We have dismantled a 100+ year old factory building in Taunton. We have beaucoup Southern yellow pine beams in varying lenghts up to 35', and as many fir timbers and hard pine timbers. Please let me know if (you know of anyone who) would be interested.

If interested, email or call Jack at 508.844.3229.

• oak settle by Paul Varney at Black River Mission: $1200, Torrance CA
• signed Limbert armchair: $200, Washington DC
• Limbert china cabinet: $1200, Maui HI
• signed Limbert table (w/ 5 extensions) & 5 chairs: $3500, Kirkland WA
• contemporary Stickley dining set - table & 6 chairs: $7600, Denver CO
• signed Stickley Bros. 36 inch round lamp table: $1600 or trade for vintage guitar, Daytona Beach FL
• signed L&JG Stickley rocker: $145, Clovis CA
• signed Gustav Stickley side or library table: $1500, Murray IA
• signed L&JG Stickley 1-drawer library desk: $800, Nyack NY
• signed Roycroft copper letter opener: $45, Yakima WA

Pasadena Heritage presents its 17th Annual Craftsman Weekend on October 17-19, 2008. The event is the largest and most comprehensive celebration of the Arts and Crafts Movement in the Western United States.

The signature event of the Weekend is the Craftsman House Tour. This in-depth, drive-yourself tour allows guests the opportunity to experience the rich variety of Craftsman architecture that makes Pasadena a destination for Arts and Crafts enthusiasts from across the country. Experienced docents will provide detailed histories of each of the six featured homes while guests examine the natural materials, fine craftsmanship, and exquisite detailing that exemplify the Craftsman era.

On this year's tour, we are pleased to feature two homes designed by Sylvanus Marston, one of Pasadena's most prominent architects. Near the banks of the Arroyo, the Bishop House of 1911 beautifully demonstrates the heightened elegance of Marston's Craftsman designs, especially in its spacious wood-paneled living room. The home was commissioned by Maitland L. Bishop, who moved to Pasadena in 1909 to recover from tuberculosis and was famous as the city's oldest practicing lawyer at the age of eighty-seven.

Designed in 1912, the Marston-designed Lacey House in North Pasadena will also be open for visits this year. This low-slung bungalow beautifully harmonizes with its surroundings, and has been described as the "quintessential Arts & Crafts ideal". The home features a massive boulder foundation that was likely gathered from nearby Eaton Canyon. The interior includes a striking barrel-vaulted ceiling, a bird-motif Batchelder fireplace, a billiard room, and beautiful leaded glass built-ins.

The Clark House, a Pasadena Historic Landmark designed by Frederick Louis Roehrig, is celebrating its centenary this year. The house, which is located in the architecturally rich Madison Heights neighborhood, is designed with a Swiss Chalet influence, and features an unusual side entry. The beautiful interior is centered on a prominent brick fireplace with an inglenook likely inspired by Roehrig's travels in England. In honor of its anniversary, the home has received an Arts & Crafts appropriate kitchen remodel.

In celebration of the significant Greene & Greene anniversary and events of 2008, this year's tour will include two properties by the architects that have rarely been open to the public: the Edgar Camp House and the Wild Wood Cottages. The Camp House, a true mountain bungalow in Sierra Madre, was designed in 1904 by the Greene Brothers, with Henry Greene returning in the early 1920s to add a second story. The expansive, rustic living room of the home holds many similarities to that of the now demolished Bandini House from 1903, part of which will be recreated in the Greene & Greene exhibition at the Huntington.

Originally simple structures for a dairy farm, the cottages of Wild Wood were remodeled in the Craftsman style by Henry Greene in 1922-24, and were only discovered to be the work of the architect within the last ten years. These cabins have been described as "one of the most intriguing design projects undertaken by Henry in the early 1920s," and the secluded, idyllic property of Wild Wood also includes an unusual boulder amphitheatre that may also be the work of Greene. Join Pasadena's tour to learn more about the fascinating history of this special compound.

