Home Sweet Split-Level or How I Learned to Love My Mid-Century Modern Home in Northcrest

Got To Get Something Done Today, Give Accomplishment a Shot

2011-08-07T11:29:00.001-04:00

As we all know life gets busy...and that still holds true here in “laid-back” Northcrest. We have a backlog of projects that we are now vowed to getting complete. In one way, we are hoarders of the various materials and so forth needed to complete a project. We have had our Crestview door kit for I don’t know how long, final elements to the basement, and last finishing touches to the Wiki Wiki Room and adjoining WWII bathroom are still required. The limiting factor for us has always been time. Right now the summer season is in full force down at our beloved Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club. Basically, every other weekend Jordan and I are tasked with throwing a party for 40-80 people. It is truly fun to help out with events, but it does suck down an inordinate amount of time. But at the end of each event, it is always great to see happy friends and neighbors.

Luckily, we were recently approached by our new friends at Easy Canvas Prints with an opportunity to review their product. We have been looking for that last item for the basement WWII bathroom, and the timing was perfect. Basically, Easy Canvas Prints is a online services that allows anyone to upload an image, and then the company prints it out onto canvas suitable for framing or display it as it comes to you. We had a variety of images we were considering. With the help of their great customer support, we settled on what should have been to obvious choice.

The production of our Northcrest brochure canvas print was very fast and shipping matched that speed. We want to thank everyone at Easy Canvas Prints for this opportunity and highly recommend their product. It is a great way to formalize and digital image you may have. Stay tuned to see the print hanging in context in the soon to be completed basement bathroom. Want one for yourself, make sure to head to their easy to use website and enjoy!

Easy Canvas Prints

I’m not going to make promises about how quickly I’ll get posts about our various projects, but we are moving quickly forward on many of them. One such project we have planned on since day one here in Northcrest is a new mailbox. I stumbled across some plans for a fun mid century modern design in a 1959 Reader’s Digest that I knew would look great out in our front yard. Here it is in the early stages of construction:

Stay tuned as things are getting exciting around here in Northcrest and Home Sweet Split Level!

Summer Time and the Living is Easy!

2011-04-27T17:25:00.000-04:00

Well spring has definitely sprung here in Northcrest. The azaleas and dogwoods have come and gone. This means two things 1) pool season is about to happen and 2) it is time for the annual Northcrest Tour of Homes sponsored by the ladies Hoe and Hope Garden Club. I think back to many years ago when we only heard about Northcrest and I think purposefully kept it out of our minds as we knew we could not afford to live here. Really for that matter, buy a house anywhere! Once we moved here, we quickly realized that the neighborhood was so much more then great mid-century modern designed homes. I have always believed in the notion of thinking global and acting local. So, pardon the pool metaphor, we dove in with both feet.

I cannot begin to tell you about all the great neighbors turned friends we have met through volunteering at the Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club. Northcrest is so much more then what you are doing to your house or what have you. In addition, Jordan is a recent member of the Hoe and Hope Garden Club and worked first hand this year to bring about the annual Tour of Homes. I know that Jordan is really proud to be aprat of this. I really think of this annual event as a celebration of Northcrest and neighbors welcoming neighbors into their homes.

So to that end, the 2011 Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club really wanted to become more a part of the Tour. This year before any of the front doors are opened, the Club is holding a neighborhood-wide pancake breakfast from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. The Club is once again honored to be a part of this neighborhood celebration and we will be hosting an open house that day with free refreshments and so forth. Not only will the Club be having a open house for folks, we are also having a vintage automobile show that afternoon featuring many of the great vehicles you see cruising the streets of Northcrest. So come on out this Sunday with friends and family and join in this celebration!

Let’s make this year’s Tour of Homes the best! Everyone come on down to the Club that morning and get a full stomach of pancakes and then maybe take a nap before the real fun begins at 2:00 PM. We can’t wait to see everyone out this Sunday!

Decatur Old House Fair

2011-02-22T21:34:00.000-05:00

Well, like many others here in Northcrest, I returned from the mailbox tonight with the latest copy of Atomic Ranch. Anyone see the top of page 35? If not, go back and flip through and take a look at the ad for this year’s Decatur Old House Fair.

The bulk of this year’s event is focused on mid-century ranches and homes. Great artwork for the ad and take a look at the event’s website for a run down on all the interesting talks and so forth. Here are some mid-century highlights:

Ranch Houses in Georgia and DeKalb County: Ordinary or Iconic?
Guest Lecturer: Dr. Richard Cloues, deputy state historic preservation officer
Melissa Forgey, executive director, DeKalb History Center

For folks that have not heard this talk yet...this is not to be missed. Take a look HERE. Dr. Clouse dedication to the mid-century built environment is fantastic and living in such a neighborhood, we should be there to show support for his effort to preserve and highlight mid-century architecture.

Researching Your Old House and What Style is My House?
Kenneth H. Thomas Jr., professional historian/genealogist
Melissa Forgey, executive director, DeKalb History Center

20th Century Interiors: From Arts & Crafts to Arts and Machines
David Ramsey, interior designer, Historic Preservation Studio, Lord, Aeck & Sargent
Beth Shorthouse, Business Development, Historic Preservation Studio, Lord, Aeck & Sargent

Maintenance Plans for Old Houses
Laura Drummond, preservation consultant
Atlanta Preservation Associates

Creating 20th Century Landscapes; Six Examples; A Lesson in Garden Design
Ed Daugherty, landscape architect
Edward L. Daugherty Landscape Architect, Inc.

These are just some of the highlights...Who else wants to go?? We should get a group together and represent Northcrest at this event tailored to our wonderful neighborhood. Email me at sobayli@hotmail.com, leave a comment here on the blog, or drop me a line on Twitter at NorthcrestJeff. Let’s make some plans now!

A Long Time Forgotten

2011-02-22T14:57:00.002-05:00

Are you like me here in Atlanta and have been enjoying these unseasonably warm days for the last week or so? If so, our friends at CSN stores have a great place for you to find wooden swing set and so forth to enjoy the upcoming spring weather!

Ok, so you’re probably asking “Why is he talking about CSN stores again??” Well to be perfectly honest, they have again approached us about a brief mention on our blog. In return, they are giving us a credit towards merchandise on their websites. I have say, I actually found a blue toilet seat that matched perfectly to the original Northcrest blue toilet we recently installed downstairs in the basement bathroom. The credit they are providing us is going toward the finishing touches on our retro-inspired basement bathroom.

We have lovingly reinstalled a original Northcrest blue toilet and sink down there and cannot be more happy about it! If you are into the idea of restoring a bathroom in your house back to it's original mid-century charm, make sure to first check out Pam Kueber's Retro Renovation website. I'm sure most already know about it, but just in case you don't, it is a great resource for all things mid-century! Plus, her take on saving he pink and blue bathroom is inspiring!

We have been up to a lot of things around the house and at some others houses as well here in Northcrest. Give me a couple more days when I have just a bit more time and I’ll fill in all the details about the basement improvements.

Oh and don’t forget, 20th Century Cincinnati Modern Show is happening this weekend. We went last year (you can read all the details HERE) and it was amazing. Unfortunately, we are not going to make it this year, but if you are anywhere near by…make sure to not miss it.

Here are a few pictures/hints that I promise I will finally get around to talking about in depth next time…

THE WIKI WIKI ROOM

THE BASEMENT BATHROOM

Bathroom Inspiration via Pam over at http://www.retrorenovation.com/

Busy All Over Northcrest!

