One of the highlights of the local holiday season is Stan Hywet’s annual Deck The Halls celebration, which is one of Ohio’s largest and most spectacular holiday traditions. The celebration runs from December 14-23 and December 26-30.

A million lights ensure that the holiday season always remains merry and bright.

The former Seiberling estate is illuminated inside and out with over ONE MILLION lights and this year, the historic Manor House is decorated and inspired by the theme of  Postcards from the Past. DAZZLE is a fantastic outdoor light show choreographed to three new songs this year and Gingerbread Land, the popular play garden has also been “dressed up” for the holiday season as well.

As always, the Great Hall is decked out in its holiday finest.

This year, the celebration is bigger and better than ever, and includes:

•Nightly tree lighting at 5:30pm. After Christmas, look for the Gingerbread Man.

•Live music in the Music Room, courtesy of area choirs and musicians.

•Self-guided tours of the Manor House included in ticket purchase.

•Freshly baked gingerbread cookies, savory warm pretzels, cocoa, hot cider, beer and wine for purchase in the Courtyard.

•Enjoy all of the above treats at the cozy warming fire in the Courtyard.

•Visit with Santa and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in the Corral in the Courtyard.

•Take a family photo at two featured photo spots—perfect for that family holiday picture.

•Marvel at our new animated Gingerbread Bakeshop Window in the Courtyard.

•The tropical Corbin Conservatory is beautifully decorated for Christmas with a 20ft poinsettia tree.

•Shop for unique holiday gifts in Molly’s Shop.

•Enjoy light fare or a sweet treat in Molly’s Café after your tour.

For more information, go to: www.stanhywet.org

Things have been quiet for some time, as I have become involved in a local historic preservation project as well as ongoing work at my own house. But over the coming weeks I’ll try to fill you in on the highlights of my recent trip to the UK, where I was able to take in a number of memorable sights and enjoy a fair amount of good pub ale.

A grand staircase at Hampton Court Palace

To simplify things, we based our stay in London; I had initially planned to book accommodations in three different cities, but there was simply so much to see—and with a pre-booked single day-trip via Eurostar train to Paris—we figured it would just be simpler to stay in one place, which in this case was a wonderful small hotel in Belgravia.

Liberty of London. This department store is just as amazing on the interior.

We took in all the obligatory London sites—Westminster Abbey, The Tower of London, St. Paul’s, Tower Bridge, etc. as well as personal favorites like Shakespeare’s Globe and Liberty of London. Half-day jaunts to Windsor Castle and Hampton Courts were also on the list—as was a visit to Highclere, which my daughter requested, being a fan of Downton Abbey. Not my first choice for a country house tour; I would have preferred something more in the vein of Wightwick Manor or Cragside…but that must wait for a future visit.

The Thames at Windsor. Had a lovely lunch at the restaurant across the way.

I will get into more detail in follow-up posts. Suffice it to say that the trip was all that I had expected; the London Underground was superb and so easy-to-use, the pubs were picturesque and delightful, the people were friendly and the architecture was sublime. Everything you could hope for.

Through its Grand Houses and Gardens Tour Program, set to run from September 15-23, 2017, Scotland’s National Trust has developed a deluxe travel package that will offer visitors a chance to explore a number of historic properties, including C.R. Mackintosh’s Hill House, Fyvie Castle, Falkland Palace & Garden, Craigievar Castle and many others.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh's best known house - Hill House

The trip package is the first of its kind offered by National Trust for Scotland Foundation, USA (NTSUSA), which helps raise funds for the charity in the United States. Among the many trip highlights, art historian Dr. Evelyn Silber will lead a tour of Glasgow, taking in Charles Rennie Mackintosh's buildings, including the Glasgow School of Art as well as Hill House in Helensburgh, currently the subject of a fundraising appeal.

In the northeast, highlights will include Pitmidden Garden, the Robert Adam-designed Haddo House, pink-turreted Fyvie Castle, and Drum Castle, which now houses a contemporary art gallery.

Craigievar Castle was home to the Forbes family for over 350 years.

"We are so pleased to offer an exceptional tour to Scotland designed with an American audience in mind, said Kirstin Bridier, executive director of NTSUSA. "This trip combines visits to iconic sites like Edinburgh Castle with behind-the-scenes access at National Trust for Scotland treasures including Haddo House and The Hill House. We can't wait to share the extraordinary beauty and history of Scotland with individuals from the US."

You can find out more HERE.

