rather calm Victorian
Victorians are a rather interesting lot. The thing to remember is that they are a lot like “classical music”. There was only one period of time called the Classical Period yet all manor of the same general genre of music is called “classical”. Likewise, there was only one Victorian Period and only structures built during that time are Victorian. Then it gets sticky. Is a Victorian house that is rebuilt after a fire in the 21st century still a Victorian or a Victorian copy? What about a original replica of the Victorian style? What about a house that’s built like a log cabin during the Victorian Period?
Heck, I’m not sure what’s what but I am sure what the term is used for in Sacramento: almost any building with gingerbread woodwork, the graceful and completely superfluous curlicues that are usually of bold primary colour adorning wooden structures with sash windows. Never mind if the windows are missing because of modern upgrades (or, more likely, the strings broke inside the walls). Never mind if there are obvious Italian features or concrete stairs leading to the front door. And completely ignore when it was build, rebuilt, designed, redesigned, or enlarged. Unless you know the history of the entire building, odds are you need to be a serious connoisseur of architecture to even begin to figure it out. That soundly excludes me.
However, downtown Sacramento California is literally filled with homes and offices that qualify as Victorian by architectural hacks like me. They play a vital part in my savouring the varied flavours of my neighbourhood. (Oooo! That was verbal gingerbread so I has to qualify as Victorian oration, right? Yeah, right.)
All this drivel to say a series of Victorian/possibly Victorian photography kicks off mildly with this shot from down my street. I think some of it will delight, some intrigue, and some downright horrify non-colourblind folks. The rest of us will probably lick the monitors and say something silly like, “Not too savoury to me, bro.”
Available for sale asGreeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters
Carla Jandelle...
how r u getting these images to load??? stinky man u…........i want this house btw. with a huge garden. and the neighbors to move away cause they’re too close.
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied
I am quite tricky! Hehehe! While the site was not loading images, I just used my personal cache of pre-uploaded images, edited them for view, and made them visible. In other words, I didn’t need to upload anything, you stinky woman. LOL!
The house is quite pretty and definitely one of the milder of the Victorians around. The colours are very muted and the gingerbread isn’t as gaudy as it is on the truly accurate Victorians, or so the Old City association notes. Neighbours are rather close on both sides of this home and that’s one of the most dangerous qualities of a neighbourhood filled with Victorians: one catches fire and there’s no way to stop one from next door getting damaged or destroyed. Last year, three side-by-side went down with the fire department there in less than 3 minutes. They are just too ripe for burning with old wood, no sprinklers, and built close enough to almost crawl from house to house by windows. :-/
sweetscent62
LOL … ahhh.. what would I do for enterainment without you dear Lenny : )?
The last 2 lines of it was hilarious (not sure I spelt that right) Because I remember when we were new to our area..and we were going out… and someone suggested this dive of a bar..and I said to my sister…”no I’m not going in there… they’re a bunch of window lickers!! (all the guys had their faces plastered to the window.. perving) lol So now..anytime we see something that’s completely dodgy we say…No they’re window lickers!! : )
I used to think all Americans lived in these Victorian houses.. that was when I was young and very naive.. I’m looking forward to this series LL : ) !! Well done.. Wen xx
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied
LMAO! This is priceless and I’ll be using “window lickers” from now on for pervs. :-D
I’m not sure if there ever was an era in America where most of the homes were Victorian but it wouldn’t surprise me when the English really started settling on the east coast. But here on the west coast, the style isn’t everywhere and probably because it’s so energy inefficient and the rooms are generally small. Almost all the ones I’ve seen have high ceilings that just hold all the warmth away from you in the winter. Electrical wiring wasn’t a very well-mannered skill then either. I’ve seen some things that were beyond scary inside some people’s wall sockets and light switches. :-O
adgray
I love these old buildings & you have captured this one so well!
☼ BRAVO !! ☼
Yes I love architecture [but I draw the line at licking the monitor …. no matter how tingly it makes my tongue feel!] and to answer your question re what makes a house be labeled “X”;
The design is what labels it.
You can make a “Victorian” home any time after its design was lodged and it would be Victorian BUT if it was built at the time of the first design fad it would be called “Authentic” or “Period” Victorian & if there is a second fad of the design it would be called a Revival; such as “Rennasance Revival” or “Art Deco Revival” or the current “Retro Revival”
Does that help?