Speaking of being busy in Northcrest, take a look at the new Crestview doors our neighbors over at Our Modern Mess just had installed. With the warmer weather, maybe we can finally get around to installing our Crestview kit!

Come and Gone....My oh My!

2011-01-19T14:39:00.002-05:00

Well another year has come and gone. Honestly, 2010 was a rough year for us. Simply put, the year started out in a very routine fashion. We looked forward to a vacation with our family to Alaska, starting and finishing projects around the house, and helping out at the Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club. The vacation was great, projects indeed were finished and started, and the summer was a blast down at the club. The one lesson we both learned the hard way numerous times last year was to cast a more critical eye towards people considering themselves our friends. Whether it was people we worked for or with, folks within our social group, or even just mere acquaintances, we were both duped one too many times.

However, we welcomed 2011 with gusto this year once again. The house was full of friends and neighbors as we once again lowered the Northcrest “N” at midnight. Here is a quick video of the 2011 “N” drop:

So not only has 2011 brought a “new hope” to the house, but it also brought with it 4-5 inches of snow. Last week, Atlanta literally became “Hothlanta” as many were calling it. The city became paralyzed as roads, driveways, and bridges became skating rinks. My personal favorite skating moment was the guy that decided to ice skate down Peachtree Street. For us, it was a time to share with good friends and enjoy our house and Northcrest. The mid-century modern homes here in Northcrest take on a entirely different persona when covered in snow and begin to become camouflaged by the wintery background. Roof lines disappear while steam and smoke billow from our heater’s vent and chimneys.

Like an Imperial AT-AT Walker, the Snow Came At Night and Early Morning

Our Beloved Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club

While the Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club is a great summer spot, the 5 inches or snow that covered the Club made it a place where only polar bears would want to swim now. Don’t even get me started on bears… Anyway, the snow did allow for two fun new albeit temporary hobbies: sledding and watching vehicles try and make it up the icy hill in front of our house.

Seriously, it became a brief evening tradition for Jordan and me to watch the various cars try and make it up Regalwoods Dr to Summitridge. At one point, we came close to making encouraging signs and ringing cowbells like some sort of Nordic downhill skiing event. Some made it, but most failed. My favorite idiot was the Dekalb County cop who got stuck on the hill. After helping him get on his way we asked if he could shut the road down, call the county to dump sand, or offer any type of help to which he replied, “Not my job on a night like this”.

On a much lighter note, the sledding this year in Northcrest was top notch! We gathered our warm clothes, procured appropriate sledding vehicles, and most importantly brewed some delicious Trader Vic’s hot buttered rum for the adventure awaiting us.

The Snow Wing and Trader Vic's Hot Buttered Rum...A Match Made in Heaven!

With a few phone calls and emails, a group of us met over by the school and had a blast! Here is a quick action packed video:

Yes, That IS a Monkey On Jordan's Head...Time For A Bannana Break (A Mail Chimp Joke)!

Matt's Face-First Method

Super-Matt

Luckily we only had two injuries...both mostly only hurting one’s ego. For me it was sliding down the schools iced over slide only to be dumped out directly on my butt.

Ben on the other hand had a slight harder impact for sure. Attempting the face-first sled run, Ben jumped towards his sled only for it not to move as he landed. Following one of Newton’s Laws, Ben's face met the snow. He had a few scratches and yes, there was blood drawn this day, but he survived. Later that day I passed by their house to see Ben shoveling the ice and snow off the driveway. Punishment laid down by Katie!

The Aftermath!

Like Mount Everest, all hills are bound to be conquered. After awhile at the school we headed over to Archwood Drive. If you have never been to Northcrest, there are some serious hills in our neighborhood. Archwood is a serious hill and really is perfect for sledding we came to find out. We made our way to the top of the hill and went for it. Fun was had by all that day.

Archwood Dr....The Planning Stages

Jordan Content at the Top of Archwood

Halfway Down Archwood and Building Speed....

Look at the Amazing Concentration!

Ken...Come On....Grab a Sled!

Seriously, it is always fun to spend snowy wintery day with friends/neighbors. After Day Three of what people started calling “Snowpocalypse 2011”, some began to claim cabin fever. For us, there was no cabin fever at all. Either hanging out with friends or enjoying quality time that I rarely get these days with the love of my life was wonderful. Plus, it never hurts to have a newly finished authentic Polynesian Pop tiki bar in your basement…More on that next time!

What Lies Behind These Shadows ????

* Special thanks to our friend Jeff B. who took many of the great sledding photographs!

Northcrest Tour of Lights 2010!

2010-12-24T14:36:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again! Time for the 2nd Annual Northcrest Tour of Lights! We took some time last night to drive slowly through the neighborhood and snap some pictures of some of the best holiday lights in the neighborhood. There were some really nice ones this year, and the low horizontal lines of Northcrest homes really look great outlined in lights. We didn't get ours up this year in time....just had too many unexpected things going on. We will add it to the ever-long list for next year!

Here is some music again to set the tone for the lights:

Without further ado, here are some of our favorites!

And then....there was Brian's house. A true winter wonderland! It was particularly spectacular this year with a few new additions and an ever-changing line up in the manger scenes! So last, but never least...Brian's house.

This is 2 years worth of nativity finds at Highland Row Antiques!

Baby Jesus, improvised manger.

Various wise men, and the curious snowman and Gloria.

Brian tweaking things in the snowglobe.

I don't know about 'wise', but there's an extra man in this scene.

Brian and Jeff, admiring all of Brian's hard work!

Maybe next year we can organize a neighborhood-wide holiday lighting contest?! Until then, have a Merry Christmas everyone!

New Northcrest Find

2010-12-16T09:29:00.001-05:00

Head over to our neighbor's blog http://northcrestmodern.blogspot.com/ and take a look at the really interesting piece of Northcrest ephemera he found. Things truly turn up in the strangest places!

And The Winner Is.....

2010-12-07T13:39:00.001-05:00

This year's Black Friday giveaway sponsored by CSN online stores was a huge success! Thanks to everyone that entered and decided to follow our adventure in one way or another. All valid entries (n=43) were placed into a Excel spreadsheet and randomly sorted. Using the random number generator we chose a winner

And now....the winner of the $45 gift card giveaway is.....Barbara (A long time Follower of the Blog)

Congratulations and I'll be sending you an email with all the details!

Black Friday Giveaway!!!

2010-11-26T09:46:00.001-05:00

Regular readers might remember a giveaway contest we did about a year and a half ago. Well CSN web stores have partnered with Home Sweet Split Level again for another fun giveaway. This time, the winner will receive a free $45 promotional code to use at any of their 200+ web stores. CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from stylish furniture, a leather briefcase, or great cookware! I myself would use the money at Allmodern.com of course!

Forget all that crazy Black Friday shopping and do your Christmas shopping from your own MCM pad. I have only ventured out once for early morning Black Friday sales, and after doing so I vowed to never do it again! So let Home Sweet Split Level and CSN help you with some of your Christmas shopping this year. Oh, and if you decide to spend the money on yourself, we won’t tell anyone!

Here is How To Enter:

1) Become a follower of our new Twitter feed by going HERE

2) If you don’t already, become a follower of our blog

3) Post a link to this post on your own blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc…(Please make sure to post a link in your comment)

4) Leave a comment to this post telling us what mid century projects you have on tap for 2011. Also, make sure to tell us each of the above things you did, if any.