These particular reviews, while sharing some observations regarding the content, design and quality of the book, are primarily intended to highlight the personal meaning they have for me and how they have served my interest in English Architecture.

Back some time in the mid-1980’s I acquired a copy of Mark Girouard’s The Victorian Country House. At the time, we were living in a modest stucco-and-shingle English cottage in Goodyear Heights, and I was dreaming of eventually building my own “country house”—though on a much smaller scale than those rambling piles featured in Girouard’s book.

To this day, the book remains one of the central resources in my library, and still informs my basic attitudes regarding design, building history and taste. Beginning with a thoughtful overview of the Victorian country house-building phenomenon, Girouard goes on to highlight about two dozen memorable examples of country houses—describing not only their planning and design, but also providing insights into their owners and architects. The chapters, which are clear, well-researched and highly entertaining, reveal a colorful tapestry of Victorian society: nouveau riche industrialists, landed gentry, eccentrics, aesthete artists, pious politicians and above all—original and talented architects. The main section is followed by a brief gazetteer of better-known houses built during the Victorian period. The book is very well illustrated; one might wish for more color photos, but I have always found black-and-white images to be very evocative and often highly appropriate to the subject of old houses.



As the years passed, I went on to collect most all of Mr. Girouard’s books. Along with this particular work, another book of his, The Return to Camelot: Chivalry and the English Gentleman, provided much inspiration for my first novel, The Steadfast.

The mind conjures up a great many things, and when I eventually did build my own house a few years later, it was easy to sometimes imagine myself some minor Lord, making designs, studying and evaluating plans and somehow—seeking to express my essence in a house. Like life itself, the final product turned out to be full of compromises in size, design and materials. The grand plans I first developed (I was my own architect) eventually shape-shifted from a stately, stucco-covered manor house to a broad, brick-and shingle Tudor Revival house…to finally materialize in a 4-bedroom, Old English “cottage” on a 90’ foot wide lot. Thus do dreams run smack dab into the brambled hedgerow of reality. Nevertheless, I still remain Lord of my modest manor.

For those who are interested in the types of houses featured on this blog, I highly recommend The Victorian Country House as a fine place to start your reading. I feel confident you will find it not only informative, but highly inspiring, as I did.

One of the more gratifying things one can do is to be able to put knowledge to good use, and I was able to do exactly this last weekend as I was able to lead a historic neighborhood tour of Akron’s Goodyear Heights through @Akron2Akron, a local group that helps organized and promote city neighborhood tours in an effort to help residents discover and appreciate the places where they live.

This pedestrian pathway and steps was dedicated to Clara Bingham,  a 47-year Goodyear employee who was popularly knows as "The First Lady of Goodyear."

I won’t go into a lot of detail in this post—there is a downloadable brochure I prepared; a PDF Dropbox link is HERE if you’d like to read more about it. In short, Goodyear Heights is one of the better American examples of the Garden City Movement as it was transformed into a high quality community for industrial employees of Frank Seiberling’s Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Planning began in 1912, when Seiberling used his master landscape designer, Warren Manning (who had already designed the grounds at his landmark Tudor-Revival mansion, Stan Hywet) to layout a small town for his workers.


Manning, who was a senior assistant to the legendary landscape designer Fredrick Law Olmstead, laid out a masterful plan that followed the topography of the site, leaving many open areas for parks and other public areas. Seiberling also hired noted architects to design attractive homes for the community; rather than settle for typical utilitarian worker housing, he insisted on a wide variety of higher-quality “cottages” – many of which were based on traditional English small home designs.
While the community is also home to a number of other popular early 20th century house styles, like bungalows, craftsman-style homes and quaint colonials, the English influence is clear, from the Tudor-revival Boy Scout Center to more modest homes reminiscent of small houses by Voysey, Baillie Scott and Lutyens. Other buildings in the area followed this trend, including the original high school (built to resemble a Tudor palace) the neighborhood’s public library and Goodyear Hall, which was the company’s educational center and recreation building.

Due to the neighborhood’s size and historic character, our @Akron2Akron tours were held over two days, with two distinct tour routes offered on each date. The tour I led followed a slightly more challenging uphill route, following a series of pedestrian paths and steps that had been integrated into the neighborhood’s original design, allowing convenient access between various street levels. Pour other tour followed a more level route, through the project’s initial phase and taking in some of the open park spaces that Manning had preserved.