As for how you are uploading these images during our melt down period:
- I know your secret!!
- You uploaded them last week and had them hidden from view while you spent the weekend working out the clever “treatise”:http://www.redbubble.com/groups/exceptonal-ekphrasis that goes with it!
lol Chookas! X♥X
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied
Thanks! The definitions help a lot too but the same problem exists for one like me: I have no clue how or when the structures were built. Odds are good that MANY were built as Authentic Victorians (between June 1837 to January 1901) on this coast but what was constructed later or rebuilt isn’t possible for me to tell walking down the streets so they get lumped at my end. LOL!
I can’t get your link to work tho.
Vanessa Anderberg
Great capture of a Beautiful home, Lenny
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied
Thank you, V!
E.R. Bazor
Beautiful house and shot!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied
Thanks! Lots more to come and some will be drastically different. ;-)
Carla Jandelle...
haha…’window lickers’.................hahahaha…ok..that’s a kansas thing too…hmmm….guys are horrid creatures sometimes!
u should see some of the victorians here in my town? course..they’re all haunted…but…still. very beautiful.
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied
I guess “window lickers” is gonna be used worldwide in about a day, ya think? LOL!
Well, get out there and shoot some of your Victorians. I’d love to see the differences between a mid-western and a western structure. There shouldn’t be much other than storm shutters or the like.
Antanas
beautiful shot
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied
Thank you!
Carla Jandelle...
lol…we actually have gargoyles on one of ours! half of them also are known to have the Under Ground Railroad running below them…awesome eh? (i have a window licker that lives next door…a reason i don’t do many images like the ones on my other name here…lol)
adgray
Well it’s to the EEG – Exceptional Ekphrasis Group cos this is an ekphrasis thanks to the written “Treatise” about the picture you took [& the architecture that inspired both!]
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied
Ah, now I understand BOTH things: the “ekphrasis” meaning and application here and why your link sucks. You missed the “i” in ‘exceptional’. I tried that link 5 times before I saw the missing letter. LOL!
As for chimneys, it appears to be an indicator on some buildings but others that are clearly older and their chimneys are falling apart without pots on them. It almost seems the opposite, where the ones with pots are the less authentic but accurately reconstructed and needs the pots or they’d burn their own roofs off. LOL! We’ve got masons here in Sacramento who redo Victorians to the exact specifications so odds are even the new ones look like old ones, albeit retrofitted for current safety codes.
I’m still stumped. :-(
adgray
OOOH it’s the Chimneys by the way – that’s how you tell the authenticity of it from the street
We don’t have the same masons standards now days – let’s face it how many of us still build fireplaces? Our latter day chimneys have a straight boring look to them! So when the chimney has the look of the one on this shot [with the pot at the top] you can bet it’s authentic!
Does that help?
Chookas! X♥X
adgray
Dear Lenny, EVERYONE KNoWs that the new workmanship isn’t Half as long lasting as the old lol so if the pot is in place the chimeny was built before 1945 when aftere ww2 they decided they didnt need to scrounge for wood fire heating & gas / kero / & electric heating was introduced – no chimneys required!
but I guess failing all that ask your council / shire office / town planning office and they should be able to let you know of the age of any building lol
You could always knock on the door and ask the owner …. :O)
Chookas sweety :O) xXx
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied
Oh! Do you mean the “pot” to be the expanding brickwork and not the wire cage on the top??? That might be where I’m misunderstanding you and, of course, making brickwork that could fall apart while you’re assembling it is a craft of the old masters. No need for the new masons to even bother with it. (I bet they’d use wire forms for safety anyway!)
Knocking on doors isn’t one of the things I ever considered fun or safe. I didn’t even want to do it on Halloween for candy. And now that I’d over 6 feet tall and 200 pounds and (still) black, I’m not at all sure what would be brave enough to come to the front door for an unsolicited guest. Odds are good it would have a lot of sharp teeth or a loaded shotgun. I suppose I could do my homework and check out the block-by-block properties with the city’s records but that would be homework and I am notorious for either not needing to do homework or ignoring it.
Tell ya what. It’s Sacramento California and all the streets with names using letters and numbers. The Internet is a wonderful thing so you can do all the research for me and I’ll say ‘thank you’ afterwards. Deal? Hehehe!