Down an otherwise unremarkable street north of Bay Ridge was this tattered old beauty. Note:
- the cupola (turret? –not sure of the terminology) is perfect in form, if not sheathing. Now there’s some carpentry; I’d love to see how it’s framed inside. There are few carpenters around these days with these skills.
- the awkward addition pasted on to the original gable roof (follow the green shingles). Imagine this building in its original form. Ah, me.
When I see barns, I always look for any sagging in the eaves. Barns that have been neglected and are falling apart often have straight eaves, meaning the foundation was sound.
About Lloyd Kahn
Lloyd Kahn started building his own home in the early '60s and went on to publish books showing homeowners how they could build their own homes with their own hands. He got his start in publishing by working as the shelter editor of the
Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand in the late '60s. He has since authored six highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The books, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include
Shelter,
Shelter II (1978),
Home Work (2004),
Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008),
Tiny Homes (2012), and
Tiny Homes on the Move (2014). Lloyd operates from Northern California studio built of recycled lumber, set in the midst of a vegetable garden, and hooked into the world via five Mac computers. You can check out videos (one with over 450,000 views) on Lloyd by doing a search on YouTube:
Down an otherwise unremarkable street north of Bay Ridge was this tattered old beauty. Note:
It's amazing how these old houses can withstand decades of neglect and still remain standing. Definitely a tribute to the old carpenters who built them. Most modern houses will rot out and have to be demolished unless continuously and meticulously maintained.