restoring the roost

North Carolina Country Living and Farmhouse Style

North Carolina Country Living and Farmhouse Style
since 2010

architectural history

farmhouse love

· architectural history

Do you dream of an old country farmhouse? The kind with a deep porch, a tin roof, hand-blown glass windows, and surrouned by picturesque rolling hills, gardens, and fruit trees?  Well, though it may be far from perfect, I found a gem of a farmhouse just down the road from my house that I’ve been admiring from afar….

Isn’t it sweet? Yes, it is quite dilapidated and would require a complete restoration. But I think it would be totally worth it. It looks to be a cross-gabled plan with a rear ell addition (not seen from the road). The primary wing of the house containing the small shed porch is a Triple-A I-house, very common to this region, and of which I am particularly fond. The generous window bays are original two-over-two wood sash (at least what’s left of them). 

I would have loved to have peeked inside, but we stayed on the right-of-way to snap some photos.
For now, I’ll just have to imagine the potential and keep on dreaming…
You probably think I’m crazy. But someday I would love to take on the challenge 
of restoring a sweet little farmhouse like this.

Do you know your roost’s history?

· architectural history, DIY tutorials

Are you curious about the history of your old house? What story would your home tell if its walls could talk? Perhaps someone lived there that later went on to become famous, a juicy scandal could have taken place, or the house may have been designed by a well-known architect.

If you are willing to put a little time and energy into research, below are some steps to discovering your historic home’s history:

  • Is your house in a historic district? Check with your local SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) to see if your house has been surveyed either in a municipal or county-wide comprehensive architectural survey. If so, ask for access to a copy of the survey to see if you house has been included in the inventory.
  • Check your county’s GIS website or tax records (possibly located at your courthouse or government administration facility) for basic information. Ask the staff to help you navigate the website or online records database if you need help. Sometimes these records will include the date in which the house was constructed.
  • Check with your local historical society, archives, or public library for basic research resources like local histories, geneologies, architectural history publications, photographic histories and old postcards. Explain to the archivist or person on staff what you are looking for- these people are a great help and often a wealth of information regarding sources pertinent to your research.
a small piece from a 1907 Sanborn Insurance map 
  • Utilize Sanborn Insurance maps. (image at right) These were created starting in the last quarter of the 19th century by the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company for many cities and towns. You can glean key bits of information from them about the buildings themselves, street patterns, and the building’s use.  A good library or university archives should have these maps available in digital or sometimes hard-copy format. Some originals are even in color.
  •  Check with your local newspaper’s archives to see if they have any old photographs or articles that might mention your neighborhood. If you are lucky, your local library might have newspaper articles indexed by year and separated by subject. You can usually access them on microfilm. 
  • If you know the previous owners, ask them what they know about the property. Try to locate and talk to “old-timers,” or folks who have been in the area a long time, who may remember previous owners of your house.
  • Check old City Directories (usually kept at your local library or university). 

If you don’t live in a historic home, try out these research methods on a historic building in your community that speaks to you. Most importantly, have fun! 

Linking to:

Do you know your roost’s history?

· architectural history, DIY tutorials

Are you curious about the history of your old house? What story would your home tell if its walls could talk? Perhaps someone lived there that later went on to become famous, a juicy scandal could have taken place, or the house may have been designed by a well-known architect.

If you are willing to put a little time and energy into research, below are some steps to discovering your historic home’s history:

  • Is your house in a historic district? Check with your local SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) to see if your house has been surveyed either in a municipal or county-wide comprehensive architectural survey. If so, ask for access to a copy of the survey to see if you house has been included in the inventory.
  • Check your county’s GIS website or tax records (possibly located at your courthouse or government administration facility) for basic information. Ask the staff to help you navigate the website or online records database if you need help. Sometimes these records will include the date in which the house was constructed.
  • Check with your local historical society, archives, or public library for basic research resources like local histories, geneologies, architectural history publications, photographic histories and old postcards. Explain to the archivist or person on staff what you are looking for- these people are a great help and often a wealth of information regarding sources pertinent to your research.
a small piece from a 1907 Sanborn Insurance map 
  • Utilize Sanborn Insurance maps. (image at right) These were created starting in the last quarter of the 19th century by the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company for many cities and towns. You can glean key bits of information from them about the buildings themselves, street patterns, and the building’s use.  A good library or university archives should have these maps available in digital or sometimes hard-copy format. Some originals are even in color.
  •  Check with your local newspaper’s archives to see if they have any old photographs or articles that might mention your neighborhood. If you are lucky, your local library might have newspaper articles indexed by year and separated by subject. You can usually access them on microfilm. 
  • If you know the previous owners, ask them what they know about the property. Try to locate and talk to “old-timers,” or folks who have been in the area a long time, who may remember previous owners of your house.
  • Check old City Directories (usually kept at your local library or university). 