On each route, the guides were able to discuss the history of the development, the challenges of construction and the wide variety of home designs found in the there. The weather was perfect, with everything so green and the flowers in bloom, the neighborhood showed quite well, and afterward, everyone was able to meet at the gazebo at the “square” on Pioneer Street for refreshments and cookies. This public area offers a great opportunity to capture Manning’s (and Seiberling’s) original vision, with its human scale and comfortable mix of buildings used for commerce, housing, social services and worship. In recent years, the R.I.G.H.T. Committee (Resident Improving Goodyear Heights Together) led by Sharon Connor, has done an outstanding job in helping to build the gazebo, restore and maintain the rose garden here, and helping to stabilize and improve the neighborhood. Overall, the tours were a great success; somewhere between 75-100 people attended the first Thursday evening tour on June 9th, and another 35 or so attended the Saturday 6/11 follow-up--making this the best attended @Akron2Akron event so far. It was nice to see that not only did we have attendees from all over Akron, but that a number of neighborhood residents came out as well to discover more about their neighborhood and celebrate its history!

The gazebo was built almost 20 years ago by community volunteers, using materials, proportions and a scale that would compliment the surrounding buildings on the public square.

The @Akron2Akron tour is the first of many activities planned for Goodyear Heights, as current and former residents, city officials, preservationists and other activists are finally coming together to develop plans to protect and preserve this historic neighborhood, which has been recognized for its significance on both the state and national level. During our tour, I discovered that part of the Heights had actually been nominated for the National Register of Historic places back in the 1970’s, but a short-sighted city planning director had discouraged the nomination. Currently discussion has centered on developing a simpler local historic designation as a start, in combination with educational programs and some local funding to encourage and support the preservation and restoration of neighborhood homes.

This was just some of our Thursday night tour group - one more busload of trolley riders was yet to arrive!

A city trolley bus was available to transport attendees from parking areas nearby to the starting point on Malasia Road.

One of the more gratifying things one can do is to be able to put knowledge to good use, and I was able to do exactly this last weekend as I was able to lead a historic neighborhood tour of Akron’s Goodyear Heights through @Akron2Akron, a local group that helps organized and promote city neighborhood tours in an effort to help residents discover and appreciate the places where they live.

This pedestrian pathway and steps was dedicated to Clara Bingham,  a 47-year Goodyear employee who was popularly knows as "The First Lady of Goodyear."

I won’t go into a lot of detail in this post—there is a downloadable brochure I prepared; a PDF Dropbox link is HERE if you’d like to read more about it. In short, Goodyear Heights is one of the better American examples of the Garden City Movement as it was transformed into a high quality community for industrial employees of Frank Seiberling’s Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Planning began in 1912, when Seiberling used his master landscape designer, Warren Manning (who had already designed the grounds at his landmark Tudor-Revival mansion, Stan Hywet) to layout a small town for his workers.


Manning, who was a senior assistant to the legendary landscape designer Fredrick Law Olmstead, laid out a masterful plan that followed the topography of the site, leaving many open areas for parks and other public areas. Seiberling also hired noted architects to design attractive homes for the community; rather than settle for typical utilitarian worker housing, he insisted on a wide variety of higher-quality “cottages” – many of which were based on traditional English small home designs.
While the community is also home to a number of other popular early 20th century house styles, like bungalows, craftsman-style homes and quaint colonials, the English influence is clear, from the Tudor-revival Boy Scout Center to more modest homes reminiscent of small houses by Voysey, Baillie Scott and Lutyens. Other buildings in the area followed this trend, including the original high school (built to resemble a Tudor palace) the neighborhood’s public library and Goodyear Hall, which was the company’s educational center and recreation building.

Due to the neighborhood’s size and historic character, our @Akron2Akron tours were held over two days, with two distinct tour routes offered on each date. The tour I led followed a slightly more challenging uphill route, following a series of pedestrian paths and steps that had been integrated into the neighborhood’s original design, allowing convenient access between various street levels. Pour other tour followed a more level route, through the project’s initial phase and taking in some of the open park spaces that Manning had preserved.