At a minimum, make sure to leave a comment to enter. Each of the other actions you do also gets you an entry. So, in theory, you could have up to four entries into the giveaway. Pretty simple right!

Starting today, the contest will run for a week and a half and the winner will be chosen at random on December 6, 2010. We will announce the winner that day so you can get your prize in time to spend it on Christmas gifts!

As always, thanks for taking some time out of your day and seeing what we are up to and GOOD LUCK!

Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

2010-11-24T14:24:00.003-05:00

Wow…things have been super busy over here in our neck of Northcrest! We are in the midst of a major overhaul of the basement. Our dream of both a workshop in the backroom and full service tiki bar in the front is finally coming to fruition. Without giving too much away, we converted some original Northcrest kitchen cabinets that were slated to be wasted and sent to the dump, into a full on workbench. It just shocks me to see interiors of our homes wiped clean of any true mid century personality. However, tons of storage for tools and so forth is now all ours! Now we can boast of two original kitchens!

The front room of the basement is quickly being converted into the third incarnation of our beloved Wiki Wiki Room. Below is a quick preview, so stay tuned and we will have a full on story of the process. We have always envisioned the front basement room as a place to escape; this dream is becoming more and more real on a daily basis.

Also, Home Sweet Split Level has taken another step out into the virtual world. We are now on Twitter and you can follow us here: HomeSweetSplitLevel. In celebration of this, we are going to be having our own little “Black Friday” giveaway this Friday. So make sure to check back in order to get all the details!

Not only have things been busy at the house, but Jordan's fattycakes is taking off. This past weekend was the annual Indie Craft Experience's Holiday Show. This has become an annual event for her and fattycakes now. Thanks to everyone that came out and supported us and all the amazing crafters that were there. Make sure to head over to the new fattycakes website to see where she will be next!

So, that is it for now. We just want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving and you can read all about my feelings towards it HERE. This year, there is a lot going on our lives. Life sometimes just gets out of control no matter what you do. So take sometime this year and think about your true friends, your family, and all that you hold dear when you sit down at the dinner table tomorrow. Life is so quick, and there are going to be those tough times. In order to mitigate thses periods, I think it helps to remind yourself of the real people who support you no matter what, to be as unselfish as you can, and remember and value all your wonderful memories of people and great times.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010 Everyone!

Breaking Northcrest News!!!

2010-10-13T14:30:00.004-04:00

The ladies over at the Hoe and Hope Garden Club have just announced the entries into the design contest for the new Northcrest Sign. There is a wide range of ideas, so go check them out HERE. Many feature a great "retro" sense and feature iconic materials and motifs that really convey what our neighborhood is all about.

From a personal viewpoint, if the sign does not integrate elements from the original Northcrest logo, it is not really a contender in my book. No matter how you feel, make sure to come down to the Club this Saturday and vote on your favorite if you live here in Northcrest. Great job ladies and I can't wait to see which design wins!

Speaking of this Saturday, not only can you vote on the new sign at the Club, but you can also shop! This Saturday is the annual neighborhood yard sale and in addition to a giant flea market down at the club, numerous homes around the neighborhood will be selling everything you can imagine. There are always some great mid century modern treasures to be found! Plus, we will be grillling burgers and so forth down at Sale Headquarters (aka Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club) around lunch time.

Take a look HERE to see all the participating houses.....We will see you on Saturday!

It's A Dog's Life

2010-09-22T11:03:00.000-04:00

You may remember last year's Pooch Pool Party....if not take a look at all the fun everyone had HERE. It was so much fun that we are extending the hours this year! If you are anywhere close to Northcrest, make sure to load Fido up in the car and head this way on Sunday, September 26 from Noon to 4PM. Even if you don't have a four legged friend, head down to the club and watch the mayhem 40+ dogs create. So, help us celebrate the dog days of summer (and the last day of swim season) and come down for a swim with your best canine buddy! The whole neighborhood is invited!

Just $5 per dog includes admission for you, and an afternoon of exciting events:

• Doggie fun and games in the pool!

• Secure off-leash play area!

• Homemade dog cookies for Fido!

• Do-it-yourself doggie beauty parlor!

• Raffle prizes courtesy of Personal Pet Care Services!

New for 2010: Great new entrance ramp for the dogs to help them get in and out of the pool!

Bring a few extra bucks for the Tiki Hut Grill, where we will be serving freshly cooked hamburger and hot dog plates, and other snack bar treats.

Special thanks to our neighborhood friend and sponsor, David Ranscombe of Personal Pet Care Services, Inc.

Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

2010-09-12T12:30:00.001-04:00

This is the event that everyone has been waiting for even though they had no idea about it! The Club is proud to host the national debut of Northcrest’s own power rock group, The Petty Tyrants. The band consists of neighbors:

Paul Curry - Bass
Beth Kargel - Keyboards, Vox, and Theremin
Rick Lozano - Guitar
John Speaks – Drums (well not technically a neighbor, but we will let it slide!)
Bob Wooley – Vocals

They are going to play great covers of everyone’s favorite tunes from the 1960’s to today. This event is going to be talked about for years to come, so be sure to make plans to attend today!

This has been an amazing summer down at the Club...we still have some great events to come for sure. Stay tuned and we'll have a full rundown of all the fun from summer 2010 soon!

The Thrill of the Hunt...And The Agony of the Catalog

2010-09-03T12:12:00.015-04:00

So if you know us at all, you know that poking around in such places as thrift stores, estate sales, and antique stores is a hobby of ours. I don’t know if hobby carries the right tone. Obsession is to strong a word so let’s go with passion to describe how we feel about the thrill of the hunt. We don’t really have a methodology or cutesy terminology like those guys on television. We have our regular spots in towns that we know, but when faced with a new place to explore we go where the four winds take us, or now where the Iphone tells us to go!

No matter the context, the idea of finding something unique, rare or just fun at a decent price has taken us on many adventures. Sometimes we like to go on long junkin’ adventures like our trip to Cincinnati. Other times it is to a place that just seems like it may house cool stuff to look at. Jordan always says to me that she does not “trust” people that don’t collect something. That mantra has kinda always stuck with me and I truly believe that the act of collecting is a true human characteristic.

Speaking archaeologically, I have seen this collecting behavior expressed within a prehistoric context. Without going into the boring chronological/theoretical cannons of archaeology, I will do my best to explain. Just about every time I have excavated a Mississippian farmstead (think people who grew the corn to sustain the folks living on the mounds at Etowah), a site type that dates to say roughly AD 1000 to European contact, you always find three or four projectile points dating to say some 2,500 (Late Archaic) years earlier. There are no other archaeological signatures to suggest the site was occupied at this earlier period, so it is always a head scratcher.

However, one afternoon while out working along the floodplain of the Black Warrior in Alabama, I was excavating a unit within a medium-sized farmstead and this very same thing occurred. Up from the screen comes two medium stemmed projectile points that clearly, from a chronological perspective, did not belong at the site. My mentor was working in the unit with me and VJK goes, “I think these guys must have loved to collect arrowheads”. We began a discussion about this tendency and for me; I walked away from the site that day with a better understanding of early antique hunters.