The Craftsman House Tour will take place on Sunday, October 19 from 9 am – 4 pm. Tickets for this event are $45 and include entrance to the Furnishings and Decorative Arts Show & Sale at the Masonic Temple on Saturday, October 18 from 9 am – 5 pm, and Sunday, October 19 from 10:00 am – 5:30 pm. For tickets and information please call Pasadena Heritage at 626-441-6333 or visit us online at pasadenaheritage.org.

People often think of the interior of Arts & Crafts period homes as austere, minimilist spaces devoid of pattern. They envision tasteful rich woods and plain walls with only a jewel tone paint shade as a foil. There may have been some interiors like that, but the height of the Arts and Crafts movement coincided with the height of Victorian decorating. Rather than homes and design books of the period only embracing one or the other style, what often occurred was a blending of the two styles. One of the finest examples of graphic art to come out of this period were the many rich and detailed wallpaper designs.

When you think of Arts & Crafts designs it is the iconic images that often come to mind. From the famous Morris chrysanthemums, pomegranates, daisies and marigolds to Frank Lloyd Wright's hollyhocks and branch borders, these patterns from nature figure prominently in all manner of Arts & Crafts design. Morris was said to have considered wallpaper a 'medium of communication' and created over 144 distinctive textile designs that were reproduced in several different mediums such as textiles, wall coverings and carpets. Historically, the actual creation Arts and Crafts period wallpaper was a painstakingly difficult and involved process. Long sheets of paper were rolled out on great tables and dozens of artisans using a primitive silkscreening process layered on paint in highly detailed repetitive patterns. This made the wallpaper prohibitively expensive for the average decorator. But when you have a great room sometimes painting techniques and stencilwork just won't cut it; they just can't give that 'wow' factor - that's when it's time to look to wallpapers.

From a ceiling frieze to a feature wall to a room done completely in a bold pattern to mimic your favourite period estate, wallpapers is what you are looking for. But, where do you find them? Aren't they prohibitively expensive?

Not necessarily. The advent of laser printing techniques and computer-aided design have changed all of that, and as a result prices have come down so mere mortal restorers and decorators can work with the medium and get the same stunning effect. Currently, several companies are recreating these intricate designs.

A local favourite and one of the few A&C suppliers on the East Coast, J.R.. Burrows & Company and Burrows Studio of Rockland MA consider themselves historical design merchants. The Burrows Studio, a division of J.R. Burrows & Co., produces and recreates designs that are representative of the Aesthetic and the early Anglo-American Arts & Crafts movements. The wallpaper designs are mainly English in origin, as the English A&C movement was - and continues to be - highly influential in New England. There are graphic samples of the papers as well as a provenance and a detailed description of each style on their extensive website.

Heading out to the west coast one of the finer manufacturers is Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers. As recently as 2000, Bradbury and Bradbury began using computers to print their beautiful Arts & Crafts friezes, and they are gorgeous, lush, rich (okay, okay, I know - enough adjectives, but I can't help it!) full of color and bold, beautiful designs.  The site is unique in that designs are grouped by color theme. Choose an olive room and the site will show how to coordinate various Bradbury designs into a single cohesive look. You can view it all on the site or order a catalog to peruse with a good cup of tea in your Morris chair.

Last stop is way up north in Canada at Charles Rupert Designs Ltd., dedicated to supplying "splendid items for the traditional home and garden." Not only do they have all the paper patterns you have been dreaming of, but they have the fabrics to match. One of their great features is a complete wallpaper and fabric sample cutting service which will allow you to see what you envision before you commit. Everything they sell is top quality and they strive to use traditional natural materials wherever possible, shunning plastic, vinyl and other synthetics.

Thanks to Jo Horner of the always entertaining and often very touching Counting Sheep for this wonderful article!