On each route, the guides were able to discuss the history of the development, the challenges of construction and the wide variety of home designs found in the there. The weather was perfect, with everything so green and the flowers in bloom, the neighborhood showed quite well, and afterward, everyone was able to meet at the gazebo at the “square” on Pioneer Street for refreshments and cookies. This public area offers a great opportunity to capture Manning’s (and Seiberling’s) original vision, with its human scale and comfortable mix of buildings used for commerce, housing, social services and worship. In recent years, the R.I.G.H.T. Committee (Resident Improving Goodyear Heights Together) led by Sharon Connor, has done an outstanding job in helping to build the gazebo, restore and maintain the rose garden here, and helping to stabilize and improve the neighborhood. Overall, the tours were a great success; somewhere between 75-100 people attended the first Thursday evening tour on June 9th, and another 35 or so attended the Saturday 6/11 follow-up--making this the best attended @Akron2Akron event so far. It was nice to see that not only did we have attendees from all over Akron, but that a number of neighborhood residents came out as well to discover more about their neighborhood and celebrate its history!

The gazebo was built almost 20 years ago by community volunteers, using materials, proportions and a scale that would compliment the surrounding buildings on the public square.

The @Akron2Akron tour is the first of many activities planned for Goodyear Heights, as current and former residents, city officials, preservationists and other activists are finally coming together to develop plans to protect and preserve this historic neighborhood, which has been recognized for its significance on both the state and national level. During our tour, I discovered that part of the Heights had actually been nominated for the National Register of Historic places back in the 1970’s, but a short-sighted city planning director had discouraged the nomination. Currently discussion has centered on developing a simpler local historic designation as a start, in combination with educational programs and some local funding to encourage and support the preservation and restoration of neighborhood homes.

This was just some of our Thursday night tour group - one more busload of trolley riders was yet to arrive!

A city trolley bus was available to transport attendees from parking areas nearby to the starting point on Malasia Road.

While we’ve always been focused on a specific area of architecture and design, there can be no doubt that preservation of historic buildings—as both a principle and a cultural and economic benefit—is something that deserves attention. Having reviewed how economic, social and geographic forces have had an impact on the architectural landscape of my own city in a recent Medium post, I wanted to share not only that story but also a recent conversation on the subject I had on local radio.

That Medium essay, LITTLE BIG TOWN: How Akron’s Unique History Has Impacted its Architecture – got a fair share of reads. The essay goes into some detail on how several consecutive waves of economic development have impacted Akron’s built environment, resulting in a situation where very few buildings from the canal-era or late 19th-century still exist. It also outlined the successes and failures of 20th century development, including downtown urban renewal, mid-century highway construction, and the failure of city government to embrace historic preservation within city neighborhoods.

The article made enough impact that I was invited to discuss the subject on one of the local radio stations, WAKR-AM. The entire segment, from the Jason Sokol Show, can be heard HERE.

While we’ve always been focused on a specific area of architecture and design, there can be no doubt that preservation of historic buildings—as both a principle and a cultural and economic benefit—is something that deserves attention. Having reviewed how economic, social and geographic forces have had an impact on the architectural landscape of my own city in a recent Medium post, I wanted to share not only that story but also a recent conversation on the subject I had on local radio.


That Medium essay, LITTLE BIG TOWN: How Akron’s Unique History Has Impacted its Architecture – got a fair share of reads. The essay goes into some detail on how several consecutive waves of economic development have impacted Akron’s built environment, resulting in a situation where very few buildings from the canal-era or late 19th-century still exist. It also outlined the successes and failures of 20th century development, including downtown urban renewal, mid-century highway construction, and the failure of city government to embrace historic preservation within city neighborhoods.


The article made enough impact that I was invited to discuss the subject on one of the local radio stations, WAKR-AM. The entire segment, from the Jason Sokol Show, can be heard HERE.

The cards are full color - 54 included

If you are a retailer, a gift shop at a Heritage house (your house may be in the deck!) or other museum shop and desire to purchase in quantity, please contact us and we will help you obtain stock at a lower price. Simply email us at thelonggallery@gmail.com.

Here is a list of the houses included in the deck:

BLUE SET

1 HARDWICK
2 HADDON
3 WINGFIELD  
4 MONTACUTE
5 ASHTON
6 CLEVEDON  
7 BARRINGTON

RED SET

8 CHASTELTON HOUSE
9 NORTH ASTON HALL
10 ASTHALL MANOR
11 MAPLEDURHAM HOUSE
12 BURFORD PRIORY
13 CARSWELL MANOR
14 GARSINGTON MANOR

