Swifts!

Last night we went to Chapman school to watch the Vaux swifts descend into the chimney to nest.  This is a somewhat recent Portland tradition. People began to notice that these migratory birds, that typically sleep in hollowed out trees or snags, were nesting in this chimney in the city.  There is a lot of wide open space around this now disconnected chimney so the flock has lots of space to fly around to get in.  During the month of September the swifts are still in Portland and stay at the Chapman school so Portlanders gather on the hillside to watch their decent at dusk.
The flock is huge to begin with and they circle and circle around as on a few birds can make it into the opening at a time.  They each cling to the interior walls of the chimney to roost for the night. The whole process takes over an hour as the birds circle and circle around.  It is as Mr. W calls it mesmerizing.  And the event is not without its own drama.  This many birds in one spot opens them up to predators so there is usually an appearance of a hawk that comes out of nowhere and gets a swift or two.  That happened last night.  A collective gasp goes out from the crowd. I think there are some who are rooting for the hawks, but we are Team Swift.
It's nearly the end of September so I was a little worried that we might have missed them. But my grandma had mentioned that the weather would be 80 degrees through the weekend, and My Little Helper doesn't have school today so I thought last night would be the perfect opportunity to squeeze it in this year.  We made a picnic dinner and Mr. W met us at the school after work.

A huge crowd had already gathered by the time we got there so we were half way down the slope, but I don't know if you can get a bad seat for Swift watching.

 The swifts circling

 Baby Boy enjoying some apple slices while bird watching.

 It was a beautiful sunset.

 As it grew darker the swifts began their decent into the chimney more earnestly. Here are better pictures of them going in.

 

What a wonderful way to spend an evening with the family. I love Portland!

Mock House tour

Last night my mother and I toured the Mock House which was put on by the Architectural Heritage Center. Ms. G, who is the Director, reached out to me recently to invite us on the sold out tour. I was eager to do it and was grateful for the personal invite. Our relationship with the Mock House goes back a long time.
In the mid 80s, when my parents decided it was time to get the heck out of Irvington, we went on a tour of the Mock House when it was on the market. We went in the evening so it was a little bit spooky to me, especially when we were down in the basement, and when you could hear the rumble from the trains down on Island below. But of did I fall in love with that house. I remember there being spandrels above all the door ways on the main floor and my sister and I running around upstairs picking out which bedrooms would be ours, doing a "prom walk" down the staircase, and there was a pool! Granted that pool looked rugged and had been filled in, but at 10 a pool sounded like a terrific idea. Much to my dismay, my parents decided it was too much house (and maintenance) for us and decided to look for property on which to build instead. In the years since whenever I drive by I can't help but look at the house with longing and think of what might have been.
In the month before my father died, before I knew he was sick, I stopped by his studio on my way back to work and he told me about the new owner of the Mock House who was planning a restoration of the project and that he was going to help him recreate several of the missing Povey windows. Apparently many windows has been removed and sold off and my Dad had either repaired them for the new owners or was able to gain access to photograph them in their new installations. My dad was so excited about the project and I was excited for him; I hoped I'd be able to get back into the house with him to see the interior again. There are so many reasons why I lament my father died too soon, most of them personal, but the restoration of the Mock House was one that stands out for me because he spoke of it right before he died. In the months following his death, the new owner contacted me through the AHC to see if we still had the photographs of the windows. I earnestly promised to find them among his things, but as I have written about before, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
So, when I read about the AHC's pre-restoration tour, I shamefacedly vowed to myself that I'd scan those slides and get them to the owner. And then Ms. G invited me on the tour.
When I first arrived at the house I was a little worried that my father's photos were nothing new, that everything I had was still installed in the house. The entry doors and transom have a waterlily motif. The entry floor of encaustic tiles is intact.
The panels for the foyer doors are missing. My father has some additional photos of them. They featured an urn or torch motif.The current wallpaper is a little crazy in the house and the hall "chandelier" is large and in charge, to say the least. To the left is a parlor with an amazing Eastlake style organ. Back in the hall you can see another little waterlily demi-lune window in the coat closet. I also enjoyed this little bench in the coat closet which I imagine to be original. In the Drawing room the demi-lune window with characteristic Povey dogwood flowers is missing its flanking window panels, only the beveled glass within the muntins remains. Here is a close up.The researchers had only a faint idea of what had been here based upon fuzzy old exterior photos of the house. I was happy to know that my father had the photographs of the originals in a new configuration. The windows in the adjoining room are also missing, it is possible that theses windows, which my father had labeled as "Mock House (Yeon- Warrington)", were at one point in this location. While I hate to see that this room's woodwork has been painted white I love that the spandrels still exists, the harp is a nice detail. The fireplace is also amazing with the beveled tile surround and unpainted overmantel.In the Dining Room there is another wonderful fireplace. This room has a painted ceiling, which the researchers believe to be original. The light fixture, while an awesome period piece, is not original to house as it would have had gas. Sadly the woodwork in here has also been partially painted, one can still see the panels of some sort of burled wood. On the back wall of this room there was originally a door which lead to the back yard had was flanked by two small leaded glass panels. The researchers has one black and white, interior photo which was hard to make out. When I saw that in their presentation I knew that my dad had those photographed as well. They are now installed in another house, one on top of the other.A small Sun Room with an encaustic tile floor adjoins this room. They believe the upper sashes in these windows were also leaded glass, the size of the blue and red windows doesn't quite seem to match up here. And I would imagine these panels would have had the same fruit motif in the little sidelights.There is another nice spandrel above the doorway.
The butler's pantry has lots of storage of varying periods. The kitchen has a late 80s early 90s remodel so I took no pictures of this space.
Probably the first bathroom added to the house on the main floor is this water closet on the side porch. To say it is rustic is an understatement! But I do admire that elephant trunk toilet bowl! The worst of the remuddling happened in the Drawing Room. It has been converted into a dim, windowless home office with a drop ceiling and a 60s avocado green bathroom complete with crackle tile and Formica counter tops. The kicker though? Look at the painted ceiling!!! Hello!? Everyone hopes that the other half of the ceiling is preserved above the drop ceiling in the office.Some photos of the stairwell and upper hall.The master suite with adjoining sitting room.This room would have originally been the turret which was remodeled into a Colonial Revival style bay at some point in the 20s.
The closet was converted into a bathroom and I literally laughed out loud when I saw this room. The tile is SO dreadful! Ah, it still makes me laugh!Bedrooms that could have belonged to my sister and me.This small room with added storage was probably the maid's quarters.An enviable little balcony with a view of downtown Portland and the West Hills. The balcony door also has leaded glass.This also makes me long for the house on Mt. Tabor that we are coveting. Note to self: Check with Mr. W to see where the bank is on looking at our finances! There is nothing like touring a great old home of similar age to make me realize that I need to own an old house and that one is pretty remarkable. I don't see how we could regret it.
I am so pleased to know that my father's research will aid in the restoration of the house, even though he won't be able to do the work himself. He was a great historian and a fine artisan. I miss him every day.