Russ' organic forms and flowing lines are a treat for anyone interested in the graphic art of the Arts & Crafts movement, and his precision and fine lettering are a testament to his past as a currency & certificate designer. It's exciting to know that at least one contemporary artist is doing this sort of work - much of what would have been right at home in an Art Deco gallery in 1920 Paris. I'm a huge fan of his and someday hope to have one of his pieces hanging in my own home.

Aaron and Carolyn weren’t in a rush to get started. They had lived in their 1924 Craftsman-style bungalow for about a decade and had made several small changes that kept the space livable. But while they knew they should probably do a major remodel, they were content to spend lots of time thinking about it but not much time working toward it.

“We knew from the time we moved in that we were going to remodel, but it was just the two of us, and it was hard to get motivated,” Carolyn says.

But when their daughter came along, they needed more room and they wanted to make the home safer for their child. So they knew the time had come to move from dreaming about a remodel to getting the work done. Their home was built by Carolyn’s grandfather, and it was the home in which her mother was raised. So there were plenty of sentimental reasons to keep the house while modernizing it for a growing family.

They engaged Renovation Design Group to help them figure out how to do that. Architect Annie Vernon, using her own ideas and those brought by the couple, took them through several options for updating their home. The couple decided on a plan they loved and moved forward. But after engineering evaluations, they could see that the original masonry walls would not meet code and would require extensive reengineering to make the remodel work. It would be an expensive process with no guarantees. So they had to make the painful decision to teardown grandpa’s house—an option they had not entertained. “It was a hard decision,” remembers Carolyn. But since reinforcing the old walls “just didn’t make sense” in the end, they went back to the drawing board and began planning for a tear-down and rebuild.

If they couldn’t keep the original house, they were definitely committed to keeping grandpa’s spirit. “We liked the style of the house, and if we were going to have to rebuild it, we wanted to keep the style,” says Carolyn. So with Annie’s help, they designed another craftsman bungalow. The original home had once had a large front porch, so they brought it back in the new design. They also kept thematic elements from the previous design and incorporated them into the new house, such as a half wall and pillars separating their living, dining room, and new craftsman bungalow kitchen, as well as lower ceilings in portions of the house to maintain the cozy cottage feel.

Aaron and Carolyn also salvaged materials from the old house and reused them in the new house. The moldings around the windows are either the exact wood used in the previous home or an exact replica. They also reused glass block for a living room window, adorned new doors with old knobs, and kept the fireplace mantel. And the exterior brick was meticulously preserved, cleaned, and re-laid.

photo courtesy of Renovation Design Group 

If you are a homeowner, you have probably thought about remodeling. If you are getting ready to sell, it could very well be the time to do a bit of remodeling, and increase the value. Home improvements can be expensive, so, of course, the average homeowner will try to get the nicest improvements done with the least cost. Saving money is a big consideration for most homeowners, but that certainly does not mean you want a cheap job.

The cost of investing in and maintaining real estate makes it a serious business. If you are not careful, you could over-invest, whether a project is for a single room, the roofing or landscaping, or the whole property. Hiring a legitimate professional is key to getting a good remodeling job done at the right price.

The Federal Trade Commission says that homeowners should be aware of the tricks of dishonest companies. The FTC warns about these warnings that your contractor might be trouble:

• insists on the need for a quick commitment
  
• asks for full payment up front
  
• offers you a cheaper price for finding other clients
  
• offers you a special price due to (how lucky you are!) having extra materials on hand
  
• asks you to get the building permits
  
• only accepts cash

Any of those circumstances could be a sign that you should run and get a different firm. Sometimes a bogus contractor will also try to get you to borrow from a lender that they know. At its worst, a loan scam could literally put you out of house and home.

Precautions to Take
There are several precautions you should take to keep from being taken advantage of. Interview potential contractors thoroughly. The FTC suggests that you ask how long they have been doing business, license details, and insurance offerings. Check with the city or county building office. Ask around. These things are not unlike the normal way you normally approach any big purchase or transaction.

Another important tip is asking for recent references. Not only should you get a list of references, but you should call and checkup on them. Ask these references about the quality of the job. Question them about whether there were last-minute costs, and other problems.