GREEN SET

15 ASCOTT HOUSE
16 HARTWELL HOUSE
17 DORNEY COURT
18 CHENIES
19 CHEQUERS
20 DORTON    
21 GAYHURST

PURPLE SET

22 SWARLAND OLD HALL    
23 APETHORPE HALL
24 BARNWELL
25 BURTON CONSTABLE
26 BURTON AGNES
27 FOUNTAINS   
28 HOWSHAM        

AQUA SET

29 COMPTON WYNYATES
30 CASTLE ASHBY
31 CHARLECOTE PARK
32 PACKWOOD HOUSE
33 ST JOHNS HOUSE
34 COOMBE ABBEY
35 BURGHLEY HOUSE

ORANGE SET

36 WOLLATON HALL
37 LONGLEAT HOUSE
38 CHARLTON PARK
39 LITTLECOTE HOUSE
40 CORESHAM COURT
41 BOLEHYDE MANOR
42 CHARLWOOD HOUSE

MAROON SET

43 BOOTHBY PAGNELL 
44 ATHELHAMPTON HOUSE
45 THE VYNE
46 LITTLE MORETON HALL 
47 DODDINGTON HALL
48 GREAT BIDLAKE
49 AUDLEY END   

BLACK (ROYAL) SET
50 HAMPTON COURT   
51 RICHMOND PALACE   
52 TOWER OF LONDON   

53 Card List & Intro Text
54 Rules

ST. PAULS SUNDAY SCHOOL & PARISH HOUSE - BUILT 1880'S.

Back in 1986, I was sitting in the kitchen of Elsie Snyder, a local preservationist, along with a few other people, wondering what we could do to avoid the demolition of an old historic apartment building near Akron’s Grace Park. Those gatherings, and that initial effort—which ultimately proved to be unsuccessful—led to the founding of a local group called Progress Through Preservation, (now known as the Preservation Alliance of Greater Akron) which still operates today. I bring this up for two reasons. One – more of our local historic structures are seriously threatened with demolition. And Two – I am wondering if anyone in Akron will make a concerted effort to stop it.

The buildings in question are two of Akron’s most historic, and have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places for many years. They include the former St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and adjacent Sunday School Building and Parish House, located at East Market and Forge Streets. These remarkable gothic structures are among the few remaining links to 19th Century Akron, and the Sunday School is one of the better preserved examples of the historic “Akron Plan” that was developed by Lewis Miller and utilized in hundreds of church buildings across the nation up until WWI. They are attractive, generally well-preserved structures, dating from the 1880’s – 1890’s.
I believe the plan is to raze them to help create some sort of “grand entrance” to the University of Akron from East Market Street; I suppose to complement a similar plan they have for a southern entrance off East Exchange Street. Needless to say, the plan—and the building’s demolition—is unnecessary and short-sighted, and wholly representative of the school’s new administration, which has alienated itself from the greater community through a number of recent missteps such as this.


I may resolve to join yet, but I may wait to see what, if anything, the group will do to help stop the demolition of these historic buildings. The fact is, there is so little left of Akron from the pre-Rubber Boom era that we should be making a special effort to preserve buildings like these. Aside from a few church buildings, the only other structures left from this era are the Robinson Mansion at Buchtel Avenue (currently for sale) and an old funeral home. This stretch of East Market used to be lined with large mansions, much like Cleveland’s old Euclid Avenue—another victim of “progress.”



ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL - ORIGINAL SANCTUARY

I don’t know if this is true in many other places—somehow, I suspect it is—but it seems that some preservation organizations that were active, militant and vocal about preservation during the years when they were established have devolved into “historic architecture social clubs”. These groups plan neighborhood tours, handout preservation awards and maybe talk about appreciating old houses, but no longer take an active role in promoting, planning and fighting for historic preservation.

Years ago, the founders of these organizations would criticize historic groups who only looked at preservation through the concept of “historic house/building museums” – an approach based on taking a few of the very best old buildings, and preserving them in a glass case for future generations to enjoy. Thirty years ago, “real” preservationists knew that approach alone was not sufficient; they knew that preservation also meant saving neighborhoods, promoting adaptive re-use, promoting education, demanding government support, and weaving preservation into the fabric of our cities.

Just this last summer, the local preservation group I’ve mentioned held a Fir Hill neighborhood tour right where these buildings are currently under threat. I wonder what they were looking at. On that street alone, two of the large houses, an 1870’s era Alumni Center and a large 1890’s era mansion (most recently a fraternity house) had been demolished over the last couple of years, leaving just a handful of buildings on the street. If this pattern continues, there won’t be much to see there in coming years.

