Long Time, No Post

It has been a very busy month around here.  I am officially a resident of the Gulf Coast again!  We moved from Charleston to New Orleans at the beginning of June and, minus triple digit temps, are loving it!  I am working for a company that specializes in restaurant construction and design, primarily those that are housed in historic structures.  The last time I lived in New Orleans was for grad school, which amounted to all work and no play.  Needless to say, I have enjoyed exploring a little more this time around and I can’t wait to share parts of the city with you through the blog.  Up next is the St. Charles streetcar line (did you know that it is on the National Register of Historic Places?).  But for now I wanted to share an article from Houzz about New Orleans’ design.

“City View: New Orleans Style Mixes It Up”

–Brooke (with an e)

Jasmine Here, Jasmine There, Confederate Jasmine Everywhere

Strolling around Charleston in the Spring, bombarded by Confederate Jasmine, made me suddenly burst into my own version of a cult classic by a very wise man, Dr. Seuss.

Crawling up columns

On wrought iron and brick

Winding up stairs

As the air becomes thick

Tangled on poles

Growing low at your feet

What allergies you ask

The smell can’t be beat

Enveloping arbors and fences and walls

Rounding out gardens and growing in pots

One thing’s for sure

The South has a lot

Here is one of my all-time favorites:

–Brooke

*Canvas quote available here.

 

 

Pinterest Gone Wrong

I love a good tradition and Easter just isn’t Easter without dying eggs.  In the South, we go overboard with traditions and I love it!  My favorites are personal takes on standard traditions.  Most people eat turkey for Christmas around a dining room table.  My family likes to fry the turkey, then hang it from a basketball goal (or the nearest tree) to cool, and proceed to eat the still-hanging turkey outside, in the cold, in a huddle formation.  You may call it odd, we call it a Turkey Pull.  I digress, back to Easter.

In lieu of the standard dip-dye kit, I saw a pretty picture on Pinterest and decided to marbleize my eggs.  See the beautiful Martha Stewart image below.  Looks easy right?

 I’m not sure if we missed a step, but when we got to the “marbleize” part, my eggs turned a delightful shade of brown.  Nothing says Easter like Crayola’s Burnt Sienna.  So that’s when I decided to freestyle and pour the dye straight from the bottle onto the egg and shake it around a little bit resulting in a half tie-dye, half splatter-paint look.

I think they are really kind of pretty in a Jackson Pollock meets child of the 80s kind of way.

Here’s to a new Easter tradition and happy accidents.

 –Brooke

Coconut Green Curry Doughnuts…Say What?!

Davis and I are rarely on the same page when it comes to picking lunch and dinner spots but today we lucked out when we found out about the Food Truck Rodeo!  Craving crepes? Does your tummy need a taco?  Begging for BBQ?  Well you’re in luck because the options are endless when the trucks, and the creative minds inside them, meet up.  And for those with a sweet tooth, Diggity Doughnuts has combos to satisfy even the craziest of cravings.*

 Did you notice all the bright colors and funky graphics?  Love it!

 I have found that the best way to track them down is via the Food Truck Federation Facebook page, but for the more technically advanced, there is an app for that and this new-fangled thing called Twitter.

 Happy Spring!

–Brooke

*Eating anything but Krispy Kreme doughnuts is a good way to be excommunicated from my family…so as a little disclaimer: “Krispy Kreme always has been and always will be #1 in my heart.”

Not Your Average Bike Ride

Charleston Navy Yard was the setting for the Preservation Society’s Seven to Save fundraiser, aptly named Preservation Pedal.  Very similar to the Louisiana Landmarks Society’s New Orleans Nine program, the continuing goal is to bring awareness to historic buildings that are suffering demolition by neglect, are threatened by misguided development, or are tied up in bureaucracy.  You may be familiar with the National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Places campaign that addresses these issues on a national scale.  Incidentally, I mentioned Fort Gaines here before I was aware it was on the list.

Starting at 10 Storehouse Row, each participant was given a map of three historic districts located on the base and brief description of each stop.  Several buildings had docents that gave more detailed interpretations of the properties.  With ongoing construction from 1903 through the better part of the 20^th century, several building types and styles were evident on the tour.  The images below are just a glimpse of what we saw, but the base is open to the public and is well worth the short trip up there. For a more comprehensive look at the ongoing development surrounding the The Navy Yard, click here.

 If you would like to donate to the Preservation Society’s Seven to Save fund, or would like to become a member, please visit their website and check out their Facebook page for upcoming events.

 Thanks for reading!

–Brooke

Get It Girls!

