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May 07, 2006
adventures in the bull city
this was the first year i've ever actually taken the tour (believe it or not). we made it through about half the houses, and wished there were time for more.
being a site captain was fine, but i think i won't do that again. it's stressful, even with a house that's off the beaten path of the tour, and just few doors down from my own. the best part was meeting my neighbors who were volunteers, especially the other docents on my shift, who both turned out to be very cool people.
when it was all said and done, i was beyond exhausted. i figured out that i was on my feet and talking to people for 9 1/2 hours. i was comfortable talking with people and giving tours, but i found it quite draining.
i finally got to see inside the Rice Diet house, which is the impressive Victorian mansion at the corner of Mangum and Lynch. this house has captured my imagination since i first moved into my apartment on lynch street a decade ago, and i was thrilled to see the inside. only the ground floor was open, and the house is in the midst of an intensive renovation. two rooms looked close to complete, with paint on the walls, but everything else is in progress. i really hope the current owners can follow through and complete a proper renovation. these very large mansions are so difficult to save because of the sheer size. we went through the Bull Durham house, a comparable Victorian, and although much of it is in great shape, it's also kind of a crazy jumble right now. The Victorian right across from the Rice Diet house was also a fairly disappointing jumble, with the house separated into three different living spaces, and some of the windows replaced with vinyl.
The bungalows were our favorites. These are everyman houses that one can actually relate to, and it was interesting to see what people have done with them. Although it was the simplest house on the tour, the house where I was site captain was once of the nicest bungalows we saw, just clean and simple.
It was the one on Trinity, with the deep turquoise pillars on the front, that was the biggest surprise. It wasn't my favorite but it was J's. The upstairs was nicely done but the rooms had no logical flow. However, head down the stairs and surprise! The basement has been finished into a master suite with a very, very nicely done bathroom-for-two. On a warm day, it was of course deliciously cool. I just can't imagine my basement ever being in that sort of condition. I need to find out who does their gutters...
My favorite house was the "bungalow gone wild" on bungalow row, Seeman St. Art Nouveau swoops in the living room, coffered ceilings in the formal areas, little cabinets built into everything, and the widest front door I have ever seen. This house is suspected to be a Sears Roebuck pre-fab house. One of the docents at my house lives in a Sears Roebuck bungalow that his father put up in the late 20's. He said he re-did the porch last year and he could see that each beam had been numbered.
after the tour, J. requested pizza for dinner so I got to introduce him to the palais de pizza, which went over fairly well.
:|:
this morning i really had nothing good in the house for breakfast, so we went to mad hatter. oh my, that was tasty. I knew that J was a big breakfast eater on the weekends, but I was amazed and impressed by the breakfast he put away this morning. i was very pleased to have one of the best waffles i've ever had, happily not drowned under a layer of sugary goo, just a few fresh sliced unsugared strawberries. i had a side of the best bacon i've ever tasted, although next time i'll make a point of ordering it extra-crispy.
J is very tolerant, but really, i should cook for him again the next time he's here. maybe i'll have braved the gas grill by then.
this afternoon we took reese the dog for a rainy walk to the park, but not the park we usually walk to. i decided we should check out progress on central park and show the boys the other side of the neighborhood. we walked past stone brothers, the old DAP, checked the progress on the new pavilion, then past the scrap exchange, the architect's and the central park school.
Posted by lisa at May 07, 2006 11:02 PM
ok, so a) your comment won't post right away because i have to approve it first and b) you might get a server error but your comment probably posted anyway and c) previewing doesn't work so i've removed the preview button.