I know that many collectors have a laundry or wish list of things to find. Sure, if pressed I can name a few things I would love to track down in the wild, but for me it is much more about the surprise. You just never know what you may find on that next isle or booth. I can think of a few pieces within our primary collections (tiki and mid century modern) that are unique and a thrill to find, but nothing with a real sense of “jaw droppingness”. This all change recently for us.

So one Sunday afternoon, Jordan and I head out to some of our regular spots here in Atlanta. No real sense of urgency, just a relaxing afternoon looking at stuff. Our last stop of the day was Treasure Mart. This is a great place and if you read this blog regularly, this is where the infamous Kabobit came from. We stroll in, head to the back, and wander around. There appears that nothing really out of the ordinary is there, aside from a classic piece of artwork known as “Tribal Dog”.

Tribal Dog deserves a bit of a tangent. If you are serious about hunting collectibles and such, there will come a day when you actually come across something that was once your own. Our friend Brian points out things he “believes” were once his all the time, but I’m still not convinced. It happened to me one day in a thrift store when walking down an isle I came across a container that I know 100% was once mine. Well it happened to Jordan finally. Hanging on the wall in Treasure Mart is a piece of Jordan’s art I like to call Tribal Dog. I don’t really remember the context of her doing this painting, but let’s just say it is not going to win any awards! How it got to Treasure Mart is a mystery. We donated the piece to a thrift store when we moved to Northcrest, so I guess someone bought it and then tried to consign it at Treasure Mart?? Or maybe Treasure Mart buys lots at Thrift Stores?? I have no clue…but it is still there if anyone wants a Jordan original and I think it has been marked down three times. Once more and it goes to the Last Chance section and then, well I don’t even want to think about that fate!

Ok, back on track, after the excitement of our rare Tribal Dog encounter, we head out. On our way out, this four foot redwood carving up against the wall catches our eye. I have no idea how we missed it when coming in, but we did. On closer inspection, we both realize what is in front of us. It is the find of our collecting life so far. There in front of us is a four foot tiki carved by no other then Barney West. This guy is a legend and we cannot believe what we are seeing.

On closer inspection, we notice a note is attached to it…the plot thickens. Not only is this tiki going to be the signature piece in our Wiki Wiki Room, but this guy is a part of Atlanta tiki history. This calls for some background.

Barney West was a legendary and prolific tiki carver based in Sausalito, CA. Everything he carved came out of his store, Tiki Junction. Here is some ephemera for his place, including his catalog. Make sure to check the scale of some of his carvings, some of these guys are 15 ft or more.

If you look at this page of the catalog, 3rd row all the way to the right, you'll see ours: Marquesan Family Tiki

Examples of his stuff can still be found all over the place. Most, if not all, of Trader Vic’s locations have both large and small pristine carvings of his. For example, Atlanta has a couple giant ones outside and one of my favorites inside.

Also, here is a great Moai carving from the now defunct, yet reopened Chicago Trader Vic’s:

Ok, so we have established that this tiki was carved by one of the legends. Now here is the story on the Atlanta connection. Originally, Barney carved this tiki for the now closed and demolished Luau restaurant that once stood at 1999 Peachtree Rd, right across from Piedmont Hospital. The original building was constructed at some point between 1956 and 1959 by Carling Dinkler.

The place was a hit and really became the talk of the town during the tiki bar heyday of the late 1950s and early 1960s. A few years after opening the Luau, Dinkler sold the restaurant at a huge profit to the Dobbs family. Dobbs started as a restaurant franchise and over time grew into a large airline catering company. I know I certainly remember all the Dobbs trucks when flying out of Atlanta as a child servicing all the Delta planes.

Interior of the Dobb's Atlanta Luau

Around the early-mid 1960's, the Dobbs Luau changed to the Dobbs House Tiki and with that came a new exterior:

At some point, probably in the 70’s, the building was torn down and this tiki was returned to Barney West out in California. The tiki consigner’s mom was out travelling in California and stopped at Tiki Junction. While there, the mom actually purchased this tiki directly from Barney West. I can only speculate, but I wonder if she told Barney that she was from Atlanta and he was like “Hey, I got the perfect tiki for you!”

I have to say that I never thought we would come across something like this. We feel very fortunate to have this guy now in our collection. To have not only a piece carved by a legend, but one that has a direct link to the tiki history of Atlanta is an honor. The thrill for us is the hunt. While some prefer to stick to hunting through catalog and internet pages, we choose the open road and random places while searching for our next great find.

"For They Have Met Steel For The First Time..."

2010-08-04T13:20:00.007-04:00

The title for this posting is taken from a classic Prince Valiant comic strip. Why am I quoting an inappropriate anthropological line about steel from Prince Valiant? Because Jordan and I recently purchased a 1960 Valiant! Made from good ol’ American steel, aluminum, and chrome…this car is a blast to drive!

Unfortunately, this meant selling our beloved yet troublesome 1977 Starcraft Pop-Up to make room for the car under our carport. Luckily, Craigslist came to the rescue and allowed the camper to go to a very nice woman who is actually one of the state organizers for Geocaching. Years ago when we purchased this camper, it was in bad shape. We redid the interior of it with a fun retro Hawaiian theme. She really dug the retro interior and we are both glad it went to someone who appreciated the work.

Fare The Well My Old Friend....Off Into The Sunset!

Anyway, the car came from our friend and fellow Northcrester Ken, who I think is still having second thoughts about having sold the car. It all came about very innocently enough. I don’t like to use the word “fate” because so many life events can be misconstrued to take on a serendipitous context. However, the Valiant may be an actual example.

One morning while pouring a new section of concrete around the pool, Ken and his partner Hector were swimming. Ken and I talked about some of the houses in the neighborhood, had some laughs about recent Northcrest events, and then it happened. Ken says “Hey if you know anyone that wants the Valiant, I’m thinking about selling it”. I ask him some specifics because I knew that Jordan loved this car whenever she saw it around the neighborhood.

Ken tells me that it is a push button automatic. That is huge because Jordan does not know how to drive a stick and the world is probably much safer because of this. Next he says it has power steering and brakes. This would further allow Jordan to more easily drive the car. Finally, the size of the car makes it so Jordan can park it. Trust me, this is huge because if you ever see her try and park my truck, you will understand how important the size of the Valiant is.

The Look of the Insturment Cluster is My Favorite Part!

Original V-200 Emblem and Interior

For more context, here are the original TV ads for the 1960 Valiant (I dig the beatnik looking cartoon band guys!)

So there you have it, while classic car insurance companies don’t acknowledge our carport as worthy, the 60’ Valiant looks right at home in our 1959 carport!

Curious Photo...Right?

2010-07-12T19:07:00.002-04:00

What is this odd thing parked in our driveway....stay tuned and later this week we will give all the details!

Northcrest Sign Contest

2010-06-28T14:29:00.006-04:00

So if you're looking to beat the heat by doing something inside in the a/c and you live here in the neighborhood...why not take a stab at designing a new sign for the lower Regalwoods entrance. As most know by now, New Years Eve night, the sign took a beating. Our neighborhood's Hoe and Hope Garden Club has long been responsible for the up keep of the sign. During this year's Northcrest Tour of Homes, the Garden Club announcing their sponsership of a design contest for the replacement sign.

If you are interested, the Garden Club has a WEBSITE with all the details. The entry deadline is August 15, 2010 and they are going to be announcing the winner down at the pool during the Founder's Day event during the Labor Day weekend. Have fun and I think just about everyone is excited about this!

