation as an obstacle."

The property at 80 Willow Road isn't officially on the National Register of Historic Places because the owner objected to the listing, but the California Environmental Quality Act requires the property owner to complete an environmental impact report regarding the history.