If you don’t live in a historic home, try out these research methods on a historic building in your community that speaks to you. Most importantly, have fun! 

Linking to:

Are modernist school buildings endangered?

· architectural history

I am hearing more frequently of local 1950s and 1960s modernist schools threatened with demolition. Within the community where I work specifically there are three mid-century modern schools currently slated to be demolished and rebuilt. ‘Teardowns’ are happening in early to mid-twentieth century neighborhoods across the country, replacing an older property with a massive McMansion that is out of scale and often incompatible with the surrounding character of the neighborhood. Are the nation’s mid-century schools the next victim in this epidemic?





I sure hope not.  Many mid-century schools were constructed as large, sprawling complexes with sturdy materials that easily adapt to the educational needs of today’s students. Modernist schools often tend to have a unique connection to the outdoors in the form of interior courtyards, covered outdoor canopies, and glass curtain or window walls. I would assume that most can be successfully rehabilitated if in good structural condition, resulting in enormous cost savings, recycling of materials, and conservation of ’embodied energy.’ For a great article on saving historic schools, click here to visit the National Trust’s blog.

I completely understand the need to update systems for energy efficiency and safety, but I don’t understand the wholesale destruction of the building for simply being outdated or too small when it has the potential to be renovated for a different use.  Seems like such a waste….and why aren’t life-cycle-cost analysis reports performed on every proposal to demolish and rebuild these schools?

In the case of one local school threatened with demolition, it opened its doors in 1962 with 600 students and today the enrollment sits at only 349 students. Yet, school administrators are still calling for more space.  Some endangered mid-century schools are actually buildings located on college campuses. NC State University plans to demolish one of its modernist landmarks, the current bookstore in the Talley Student Center. The bookstore is one of the few great examples of mid-century architecture remaining on NC State’s campus and showcases unique folding or “zig-zag” canopies. View photos of the Talley Student Center and read the full article at Goodnight, Raleigh!

Perhaps I am in the dark–have educational facilities really changed that much in the past fifty years for the space requirement to increase that much? Or is it another example of our ‘American Big’ epidemic? Would love to hear your thoughts!!

Are modernist school buildings endangered?

· architectural history

I am hearing more frequently of local 1950s and 1960s modernist schools threatened with demolition. Within the community where I work specifically there are three mid-century modern schools currently slated to be demolished and rebuilt. ‘Teardowns’ are happening in early to mid-twentieth century neighborhoods across the country, replacing an older property with a massive McMansion that is out of scale and often incompatible with the surrounding character of the neighborhood. Are the nation’s mid-century schools the next victim in this epidemic?





I sure hope not.  Many mid-century schools were constructed as large, sprawling complexes with sturdy materials that easily adapt to the educational needs of today’s students. Modernist schools often tend to have a unique connection to the outdoors in the form of interior courtyards, covered outdoor canopies, and glass curtain or window walls. I would assume that most can be successfully rehabilitated if in good structural condition, resulting in enormous cost savings, recycling of materials, and conservation of ’embodied energy.’ For a great article on saving historic schools, click here to visit the National Trust’s blog.

I completely understand the need to update systems for energy efficiency and safety, but I don’t understand the wholesale destruction of the building for simply being outdated or too small when it has the potential to be renovated for a different use.  Seems like such a waste….and why aren’t life-cycle-cost analysis reports performed on every proposal to demolish and rebuild these schools?

In the case of one local school threatened with demolition, it opened its doors in 1962 with 600 students and today the enrollment sits at only 349 students. Yet, school administrators are still calling for more space.  Some endangered mid-century schools are actually buildings located on college campuses. NC State University plans to demolish one of its modernist landmarks, the current bookstore in the Talley Student Center. The bookstore is one of the few great examples of mid-century architecture remaining on NC State’s campus and showcases unique folding or “zig-zag” canopies. View photos of the Talley Student Center and read the full article at Goodnight, Raleigh!

Perhaps I am in the dark–have educational facilities really changed that much in the past fifty years for the space requirement to increase that much? Or is it another example of our ‘American Big’ epidemic? Would love to hear your thoughts!!