Four smart ladies are making big changes in their small town of Water Valley, Mississippi.  Check out their story in this New York Times article:

“They Made Main Street Their Own”

quote by ghandi : image via pinterest

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Color Palettes

I have never been able to answer the “what’s your favorite color” question.  Really?  Just one?  Nope, can’t choose.  As a designer I find inspiration from a range of sources, but particularly in the depth and variation of materials wrought with age.  For this post I have channeled the ingenious creator behind Design Seeds.  Have you heard of it?  It is a website devoted entirely to color inspiration pulled straight from photographs.  Trying to decide on a color for your dining room or kitchen?  Look to your most loved objects as guides.  Can’t get enough of your favorite green shirt?  Translate that into a color concept for a room.  Over the past year or so I have cataloged images from my travels around the South and have selected a few for this exercise.

    Outbuilding Wall at Oakland Plantation :: Cane River Creole National Historical Park :: 2011

Early Twentieth Century Brick :: Mill #1 ::  Asheboro Hosiery Mills :: Asheboro, North Carolina :: 2011

Vintage Sign :: Malbis Plantation :: Baldwin County, Alabama :: 2010

Slave Cabin :: Laura Plantation :: Vacherie, Louisiana :: 2011

Thanks for reading!

– Brooke

 

Smile…You’ve Been Instagram’d.

 

all images taken on my iphone using instagram filters

first set of images ::  butcher & bee : design by david thompson (see blogroll) :  follow their daily menu @ butcher & bee charleston on facebook

second set of images ::  the stern of adele, a fully restored 1959 lyman runabout : lindsey & christopher, adele’s proud parents

third set of images :: the bow of adele : the cooper river bridge : me and janye j

last set of images :: boat parade : port of charleston : sunset on wappoo cut

–Brooke

On Your Mark..Get Set…Go!

New Year’s Day means it’s new calendar time! Yes I know there are handy dandy things like Google calendars and iphone apps but there is something so rewarding about remembering a birthday without the help of the internet or being able to scratch off a long list of errands.  I know all about this that handy tool, but let’s be honest, it’s just not the same.  In 2011, I used a leather, Molskine calendar which I loved, but in keeping with my New Year’s resolution of supporting super small businesses and local craftsmen, I decided upon this little gem on etsy from the The Fancy Lamb.   These were the runners up if you’re in the market for one. 

Here are a few more goodies from etsy… My birthday is June 6^th.  Mark your calendar.

A :: B :: C :: D :: E

Happy New Year!

-Brooke

 

Turkey Day on Dauphin Island

This year, my family spent the week of Thanksgiving on Dauphin Island.  Although it’s only 45 minutes from Mobile, it feels like a world away.  Dauphin Island is home to a Sea Lab & Estuarium, an Audubon Bird Sanctuary, and the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo. 

 One morning my mom and I took a long bike ride to explore the island.  She was on the hunt for driftwood, and I was in search of a blog post… luckily, I found two -a nineteenth century fort and a Mid-Century Modern beach club. 

Fort Gaines is located on the eastern tip of the island.  The major portion of the fort was completed by 1861and later modified in 1898.  Along with Fort Morgan, it protected the entrance to Mobile Bay in the Civil War and The Spanish American conflict.  Visually, I was drawn to the subtle variations in color and texture of the brickwork and iron. 

Dauphin Island was a fishing village until it was purchased, subdivided and developed in the 1950s.  Due to destruction from hurricanes and subsequent development, few structures from this time are intact. One of the few remaining structures is the Isle Dauphine Club, designed by the award winning firm of Winter & Ellis around 1956 and built by Manhattan Construction Company out of Houston, TX.  Unfortunately it is in a state of disrepair and has undergone several alterations.  I would love to see it brought back to its former self.  This article includes images of some of Winter’s residential work. Wouldn’t you love to see a fashion editorial or a movie shot here?  These are old postcards used to promote the island as a tourist destination.  Check out that ceiling!  

Built in different eras, for vastly different reasons, the two structures have one thing in common- they are visual reminders of the island’s transformation over the past three centuries.

 To learn more about the conservation of architecture from the Modern Era, visit the DOCOMOMO website.

 Thanks for reading & Happy Holidays!

–Brooke

UPDATE: Since originally posting this story about DI, a reader and friend of the family shared some information with me about her father, Gits Gale, who was a musician and fixture at the Isle Dauphine Club in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s and even played in Cuba.  The image below is of Mr. Gale in 1941.  This is a great reminder that historic preservation is about more than architecture, it is about the personal stories connected with those special places.