Terms of payment must be clear and agreed upon before the job is started. Some local laws set limits on how much higher the actual cost can be above the contract estimate. Check into the laws where your work will be performed.

This article was provided by Automated Homefinder, Colorado's Louisville real estate professionals.

• recently modernized 1860 bungalow (?) in Batavia, Illinois: $299,000
• 1916 Craftsman 2-story in Geneva, Illinois: $438,000
• intricate & beautiful ultimate bungalow, c. 1918, in Bethlehem, New Hampshire: $402,900
• unique 1928 Tudor/storybook in Geneva, Illinois: $1,795,000
• Frnk Lloyd Wright 1911 Prairie bungalow in West Chicago, Illinois: $474,000
• 1912 classic Prairie home in Danville, Illinois: $85,000
• huge 1890 brick late Victorian mansion in Fitchburg, Massachusetts: $1,050,000
• charming 1870 Mission Revival adobe in Santa Fe, New Mexico: $499,000
• 1870s brick Queen Anne in Madison, Indiana: $599,000
• 1920 renovated bungalow with beautiful built-ins in Highland, Illinois: $224,900
• eclectic 1930 Craftsman stone / log / shingle cabin in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania: $189,500
• enormous 1890 Tudor revival mansion (14 bedrooms, 9 baths, over 17000 square feet heated) in the Adirondacks: $1,750,000
• gorgeous 1914 bungalow in San Pedro, California: $495,900
• 1916 four-square brick Craftsman in Crawfordsville, Indiana: $154,000
• 1917 "airplane" bungalow with great features in Whittier, California: $849,000

When you want to buy or sell real estate, having the right Realtor on your side makes it easier to find the perfect new place to make your home, or bringing buyers to the table as the case may be. Having helpful and reliable assistance and resources in any endeavor can make all the difference. For some people, it may seem too hard to get a good agent to help them with their purchase or sale needs. Here are a few pitfalls to avoid when shopping for the right Realtor.

Ask Questions -- Lots of Questions
The final mistake which anyone shopping for an agent should steer clear of is being hesitant to ask the ones they are interviewing a lot of questions. Some feel as if they are being too much trouble and do not want to ask a lot of questions regarding fees, procedures, etc. Asking questions is the only way to really know if you've found the one you can best work with.

The Belief That Only Big Real Estate Operators Have Really Good Realtors
Some who are looking for an agent may think that only the biggest realty firms will have the good Realtors. Although they may have some excellent people in their employ, you should also evaluate smaller firms as well as large ones in your search.

Failing to Ask About the Fee
Before you decide on someone to work with, you must be sure to find out about their fee arrangement. A seller's agent will charge a set percentage of the price as a fee for their expenses and effort. It is in your best interest as a seller to make sure the percentage is a favorable number. It might seem strange, but a fee that is too low can be a warning sign too; a lowball fee offer will most likely short you when it comes to service. The buyer's representative, on the other hand, is paid from the commission amount set by the seller. For this reason, if you are a buyer, there is no extra cost for having an agent represent you.

Not Inquiring About The Realtor's Qualifications
It is definitely worthwhile to ask the Realtor questions concerning their professional experience and accomplishments in the business. Answers about length of time working as a real estate agent, how long with the company and any type of business specialties they may have in their resume are all good ones. An experienced Realtor will be proud to mention any professional awards.

Deciding on a Realtor Too Quickly
An all too common mistake is selecting the first Realtor you come across. Some people are so anxious to buy or sell a home that they get a name and go with that person without looking into even a little bit of the wide spectrum of choices available. This is a mistake which anyone who is looking for the best Realtor should avoid. You need to look around, a little at least, even if only to add some depth to your education on the subject.

Article provided by your Colorado Louisville real estate experts at Automated Homefinder.