Distant tours of Detroit—which have also been on the group’s itinerary—will only have value if lessons learned in those cities are brought back to Akron and put into action. Preservation isn’t about talking to ourselves, or touring old houses with “enthusiasts” – it’s about preserving and protecting an environment, and reconnecting with our heritage.

I’ve written my “Letter to The Editor” regarding the possible demolition of these historic structures—and I would happily protest any effort toward their removal. The question is, will anyone join me?

ST. PAULS SUNDAY SCHOOL & PARISH HOUSE - BUILT 1880'S.

Back in 1986, I was sitting in the kitchen of Elsie Snyder, a local preservationist, along with a few other people, wondering what we could do to avoid the demolition of an old historic apartment building near Akron’s Grace Park. Those gatherings, and that initial effort—which ultimately proved to be unsuccessful—led to the founding of a local group called Progress Through Preservation, (now known as the Preservation Alliance of Greater Akron) which still operates today. I bring this up for two reasons. One – more of our local historic structures are seriously threatened with demolition. And Two – I am wondering if anyone in Akron will make a concerted effort to stop it.

The buildings in question are two of Akron’s most historic, and have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places for many years. They include the former St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and adjacent Sunday School Building and Parish House, located at East Market and Forge Streets. These remarkable gothic structures are among the few remaining links to 19th Century Akron, and the Sunday School is one of the better preserved examples of the historic “Akron Plan” that was developed by Lewis Miller and utilized in hundreds of church buildings across the nation up until WWI. They are attractive, generally well-preserved structures, dating from the 1880’s – 1890’s.

I believe the plan is to raze them to help create some sort of “grand entrance” to the University of Akron from East Market Street; I suppose to complement a similar plan they have for a southern entrance off East Exchange Street. Needless to say, the plan—and the building’s demolition—is unnecessary and short-sighted, and wholly representative of the school’s new administration, which has alienated itself from the greater community through a number of recent missteps such as this.


I may resolve to join yet, but I may wait to see what, if anything, the group will do to help stop the demolition of these historic buildings. The fact is, there is so little left of Akron from the pre-Rubber Boom era that we should be making a special effort to preserve buildings like these. Aside from a few church buildings, the only other structures left from this era are the Robinson Mansion at Buchtel Avenue (currently for sale) and an old funeral home. This stretch of East Market used to be lined with large mansions, much like Cleveland’s old Euclid Avenue—another victim of “progress.”



ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL - ORIGINAL SANCTUARY

I don’t know if this is true in many other places—somehow, I suspect it is—but it seems that some preservation organizations that were active, militant and vocal about preservation during the years when they were established have devolved into “historic architecture social clubs”. These groups plan neighborhood tours, handout preservation awards and maybe talk about appreciating old houses, but no longer take an active role in promoting, planning and fighting for historic preservation.

Years ago, the founders of these organizations would criticize historic groups who only looked at preservation through the concept of “historic house/building museums” – an approach based on taking a few of the very best old buildings, and preserving them in a glass case for future generations to enjoy. Thirty years ago, “real” preservationists knew that approach alone was not sufficient; they knew that preservation also meant saving neighborhoods, promoting adaptive re-use, promoting education, demanding government support, and weaving preservation into the fabric of our cities.

Just this last summer, the local preservation group I’ve mentioned held a Fir Hill neighborhood tour right where these buildings are currently under threat. I wonder what they were looking at. On that street alone, two of the large houses, an 1870’s era Alumni Center and a large 1890’s era mansion (most recently a fraternity house) had been demolished over the last couple of years, leaving just a handful of buildings on the street. If this pattern continues, there won’t be much to see there in coming years.

Distant tours of Detroit—which have also been on the group’s itinerary—will only have value if lessons learned in those cities are brought back to Akron and put into action. Preservation isn’t about talking to ourselves, or touring old houses with “enthusiasts” – it’s about preserving and protecting an environment, and reconnecting with our heritage.

I’ve written my “Letter to The Editor” regarding the possible demolition of these historic structures—and I would happily protest any effort toward their removal. The question is, will anyone join me?

.
Los Angeles: Writer Pen Densham sells Windsor Square-area home for $2.75 million

The Los Angeles Times reports that Densham's English Manor-style home, built in 1906, was moved to its current location from Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. This was done by the Bullock family — popular department store owners — earning it the name Bullock House. An oversized entry with beamed ceilings leads to the living room, library, formal dining room and carved-wood staircase. There are eight bedrooms, 71/2 bathrooms and a basement.