May You Stay, Forever Young

2010-06-01T14:37:00.002-04:00

Our little blog has once again spread its wings and left the nest. First it was the awesome AllModern contest we were able to do (we gotta do another one of these!). Now our blog has been featured on the homeownersinsurance.org website’s article entitled “50 Do-It-Yourself Blogs: DIY Must-Reads for Home Improvement Projects". We are noted as bringing “you the 1950’s in all their shiny glory”. How cool is that…thanks and there are many other great links on the list so go and check it out!

So how was everyone’s long Memorial Day Weekend? If you were anywhere near Northcrest and not down at the Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club, you missed a great time. While the weather was a bit tricky, the rain seemed to hold off just at the right times. Saturday night featured a fun and very tasty Low Country Boil. Sunday night had an awesome potluck dinner where we all got to sample foods from the amazing chefs here in the neighborhood. Finally, Monday afternoon was a bright sunny afternoon featuring poolside grilling and a fun ice cream social for the kids (I think I saw some adults in the line as well!). It was fun catching up with folks, meeting so many new people, and hanging out with great friends.

A Rainy Spot During The Potluck

The highlight of the weekend for me was this single moment that occurred on Monday afternoon. During the middle of talking with a group of friends my attention was quickly drawn to the pool’s diving board. On it was a young little blond girl with bright pink swim floaties around her arms. She nervously and very slowly approached the end of the board. Her movement required lots of starting and stopping and a couple moments where this little girl trembled with nervousness. Her father waited patiently, treading water in the deep end, all the while encouraging her.

She would tell her father exactly were to be there in the deep end as she drew even closer to end of the diving board. Then she made it to the end, stood there frozen, peering over into what most have looked like an insurmountable obstacle to her, and with trembling limbs took the plunge into the pool. It was her first dive off the diving board and the moment she hit the water, just about everyone there at the pool launched into a huge round of applause and loud cheers went out for her. It was one of those little moments that are so touching to me. Just hearing everyone cheer for her and seeing her smile totally made me tear up a little. Even as I write this now and think back to this moment yesterday, it is a bit hard to hold them back again.

What this little girl did on Monday will be repeated all over the world this summer and certainly not unique to Northcrest. But, I live in Northcrest and if I did not, I would have missed in sharing this most amazing moment. Just when everyone lunched into cheers and applause for her, it was this great moment not only for her, but all of Northcrest. A moment like this really defines to me what it is to be a “Northcrester”. It is one thing to say you live in this great mid century modern neighborhood but it is a whole other experience when you really join the neighborhood. For me it is working down at the pool, others prefer the garden club, and many do it in there own way. We share this amazing space called Northcrest with one another. I can only encourage everyone to take the plunge like that little girl did this weekend and really get involved and help make Northcrest even better!

Hardwoods....Finally!

2010-05-20T11:46:00.010-04:00

Where to begin… I guess the first item to mention was the 2010 Tour of Homes was yet another smashing success. We did not go on the tour this year as we were busy staffing the pool for folks who stopped by the clubhouse on the Tour of Homes. I did not feel too left out this year as I have seen the interiors of all three homes in the past. Of course Brian and Kevin’s was a sight to behold I’m sure as they had a Lucille Ball impersonator at their house during the tour. Lucas and Petra’s home was also featured on the tour and as we all know, there eye for mid century collectibles is stellar. Their house is quite lovely inside and allows all of their furniture to share in the spot light. Congrats to everyone on it and thanks again for opening up your doors to the neighborhood! For more commentary on this year’s tour, check out HERE and HERE.

Next on the list of things to cover is an update on the Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club. Things are just about ready to get into full swing for the 2010 season. A lot of work has been put in down there and drum roll please… the new fence is up!!! The rusty miss-matched fence with sections of prison barbed wire is gone and now replaced with glorious black vinyl covered chain link that virtually disappears into the woods surrounding the pool. Additionally, Jordan and I are pleased to be helping with all of the 2010 social events this summer. There are some new events blended in with all of the Northcrest favorites. Make sure to keep July 17th open on your calendar as that day is the Club’s annual Luau. This year is going to be bigger and better as we will be having a 45 minute Polynesian hula review preformed by the Magical Fires of Polynesia…how awesome is that?!?

Finally, don’t forget the pool still has a few Northcrest neighborhood flags for sale. Click HERE to order. Also, this summer we are going to be selling a really fun Northcrest can koozie for only $3.00! Jordan and I have already tested them out on our favorite can beer (remember no glass at the pool!) and have concluded that the koozies do an excellent job keeping your favorite frosty beverage or soda ice cold. Email me if you want one now, or stop by the newly remolded tiki hut any time the pool is open to get one.
So now I want to turn the clock back to sometime around mid January. In an earlier post, I made mention of us finally putting down hardwood floors. I wanted to take some time to explain the process we went through and to prove that installing prefinished hardwoods is totally a DIY project. Before getting into the specifics, there are two lessons I learned from this undertaking. We purchased the house knowing full well that we would one day replace all the flooring on the main level of the house. It was in bad shape but we knew we could live with it for the time being.

This leads into the two lessons I learned. The first lesson is if I ever buy another house, I would much prefer to buy a non-staged house. I say this because, and not to be assy but, neither one of us has a problem visualizing and filling a blank canvas. Also, we would have quickly realized that the carpet was in far worst shape than we thought. When we looked at the house, it was “staged” with large and “lovely” blue leather couches in the living room. Once we moved in we quickly realized they had strategically placed the furniture over probably some 20-30 cigarette carpet burns.

The second lesson I took away from the hardwood floor adventure is instead of complaining while living with the status quo, it is far better to make the changes you want to happen. In other words, we lived with the carpet and would make excuses for it when friends would come over and then complain about it when it was just us. While you might not be happy with things, unhappiness can often cause you to point fingers at situations that are not the problem. Bottom line, instead of complaining and finger pointing, just get out, do the work, stop making excuses, and make the changes you want to happen. As our good friend Brian has said in the recent past, “it is better to go fix something for the better and ask for forgiveness latter”. But if you making something better, should you really ever have to ask for forgiveness? I don’t know…enough with the esoteric stuff and now to the “specifics” of DIY hardwoods.

Part I: Picking and Receiving Hardwoods

Ok, so Jordan and I looked at a couple different flooring places around town. We finally settled on FLOR and DÉCOR on the I-85 access road/N.E. Expressway between Clairmont Rd. and N. Druid Hills. All of the staff was very helpful and they certainly do not put the hard sale on you. Initially we went in thinking we would get bamboo floor. However, we were hesitant due to its perceived durability and more importantly; we felt bamboo floors are a popular style now but worried about the longevity of the look. We continued to look around and finally came to a decision.

We decided that maple flooring is a classic addition to any modern home. While we love the look of maple we also wanted something with some “organic movement” to mimic the outdoors. We are also lucky that our ceiling has not been modified from is original look so we also did not want a floor that would compete with the ceiling and original kitchen cabinets We ended up choosing birds eye maple which brings in the lightness of maple but also gets around the homogenous look of maple.