• the 11th annual Historic Seattle Bungalow Fair, on September 27 & 28 at Town Hall Seattle, and
• the Fine Furnishings & Craft Fair on September 27 & 28 at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The tall, redwood clapboard house on Hilgard Avenue in the North Berkeley hills is an East Bay landmark in more ways than one.

First, it is a highly individual interpretation of the Arts and Crafts style by an architect known for his unique designs, Harris Allen. Second, the old redwood that rises majestically from the backyard can be seen from miles way, and is one of the tallest trees in Berkeley.

Now this home is on the market for the first time in 38 years.

The house was built in 1927 for Gladys Campbell, according to Berkeley building records. It was designed by Allen, an eclectic East Bay architect whose graceful homes throughout Berkeley and Marin County are noteworthy for their distinctive qualities. Although Allen often incorporated elements from various periods, his designs are not mere copies of past styles. read the full article here

Real estate agent Barbara Hopper is listing the house for its owner, Dorothy Nash Shack, who bought the house with her husband Dr. William Shack in 1970. Mrs. Shack was a school psychologist with the Oakland Public Schools for many years, and her husband was a professor of Anthropology at UC Berkeley (and later dean of the graduate division).

See the listing for this 2,084 sq ft, 4/2 house (on a 4,750 sq ft lot) here. The agent has a virtual tour up where you can see some terrific shots of the interior, too; please check out the entire photo gallery - some of the interior architecture is especially interesting and the overall effect, when combined with the terrific views, is really impressive.

Times are slow in the housing market, but it would be hard to tell by following Kevin Kuzma through a typical day.

The historic home restoration consultant is busy from early morning to evening, picking up raw materials, visiting construction sites, doing estimates and meeting with clients.

“It’s gotten busier and busier. I haven’t felt any slow down,” said Kuzma, whose Revival Arts Restoration business is based in his Angelino Heights home.

Ditto that for folks like Ron Radziner, principal at Los Angeles architecture firm Marmol Radziner and Associates, which specializes in restoration and new custom residential homes.

Or Charles Fisher, who has built a busy business helping owners of historic homes qualify for coveted tax breaks that can lower a state property tax bill by up to 80 percent.

Builders may be practically giving away homes in far-flung Los Angeles County subdivisions amid slow sales all around, but there’s one corner of the housing market that so far has been immune from it all.

Historic homes in architectural styles such as Craftsman, Spanish Colonial Revival and Art Deco have all grown in popularity in recent years. What’s more, an increased interest in famed 20th century architects has led to a blossoming of the cottage industry that services and sells historic homes by renowned figures such as Richard Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright and John Lautner.

It started innocently enough - Bruce Aidells bought some English Arts and Crafts furniture from an Oakland antiques dealer and designed his kitchen in Kensington around it. Then he began frequenting the House of Orange, an Alameda antique shop that specializes in Arts and Crafts. He might have stopped there, but a fateful invitation in 1996 to visit Berkeley's Thorsen House with an architecturally inclined friend introduced him to the architecture of Charles and Henry Greene, and he was instantly captivated. He befriended Ted Bosley, the curator of the Gamble House, a Greene and Greene house museum in Pasadena, as well as Jack Stumpf, the chief docent at the house, who, as it turned out, was also a sausage aficionado. Soon Aidells was getting the private tour of the Gamble house (whether bribes of bratwurst were involved is unknown). He began to want a Greene and Greene of his own, but realized that to build one properly would require a good deal of money, which he did not have at the time. He settled for immersing himself in Greene and Greene, buying books, visiting other houses and museums, and biding his time.

The opportunity came in 2002, when Aidells sold his interest in the eponymous sausage company he started in 1983. He figures the cost of the house came out to 322 miles of sausages. Finally having enough money in his pocket, he began looking for an architect who knew how to design a Greene and Greene-style house. He eventually settled on Greg Klein of John Malick and Associates, even though the company had never before designed a Greene and Greene house. But it was local, and Aidells felt they would be hands-on. Klein had long been a fan of the Greenes, and says, "Their work is unique, and most people think no one does that anymore."