Pricing a Critical Element in Country House Sales

According to Country Life Online, buyers are becoming much more choosy in today’s country house market, and insisting on value for money. According to Ed Sugden of buying agents Property Vision, fewer purchasers are looking to buy a country property in February 2012 than there were at the same time last year-up to 40% fewer in some areas. So, it's become critical that sellers get their pricing right if they want their property to get a second look-or even a first look.

"With second-home buyers unlikely to figure much in 2012, in my view, only three types of property will attract buyers. These are houses of exceptional quality, family homes within driving distance of a popular prep school and previously unsold houses that have had their prices reduced sufficiently for buyers to feel they're getting a really good deal," Mr Sugden says. "In fact, purchasers now expect value for money whatever they're buying." [more]


New light shed on the history of Tenby and its 16th Century boom

Once one of Wales’ busiest ports, with bustling trade being done on nearby streets, Tenby is an attractive town that has seen new light shed on cues relating to Tenby’s boom time in the 16th century after it was discovered a previously unknown silversmith was operating in the town.

Research commissioned by the National Trust about the Tudor Merchant’s House on Quay Hill led to the amazing find that a silversmith was trading in Tenby in the early 1500s, something that had not previously been suspected. The research is being conducted to discover the name of the merchant who lived and traded at the Tudor Merchant’s House, but in the process, an number of other new and significant finds about the town’s history are being made. [more]


Exhibition: Photography and the Royal Family 1840-1880

Professor John Plunkett from the University of Exeter will explore Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's interest in photography as collectors. This lecture also shows them as subjects of the photography industry which was fast becoming a commercial and popular media for disseminating the images of distinguished people and ‘celebrities'. [at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter] [more]



Letter informing Henry VIII of his longed-for son's birth is found after 469 years in stately home
A letter from Jane Seymour telling her husband Henry VIII that his longed-for son had been born has been uncovered at a stately home. The message announcing the birth of future King Edward VI was found carefully preserved on a shelf in the picture store room at Dunham Massey estate in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. It had gone unnoticed since the house was handed to the National Trust in 1976 because it was written in Old English... [more]

.
Los Angeles: Writer Pen Densham sells Windsor Square-area home for $2.75 million

The Los Angeles Times reports that Densham's English Manor-style home, built in 1906, was moved to its current location from Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. This was done by the Bullock family — popular department store owners — earning it the name Bullock House. An oversized entry with beamed ceilings leads to the living room, library, formal dining room and carved-wood staircase. There are eight bedrooms, 71/2 bathrooms and a basement.


Pricing a Critical Element in Country House Sales

According to Country Life Online, buyers are becoming much more choosy in today’s country house market, and insisting on value for money. According to Ed Sugden of buying agents Property Vision, fewer purchasers are looking to buy a country property in February 2012 than there were at the same time last year-up to 40% fewer in some areas. So, it's become critical that sellers get their pricing right if they want their property to get a second look-or even a first look.

"With second-home buyers unlikely to figure much in 2012, in my view, only three types of property will attract buyers. These are houses of exceptional quality, family homes within driving distance of a popular prep school and previously unsold houses that have had their prices reduced sufficiently for buyers to feel they're getting a really good deal," Mr Sugden says. "In fact, purchasers now expect value for money whatever they're buying." [more]


New light shed on the history of Tenby and its 16th Century boom

Once one of Wales’ busiest ports, with bustling trade being done on nearby streets, Tenby is an attractive town that has seen new light shed on cues relating to Tenby’s boom time in the 16th century after it was discovered a previously unknown silversmith was operating in the town.

Research commissioned by the National Trust about the Tudor Merchant’s House on Quay Hill led to the amazing find that a silversmith was trading in Tenby in the early 1500s, something that had not previously been suspected. The research is being conducted to discover the name of the merchant who lived and traded at the Tudor Merchant’s House, but in the process, an number of other new and significant finds about the town’s history are being made. [more]


Exhibition: Photography and the Royal Family 1840-1880

Professor John Plunkett from the University of Exeter will explore Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's interest in photography as collectors. This lecture also shows them as subjects of the photography industry which was fast becoming a commercial and popular media for disseminating the images of distinguished people and ‘celebrities'. [at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter] [more]



Letter informing Henry VIII of his longed-for son's birth is found after 469 years in stately home
A letter from Jane Seymour telling her husband Henry VIII that his longed-for son had been born has been uncovered at a stately home. The message announcing the birth of future King Edward VI was found carefully preserved on a shelf in the picture store room at Dunham Massey estate in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. It had gone unnoticed since the house was handed to the National Trust in 1976 because it was written in Old English... [more]

Millions of people watch Downton Abbey on Television, or visit the stately homes that have managed to avoid demolition, through some combination of good luck, intelligent management or adoption by a group such as The National Trust. Unfortunately, many thousands of houses did not survive. Many were lost to urban development, fire, or simple neglect; years ago, people were less included to worry about conservation, and it turned out that a great homes which had been passed down through centuries could be lost within a generation.