We placed our order and came back a few days later and picked it up in the truck. The forklift dropped the giant palette of 35 boxes into the truck. Next thing I realize is that I’m going to be driving home now in a partial low rider. I decided not to head up 85 as that was an accident waiting to happen and Captain Herb would be talking about some idiot who caused a massive traffic jam on 85 due to overloading his truck. Instead I stuck to the access road and slowly made my way home. I knew I needed to get the hardwoods inside so they could acclimate to there new surroundings and also my truck’s suspension would certainly thank me, but it was a task I did not want to do. After about and hour and half of unloading, my sore back was in place (something that would stick with throughout the installation) and the hardwood was inside.

In the past I have watched a lot of HGTV. For some reason, I don’t watch it as much now and maybe that is because we are involved with some many projects at the house right now that I don’t want to be burden with other people’s TV projects. Anyway, watching the litany of “DIY” shows on TV you always see folks removing carpet while wearing what could be compared to a hazmat suit. I always thought to myself that sure you had to wear gloves, but really all your doing is cutting the stuff into strips, rolling it up, and taking it away. What I forgot was the primary reason why we wanted to get rid of the carpet in the first place. Even with a good vacuuming, I don’t think carpet ever gets fully clean. After removing some 1500 sq ft of it, I’m now convinced it never gets anything close to fully clean.

Quickly after the first strip of removed carpet and all of the nasty unidentified particles associated with it rained down on me, I donned my safety glasses and dust mask. It is horrifying to see what really is lurking in your carpet. I cannot believe I ever walked around barefoot on that stuff. I removed most of the carpeting late in the week. As ugly as it was on our floors, I certainly did not want to burden the neighbors with a long weekend of having to look at disgusting carpet. So, I decided that I would just load it up in the back of the truck and dump it early on the next Monday morning.

Well between loading and unloading, the skies decided to dump rain down on this giant pile of disgusting carpet. It was partially covered by the carport, but the pile just functioned like a giant sponge and soaked up all the rain water it could. Well, Monday morning rolls around and I back the truck up the end of the driveway and unload it. Just a little while later, here comes DeKalb sanitation. They pull up and park the truck and the guys kind of just stare at the pile of wet, smelly, disgusting carpet. I truly felt sorry for them and they started loading it up into the garbage truck. Say what you want about DeKalb County, but man these guys worked hard that morning…Thanks!

Part III: Kitchen Floor Excavations

The carpet removal was actually pretty easy. Once you get past all the grossness, you get in a rhythm. The tack strips are not that fun either, but again, you just get in a rhythm with the pry bar and next thing you know, you’re done. I was not really looking forward to the kitchen floor removal because I could tell it was built up and thus contained multiple episodes of flooring. I started at the doorway and set about taking up just one small area to see what I was going to be dealing with. So the basic stratigraphic sequence I found involved the surface layer of terrible nondescript recent vinyl flooring. Under this was a layer of luan underlayment plywood and finally I came upon the original kitchen flooring…speckled linoleum. I set the gauge on my circular saw and cut a straight line down the center of the kitchen.

Then, starting from the center got beneath the luan and started pulling. It was a nightmare. There were 1,000’s of staples securing the luan plywood to the subfloor. It quickly set in that this was going to be a real pain. Eventually I just got all plywood up and stripped everything down to the original linoleum. For a split second I thought “Is there anyway to save this?” But I knew this was a pipe dream as it had substantial damage and staining. I bet back it its glory it looked amazing.

So we next started the arduous task of removing staples. It was much worse than when we tackled removing the carpet from the floating stairs. I’m wondering if the carpet and vinyl were put in at the same time as the staples were identical and the amount used was excessive for the project. While down on the floor removing the staples, we noticed an undiscovered floor stratum. We found a couple small vinyl fragments in the corners of the room that lay on top of the original floor and beneath the luan. This stuff was some sort of orange and brown 1970’s Gong Show vinyl floor. Not enough was still around to discern its pattern but it must have been interesting. Eventually, we finally got the staples out, removed the linoleum, and got ready for the hardwood installation.

Part IV: Prepping for the Installation

After giving the original subfloor multiple sweepings to get up all the debris, we had become pretty familiar with it. I was amazed at the condition. I fully expected to have to replace some sections, but after a full survey of it, we were able to use it. Ok now we need to talk about the tools you’re going to need if you want to attempt hardwood flooring installation. You are going to need just about every type of saw know to humankind. Honestly, the books and online sources do not prepare you for this fact. During the installation, I used the table saw, circular saw, chop saw, and the jigsaw. By far you use the chop saw the most in order to cut the planks to length. Also, have a couple extra blades for the chop saw and don’t skimp on the blades. Go ahead and get a decent blade as they will not harm the flooring finish.

You are also going to need an air compressor and a full arsenal of nail guns unless you wanna get all Roy Underhill and go old school and hand set everything. We decided to rent a pneumatic floor stapler from Home Depot to help make the project move along. Again, trust me and rent this tool as the manual floor staplers are much trickier to use.

The final piece of equipment we came to rely on throughout the project was McDonald’s Sweet Tea. A true life saver at times!

The last bit of prep work is laying down your vapor barrier. We just stapled a three layer vapor barrier down using minimal staples. We went with a high quality vapor barrier since our living room and so forth are directly above the crawl space or camel cricket laboratory.

Part V: Let the Pain Commence

So we started in the living room by establishing a parallel chalk line ½ inch off the front wall of the house. We then randomly picked 4 or 5 boxes of flooring and out of them; Jordan would layout/rack 5-6 courses of flooring making sure to stagger the joints. Once she had them laid out, I would fit the planks together and nail them down. The first few courses I had to use my nail gun to face and toe nail them down. Due to the way a floor stapler is configured, it takes you putting down a few flooring courses first and then it can be used and the wall will not interfere with it.

Once you can use the big artillery, things move along. Rack 4-5 courses, nail it down. Repeat over and over again. I’m not going to lie, it is very tiring and kills your back and knees. Our living room was the biggest space we covered, and it felt like it. There were a couple moments where I thought I would never get finished and it took me a full weekend to get the living room finished.

With the living room finished and a week of living on subfloor in the kitchen and dining room, it was time to hit it again. I turned my attention first to the kitchen as I thought this was going to be a difficult room to do. The room required a lot of cutting, but it worked out. Prior to putting the floor down, we went ahead and relocated a vent from our half wall down onto the floor in order to make room for future plans we have for the half wall. It is a bit surreal cutting a rectangular hole in your subfloor and being able to see the crawl space from the kitchen. But I ran the new duct work and everything worked out fine.

The kitchen really came alive once the maple floors were down. I think the hardwoods had the biggest impact in the kitchen. Once we got the floors in the kitchen down we had to move the appliances out of the dining room and back into the kitchen. I then had this horrible thought…what if the refrigerator does not fit? We had to move the upper kitchen cabinets once in order to make room for it, but now with the thicker floor had I left enough of a gap? Luckily, the refrigerator just fit but with no room to spare. Close call for sure!

The dining room went quick. Just before finishing the last few courses in the dining room, Jordan left a note on the subfloor to the house and to who ever is next:

With the floor down now, we turned our attention to the floor molding. We took out the previous gloss white painted floor molding and patched behind it and painted the wall to floor level. We wanted a sleeker look so we decided to just put down quarter round around the perimeter of the rooms. After a few experiments, I found that pine quarter round stained with a light coat of Cabots Golden Oak stain and two coats of lacquer matched the maple floors almost perfectly.