Editor's note: thanks to reader Ann for noting that the architect's website has many more images of the house; Danielle, with John Malick & Associates, the folks who designed the house, also supplies us with this URL for photos by Healdsburg photographer Jeannie O'Connor.

Craftsman Revival Home Furnishings
985-A Lomas Santa Fe Drive
Solana Beach, California
858.259.5811

What interesting objects or spaces have you found when remodeling or otherwise repairing your home?

He didn't design all that many, but many contemporary designers - and several contemporary to Voysey - have built clocks in his style. Here are a few originals & paeans to them:

• Christopher Vickers' clocks, mentioned yesterday, among which most are after Voysey;
• Dickins Auctioneers sold several original Voysey clocks, notably a painted mantel clock for £141,000, an unpainted version for £72,400, and a third for £7,400;
• I've got a very high-resolution image of the painted mantel clock available on Flickr (thanks to the Victoria & Albert Museum for that) - this is the clock that was bought from John Jesse for £30,000 in 1998. It is presumed to have belonged to Voysey himself and was made circa 1896;
• Liberty & Co produced a striking polished pewter and enamel clock "in style of Charles Voysey";
• Stickley & Morawe's clocks were clearly influenced very strongly by Voysey; and
• Hill House Antiques has a Voysey-influenced (complete with heart inlay!) clock for sale.

Vickers is a scholar of all things Voysey, and 20th-century British design in general, with quite a bit of background on this great and often overlooked designer / artist / architect on his website; my own love of Voysey's work springs mainly from my interest in typography and Voysey's wonderful and expressive hand-lettering (see the wallpaper advertisement here, taken from Mr. Vickers' site) - so seeing Vickers' exceptional work, and through it his obvious love for the combined subtlety and detail that I've always appreciated in Voysey, really impressed and resonated with me.

My favorite piece of Voysey-designed furniture in Vickers collection is this replica dining chair with arms, originally designed in 1902. Vickers' reproduction sells for £1850, and appears to be completely true to the original.

Other impressive bits of Mr. Vickers' work include unique items of Arts & Crafts lighting; a number of beautiful and useful chests in a variety of sizes and configurations; beautiful and sturdy tables, including some based on Voysey designs for Hollymount and other homes; inlaid wooden boxes; cabinetry and shelving, including several that feature hardware hand-forged by Vickers; and a number of pieces of metalwork, produced in the Gimson-Cotswold tradition in just the way we like it: "by hammer & hand."

Vickers' work is art and craft, and some of the finest contemporary A&C furniture I've seen. If you're interested, you can see pieces on display from September 10 to 24 at the 2nd annual Arts & Crafts Exhibition in Gloucestershire's Prinknash Abbey Park; from September 13 to 28, you can actually visit his workshop in Frome, as it will be open to the public during Somerset Art Weeks. His work will also be included in the Ernest Gimson and the Arts & Crafts Movement exhibit in Leicester, November 8 2008 through March 1 2009.

It would be very much appreciated!

• secretary / desk in Pensacola FL: $275
• library table with interesting legs in Austin TX: $150
• qs oak rocker in Seattle WA: $75
• attractive desk in Boston MA: $200
• wood & glass panel interior door in Columbus OH: $40
• set of 6 side chairs in St. Louis MO: $400
• long bench in Honokaa HI: $500
• sideboard with mirror in Minneapolis MN: $350
• attractive desk in Monmouth OR: $500
• faux-antiqued large china cabinet in St. Paul MN: $700
• similar to above in Sacramento CA: $400
• short armoire in Minneapolis MN: $200
• display / china cabinet in Sunnyvale CA: $159
• unique oak armchair in Seattle: $220
• long & tall bench from salvaged oak in Detroit: $659
• 300 sq ft salvaged top-nail oak flooring in Portland OR: $350

User Gizmodyne has his own woodworking projects documented as well, specifically his - very succesful - project to replace the dining room card table with something that would make Gustav quite happy.