Made in America
Update: As pointed out in comment by Anonymous, this was only for plans + materials. You still had to build house.
From Jim Macey
“Hi. My name is Anne Smith, aka Marguerite Turnley. I am a writer and an artist. I thought you might like to use these pictures on your website or to encourage drawing. They are from an old book called Inquire Within, which I have inherited.…These pictures are from old homes in many countries at the turn of the century. The pictures have been scanned from the old books and I thought you might find them useful..… Regards, Anne Smith”
“Time is running out for Europe’s largest prefab estate. Lewisham Council, London, is planning to demolish all but six of the 187 prefab bungalows that make up the Excalibur Estate in Catford – and replace them with 371 modern homes.
This is unique 12-acre complex of prefabricated buildings. Built in 1945 and 1946 by German and Italian prisoners of war, the Excalibur Estate was supposed to be a temporary solution to the damage caused by the Luftwaffe’s bombs.
Prefabs were built for returning soldiers and their families and provided what was, for those times, high levels of luxury. Designed by the Ministry of Works, they had two bedrooms, a fitted kitchen with a fridge and cooker, running hot water and an indoor toilet. They became known as Palaces for the People.
These one-storey bungalows were meant to last just 10 years. However, the Excalibur Estate is still standing and there is a strong sense of community here.
The council has done little work to the prefabs over the years and any improvements have been made by the tenants.
This unique slice of 20th-century social history is about to disappear. The process of ‘decanting’ has now begun, which means people have been asked to move out of the prefabs by the council. Sadly, the empty houses have become dumping grounds and are quickly falling into disrepair, which has dampened the mood on the estate.
https://shltr.net/palacesdemo
Sent by Simon in the UK
About 4″ in the last 4 days. Creeks rushing, reservoirs pretty full. Can it be that there is some good news in these messed up times? I have about 18″ of rain this year, about a third more than normal. Caused me to dial up Toots singing “Love the Rain.”
Bill and Athena Steen and their son Benito visited us a few weeks ago. They’re the folks that started the strawbale movement with their book The Straw Bale House, written in 1994. I’d been to visit them 3 times at their end-of-the-road compound south of Tucson, but this was their first visit here. We had a lot of fun. We have a lot in common. Bill shot all his photos with an iPhone.
https://www.caneloproject.com/visiting-counter-culture-icons-lloyd-khan-and-lesley-creed/
This is a book I wished I’d had when I started building, but it is also one that’s extraordinarily useful to more experienced builders. Mike Litchfield was the original editor of Fine Homebuilding; in 1982 he published the first version of Renovation, and it’s been updated periodically, this being the latest and 4th edition. Popular Science called it “The most comprehensive single volume on renovation ever” — totally true.
What differentiates this book from others of its ilk is that the author has gathered all this information in the field, interviewing carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and contractors, finding out what’s important, what works, what’s new. These guys love to talk about what they do well, and in this sense, the book is one of collective wisdom. It’s at the same time highly useful to professionals, but also one that’s invaluable for homeowners and people of the fixer-upper persuasion.…
See Full review on Cool Tools here.
On November 29, I posted a link to a large New York Times article on SunRay Kelley. In retrospect, it’s not really good or fair reportage on SunRay; it doesn’t do him justice. Part of it is East Coast reporter snark about West Coast free-spiritedness. Part of it is that the reporter just didn’t get SunRay— that he’s not only an artist, designer, architect, and inventor, but a master builder. His mortise and tenon joints, even with gnarly lumber, are tight. He’s a carpenter whose buildings soar. There’s a joy and a spirit in both builder and buildings. The NYTimes reporter missed all this and focussed on a bunch of trivialities.
And there was a very weird interview with SunRay’s ex-wife, who came up with some mean-spirited comments. This shouldn’t have been included in the article. Cheap shot, ex-wife-wise and journalistic-wise.
SunRay’s way better than you’d get from this account. In my opinion, there’s no other natural materials builder in the world who’s combined such ecology, design, and craftsmanship in so many buildings on the American landscape.
Just settin it straight…
For anyone interested in SunRay and his work, we have posted a PDF of the 27 pages we did on him and his work in Builders of the Pacific Coast in 2004. (We do—ahem—a way better job on builders than does the New York Times.)
For the real SunRay, click here. (To get this in Acrobat, you may have to right-click and save linked file in downloads folder.)
Yesterday I drove to Petaluma to shoot photos at the Tin Can Tourist trailer rally. This is a group founded in 1919 and these days it’s all about vintage trailers. https://www.tincantourists.com/
I shot a bunch of homes in Petaluma and some farm buildings in the countryside, and also got photos of 3 trailers that will go in our Wheels & Water book. I’ll post some photos of Petaluma homes and countryside in the next few days.
Made in America