So that’s it! To sum it all up, make sure to have a small saw army, be ready to have a sore back for awhile and just go to town. Once you get the hang of it you’ll get in a rhythm and things move along rather quickly. Also, be sure you can handle a week or so living in total disarray. Finally while we love the floors, Pizmo for sure hates them. She hates it even more when she goes running by and her legs slip out from underneath her while trying to take a turn and we laugh at her.

Pizmo guarding the last of the carpet

Split Levels: Taking The American Ranch Up A Level

2010-05-05T12:31:00.002-04:00

Well, Richard Cloues is at it again! As part of Georgia's Perservation Month, Dr. Cloues is giving a lecture this Thursday (May 6th) on the split level house. All the details can be found by clicking HERE. I'm going to try my best to be there so make sure to say hello!

Northcrest 2010 Tour of Homes

2010-04-30T10:30:00.005-04:00

It is that time again, the annual Northcrest Tour of Homes is this Sunday from 2-5. Each year the Northcrest Garden Club organizes the event and this year the tour will feature three homes, one garden, and the Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club. It is always so interesting to see what people have done with these great mid century modern homes here in Northcrest. The weather looks to be great for Sunday so make sure to stop by the Club.

This year we will again be having an open house so folks can come check out all of the hard work all the volunteers have done already this year. The new chain link fence is presently being installed, a real beautification initiative including tropical plantings and new paint is underway, and a jam packed social event calendar featuring both Northcrest favorites and some new fun events are all things you can view and learn about this Sunday. The Club could not be happier to once again be included on the tour and there will be plenty of maps for folks to pick up showing the route of the home tour.

The Birds and the Bees, The Flowers and the Trees...

2010-04-19T09:25:00.003-04:00

Spring is in full force here in Northcrest. This means two things….lots of flowers in bloom which results huge amounts of pollen. There really is nothing better than heading out for an afternoon walk these days around the neighborhood. The whole neighborhood is so beautiful right now with everything green and in bloom.

Another “joy” of spring is signaled by the onslaught of carpenter bees. Many of our homes are under a full on blitzkrieg by the carpenter bees. The roof lines which we all love are the perfect form for the bees to burrow in, and they know it!

Luckily this year, Northcrest is not going down easy! A neighbor recently got many of us a bulk deal on carpenter bee traps. Results are mixed, but we are still evaluating them.

Spring also means for many of us turning our attention back to our beloved Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club. Let me just say this, the 2010 season is really shaping up to be one of the best! This year we have added a number of new social events, new activities to some of the favorite past events, and a whole slew of club improvements. Details on all of this will be forthcoming, but take a look at the new paint scheme:

As many know, the pool is a constant maintenance battle. It takes a lot of time, money, and effort to keep this lovely 48 year old institution up and going. Even if you’re not a member, the club benefits the entire neighborhood. This year the club is selling Northcrest flags, with all of the proceeds going to help support the club facility. These are a great way to show visitors to Northcrest our pride in our unique mid-century modern neighborhood. For more information, CLICK HERE and learn how to order. Remember, quantities are limited so act now!

Ranch Dressing

2010-03-25T14:24:00.006-04:00

The March Lunch and Learn lecture conducted by the Dekalb History Center, was held yesterday afternoon and focused on the ranch house in Georgia. Richard Clouse (deputy state historic preservation officer for Georgia’s Historic Preservation Division) presented an interesting talk on the development of the ranch house here in the state. Additionally, Melissa Forgey, (Executive Director for the DeKalb History Center) presented results from the Ranch House Initiative which is a program to help document the explosion of ranch homes in the county just after WWII. Both talks were very interesting and really set the historic context for the ranch house style.

Forgey focused on four neighborhoods in Dekalb County. Northwoods, Belvedere Park, Sargent Hills, and Briarpark Court. Interestingly enough, many of the homes in Briarpark Court were designed by Andre Stimer, who also developed the master plan for Jekyll Island. This fact probably accounts for the numerous mid century ranches and modern ranch homes found on the island.

Northcrest was mentioned briefly during the talk and allowed for some clarification to me of the chronology of the neighborhood. Walter Tally was finishing up Northwoods in 1959. Tally then joined up with Hardrath and Edwards to start Northcrest. Clouse and Forgey pointed out many of the similarities between the two neighborhoods such as centralized park facility, area set aside for a school, and a nearby shopping center.

After the lecture, our small Northcrest group had the opportunity to talk with both of the speakers. We were first able to set up a Northcrest folder with the Dekalb History Center. We supplied them with a copy of the Atomic Ranch magazine focused on Nrothcrest, a copy of the 1964 plat map, and literature about the Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club. If anyone from Northcrest has any original documents or other ephemera that you would like to donate, please let us know and we can make sure that is handed off to the correct person for proper curation.

Northcrest also came up when speaking with Richard. The company I work for routinely works with his office on a number of different projects. He was telling me that he was recently driving through Northcrest and thought to himself how unique of a neighborhood we live in. Also, he recounted a story that involved Northcrest. When he was giving a similar lecture on the ranch house a couple years ago, he mentioned Northwoods and Walter Tally and someone jumped up in the middle of his talk and yelled out “Tally! That’s how he is connected to Northcrest”.

All Richard could remember was that he had long hair and was very vocal about Walter Tally. In the future and you attend one of these talks; please remember these are professional lectures. They obviously concern a topic many of us are very passionate about, so please use common courtesy and allow respect for the experts. We should want to make sure Northcrest continues to garner a positive appearance with the state and historians.

The American Ranch

2010-03-10T13:07:00.004-05:00

In this past Sunday’s Atlanta Journal and Constitution, an article featured the neighboring Northwoods subdivision. When Jordan and I moved to Atlanta, we rented one of the “unpretentious” ranch homes mentioned in the article. We lived in the house for about two years and enjoyed our time there, for the most part. As the article notes, the neighborhood is comprised of what most think of as your average American ranch house.

Northwoods has a definite Northcrest connection. Walter Talley, developer of Northwoods, was also one of the founding partners of the group that constructed the roads and early homes here in Northcrest (THE, Inc). Along with Tally, Howard Hardrath and Paul Edwards were the early visionaries for Northcrest. At some point, Walter Talley dropped out of the group, maybe to focus solely on his Northwoods neighborhood. Hardrath and Edwards continued on as P&H Builders and completed our lovely neighborhood of Northcrest. More details of the history of Northcrest can be found in the 2008 winter edition of Atomic Ranch magazine or here.

After reading the AJC’s article, it is apparent that many people (including the article’s author) would be surprised at 1950’s ranch homes recieveing such attention. Bottom line, any structure 50 years or older can be placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Without boring you with the specific laws and so forth, the basic requirement(s) for inclusion on the NRHP are:

A. is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad pattern of history;

B. is associated with the lives of persons significant in the past;

C. embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or represents the work of a master, possesses high artistic value, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or,

D. has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important to history or prehistory.

Most standing structures are evaluated with Criteria A-C in mind while Criterion D typically deals with archaeological sites. So when you look at the context of Northwoods (the 1950’s, blossoming of America’s middle class, the development of suburbia, and Atlanta’s expansion), it is clear why the ranch house is so important and a recent subject that many architectural historians are now “forced” to address. Luckily the state of Georgia, with help from Richard Cloues at the Georgia Historic Preservation Division (HPD) of the Department of Natural Resources, understands the importance of mid 20th century homes. In fact, the HPD was recently successful in gaining the inclusion of the Joseph and Mary Jane League House in Macon, Georgia. This was the first ranch house to be listed individually on the NRHP in the state.