Many of these homes became simply unaffordable as the owners' incomes fell, or due to inheritance tax demands. In the case of Beaudesert (pictured above) the "Dancing 5th Marquess of Anglesey" simply gambled his fortune away, leaving his estate to ruin and eventual sale after his death in Monte Carlo in 1904. While some of the neglectful practices and development schemes common to the 20th century are no longer accepted, many great houses are still at risk.


The Mail's Catherine Ostler presented a fine article on this subject, featuring a number of grand houses that have been lost to the ages. As the article states:

"Death, debt, urban sprawl: there are many reasons why England has lost so many of its Downton Abbeys. A third of Britain’s historic estates, with their elegant country houses, deer parks, farms and churches with family crypts, have been demolished, diminished or turned into flats — 1,000 since World War II. The lucky ones got taken over by the National Trust. The unlucky ones had the contents ripped out and sold off and were then flattened by developers."

The article highlights Historian John Martin Robinson’s new book, Felling The Ancient Oaks,  How England Lost Its Great Country Estates (Aurum, £30), which examines the fate of 21 of these extinct estates, illustrated by poignant photographs of a lost world.

You can read the article HERE.

Buy the Book HERE.

Millions of people watch Downton Abbey on Television, or visit the stately homes that have managed to avoid demolition, through some combination of good luck, intelligent management or adoption by a group such as The National Trust. Unfortunately, many thousands of houses did not survive. Many were lost to urban development, fire, or simple neglect; years ago, people were less included to worry about conservation, and it turned out that a great homes which had been passed down through centuries could be lost within a generation.



Many of these homes became simply unaffordable as the owners' incomes fell, or due to inheritance tax demands. In the case of Beaudesert (pictured above) the "Dancing 5th Marquess of Anglesey" simply gambled his fortune away, leaving his estate to ruin and eventual sale after his death in Monte Carlo in 1904. While some of the neglectful practices and development schemes common to the 20th century are no longer accepted, many great houses are still at risk.


The Mail's Catherine Ostler presented a fine article on this subject, featuring a number of grand houses that have been lost to the ages. As the article states:

"Death, debt, urban sprawl: there are many reasons why England has lost so many of its Downton Abbeys. A third of Britain’s historic estates, with their elegant country houses, deer parks, farms and churches with family crypts, have been demolished, diminished or turned into flats — 1,000 since World War II. The lucky ones got taken over by the National Trust. The unlucky ones had the contents ripped out and sold off and were then flattened by developers."

The article highlights Historian John Martin Robinson’s new book, Felling The Ancient Oaks,  How England Lost Its Great Country Estates (Aurum, £30), which examines the fate of 21 of these extinct estates, illustrated by poignant photographs of a lost world.

You can read the article HERE.

Buy the Book HERE.

Musician Robert Hollingworth, best known for his directorial work with the brilliant ensemble I Fagiolini, has decided to set some of the most famous love poems ever written to contemporary music. Howevere, there is a twist: All the works will be performed on instruments popular at the time of Elizabeth I and her successor, King James.


Singers on the album will include folk star Eliza Carthy, and they are all backed by musicians playing replica instruments such as lutes, a type of 16-string cello called a lirone and a massive stringed instrument called a theorbo. Among the musicians involved in the project is drummer Geoff Dugmore, who dropped his rock and roll roots (having played with Rod Stewart and Tina Turner) to play renaissance drums on an album which has taken six months to record.

The arrangements on the album, which were developed by Hollingworth, have not changed any of Shakespeare's words but have repeated some lines and moved others. The sonnets include 154 poems, and were first published in 1609, just a few years before Shakespeare's death.

The album, called The Sonnets, set to be released on April 23 -- Shakespeare's birthday. Mr Hollingworth says he thinks the venture would have a certain "curiosity value" but expect it to be liked by everyone from pop music fans to poetry-lovers.