The temptation begins...

Yesterday a fellow board member, who is also a Realtor, came by our house to take a tour, give us an evaluation and recommendations for preparing to sell the Laburnum Bungalow. That evening we all met them on Mt. Tabor to look at two houses that have been on the market and tempting Mr. W and me.
Mr. W's house crush is a 1903 Colonial Revival. Prior to taking the tour I thought it was too much house for us; the consensus after the tour is that it is. It is an awesome house, but it needs too much love which we cannot afford to give it. It boasts 7 bedrooms and 4 fireplaces. The public rooms of the entry, dining room and living room are stunning. There is a large room in the basement, with the same board and batten wainscot as the dining room above, which I am quite convinced was a ballroom, why else would there we such a wide, grand staircase into the basement? The kitchen is a hot mess. No kidding. It was a such a horrible and poorly executed 70s remodel that I didn't waste any digital memory on it. Seriously not good and the butler's pantry had been eliminated. So much rot, asbestos, and repair is needed for this home. The servants quarters on the third floor are completely unnecessary for us, even if we are able to add more children to our family.The second house has been among my house crushes for several years. It is a 1890 Queen Anne Victorian which is featured in Classic Houses of Portland, Oregon: 1850-1950 by Hawkins and Willingham. It is a dream house for me with qualifications such as corner lot, large side yard, views, and ample architectural interest in the facade. I've been pouring over the interior photos online and eating fast food lunches in the car parked outside trying to figure out the interior layout to determine what rooms remain un-photographed. The real estate listing claims Povey Bros. Art Glass.
The interior did not disappoint. Because the house has multiple window bays I was having trouble deciphering the layout; I was wrong about the placement of several rooms. But the woodwork is heavenly, the stained glass is mostly Povey, the floors are parquet, the walls and ceilings are in good condition albeit covered in inappropriate wallpaper. Sadly there is only one fireplace in the whole house and it is located in a sitting room which we would likely use as a family room and tv room. It's surround is black marble in the Eastlake style and I'm guessing it is missing its overmantle because it is looking a little forlorn, or maybe it is just he wallpaper that causes the problem.The kitchen is also a little problematic. It has been updated as recently as the 1980s so while not my exact preference, the layout, cabinets, and finishes are liveable. The problem is there is no butler's pantry or built-ins in the dining room to compensate for the scant upper cabinets in the kitchen. I worry about convenient storage. The second problem is the lack of a breakfast room and the kitchen would not accommodate our dinette table.The 4 bedrooms upstairs are in good condition, just poorly papered. The master suite is a slightly odd Boomer paradise. The sitting room which adjoins the bedchamber has been converted into a dressing room. The abundant storage is awesome, but the placement of some of the cabinetry is a little questionable considering it cuts off the view from the windows. The his and hers bathroom with two commodes and two toilets includes a glass block steam shower with two doors, and a double jetted soaking tub.
Not what I would have done in a Victorian, but I'm not sure whether I can live with or would completely hate it. Did I mention it is all 1980s shiny brass with flowered porcelain?
The third floor is all attic space and accesses the novelty porch. It is the kind of attic you imagine in books. There is also a stash of all the original wood sash, double hung windows. All the double hungs have been replaced with what I assume are Marvin tilt pacs, which while not ideal, is perfectly acceptable. Clearly the current owners have put a lot of love (and attempts at energy efficiency) into this house over the last 3 decades. The entire attic needs to be insulated however.
The basement is moderately scary. The furnace is ancient and has some asbestos insulation. All the rooms down here are in sad shape but the brick foundation appears to be in good shape and more importantly dry. There is a potters room, a pantry or some type of canning room, a work room with I'd imagine a century's worth of old tools, a pathetic laundry, but happily an incredible 1940s knotty pine bonus room. I'm positive the vinyl tile flooring in there has asbestos, but the paneling is wide and gorgeous!Mr. W and I have a lot to contemplate. Most importantly, can we afford it now? Mr. W described the house as "bad ass" this morning so I know that my house crush is now his house crush too.