I’m certainly not going to say one neighborhood is better than the other, but I would like to point out a few differences that I feel are important having lived in both neighborhoods. Obviously, our atomic ranch homes take the basic ranch floor plan and exterior to the next level. Our classically styled mid century modern homes that are concentrated here in Northcrest, clearly set the tone and context for an interesting neighborhood environment and experience. Moreover, the basic floor plans of our homes were specifically designed with entertaining spaces, virtually begging for neighbors sharing cocktails on a Friday night or a Sunday afternoon potluck. Northwoods does possess a few examples of P&H modern homes, but they are a limited expression within the neighborhood.

Northwoods also lacks a centralized community entity such as our Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club. Early on in our neighborhoods development, the pool played a central role in the social life of many original Northcresters according to many of the long term residents I have talked with. Still to this day, the pool is a valuable resource for neighborhood social events and for cooling off on a hot summer day. While Northwoods has a couple parks within its borders, organized social events were non-existent while we lived there.

Finally, I would argue the sense of community is much stronger here in Northcrest. With the pool facilitating neighborhood social events, active social clubs such as the Northcrest Garden Club, regularly neighbor hosted social events, and a strong owner-occupancy presence, Northcrest maintains the key elements for maintaining communitas. To me, our neighborhood is comprised primarily of homes while Northwoods seems full of only houses.

Who knows, maybe Northcrest should be next up on the NRHP? I’m game.

1000 Miles and 400,000 Square Feet of Junkin'

2010-03-05T11:18:00.041-05:00

How to start this post…..in simple terms, we are back from Cincinnati and the trip was amazing! We travelled over 1000 miles on America’s highways searching for mid century treasures. While the vintage goods were there (and we filled up the car with them) the real paragon of the hunt was the times and experiences shared with our friends Brian and Kevin. Each day was filled with laughter, good food, and the thrill of the hunt.

This was an epic trip which is resulting in an epic post…no Homer or anything like that, just a long account of times shared between four friends trapped in a Touareg with a whole bunch of stuff all around us and even on the roof. So here is how it all went down and you can follow the adventure on our Google treasure map that shows each of our stops.

Day 1 (Thursday 2-25-2010)

We left Northcrest about 7:30 in the morning and headed out to all points northward. Our route to Louisville took us along Interstate 75 for the first half of the day. Our first stop was at Gateway Antique Mall near Ringgold, GA. First off, this place is huge and is really worth stopping at. Also, if you are a Garfield the Cat fan, this place is for you! A few things caught our eye but we only made a few small purchases here.

From here we continued northward to Nashville. Kevin is from the area so he luckily knew of all the places I had scouted and narrowed them down for us. Plus, I always find Nashville a confusing town to drive in, so his knowledge of the streets was more then welcomed! Once in Nashville, our first stop was at the Downtown Antique Mall. The shop is located in an interesting old warehouse and is full of stuff to look at. Here is some of our favorite stuff we saw:

The next stop in Nashville was at a great shop, Pre to Post Mod. It is a small store but contained some great pieces for sure. I think the minute we walked in the front door we knew we would be pulling out our wallets. I will say restraint was practiced by all but we did bring home a few things. I highly recommend this store if you are ever in the area and are looking for mid century stuff.

Our next set of stops was really only a few miles on the north side of Nashville located in the town of Goodlettsville, TN. Originally I found this stop by coming across the Goodlettsville Antique Mall site but once we got there, we quickly identified two other antique malls within eye shot of the original location. We started at the Goodlettsville Mall which is medium in size and has a large amount of stuff to look at. After a pretty quick perusal of the shop we went across the street to a really interesting shop. I don’t remember the name of the place, but it was small and full of junk to look at. I love these types of shops for some reason as you never know what you will find located in or under a large pile of random stuff. The final stop was next door at the Tara Antique Mall. This place was big and had lots of interesting things to look at on all three levels. If you’re going to be heading to Goodlettsville and only have a few minutes, Tara Antique Mall is the place to stop at. However, if you are looking only for mid century stuff, you can probably really just skip these places as they mainly contained more “country” type of collectibles.

By this point, late afternoon was getting closer and closer and we still had another 175 miles before our resting place for the night. We all piled back into the car and again headed north to Louisville. At this point I should mention that Jordan and I now have become a part of the smart phone “revolution” and now both own i-phones. Brian and Kevin could not be more excited as they are both self confessed Apple Geeks. So, during the long segments of just boring interstate driving, everyone except for the driver seemed to have their i-phone out. Either checking email or planning ahead by searching for new junkin’ spots was done by all. This was only made cooler due to the fact we were travelling in Brain and Kevin’s Volkswagen. We all know how the Apple and Volkswagen brands have a direct correlation in “coolness” terms. Combine i-phoning while in a Touareg and your cool score goes off the chart!

Once in Louisville, we checked into the Red Roof Inn (which I was snowed in at a few weeks prior) and relaxed for a bit. When dinner time came around, it was off to my favorite area in Louisville, Bardstown Road. We ended up eating at Ditto’s which is located on the western side of Bardstown Rd. To this day, Brian is still talking about how good the food we had at dinner was. I should also tell you that today was Jordan’s birthday! The restaurant made sure to take care of her thanks to Brian’s sneaky i-phone trick.

Day 2 (Friday 2-26-2010)

While the Red Roof Inn is a pretty decent place to stay in Louisville (I’m always amazed at how expensive hotels are there), the one thing it does not do well is coffee. I have become pretty immune to all hotel/gas station coffee after years of being on the road, but we all decided to head to the best local coffee joint (Heine Brothers) in Louisville for breakfast. I was actually in Louisville a few weeks early for work. So this allowed me the opportunity to scout ahead to maximize our time there. One night on this previous trip, I was heading back to the hotel and spotted what looked to be a nice atomic ranch example. So, now with day light on our side, we headed back to the spot and sure enough, it was a beauty. Plus there were a few others in the same neighborhood.

The next place we had to go was Goss Avenue Antique Mall. Let me say, the first time I went here, I was amazed by the size of the place. That time I only came home with a nice vintage Trader Vic’s Menehune bowl. This time was a different story. We all really started finding some great stuff here making the mid century hunt really start in earnest.

Jordan and I came home with a unique punch bowl and stand, an odd basket that we are going to turn into a light for the Wiki Wiki Room, and a cool ashtray. My biggest find/thrill of the trip though came from here. In one booth that I knew was loaded with mid century stuff, I stumbled across an amazing 28 piece set of Eva Zeisel Hallcraft dinner set. This is her Tomorrow’s Classic line with the Holiday Pattern. It is truly beautiful and will cherish this set for years to come! It is the reproduction line that was made in 1998 after Eva went back to the factory and found the original molds. I don't really get to caught up on the pedigree of an object, I place my own value on an object based on how it makes me feel and what it may add to our home.

Brian and Kevin also came home with a few treasures as well. There is one wing of Goss Avenue that I like to call the Creepy Wing for a number of reasons. However, it is loaded with some great stuff and you really get a chance to dig around in the portion of the store. Brain and Kevin came across a pair of lamps (which will come to haunt us later!) and a great set of end tables that totally match their existing coffee table. By the time we were done there, a level of giddiness had set in!

I was really excited to visit the next store on our list, The Deal. I scoped this place out but it was closed then due to snow, I thought. But as I peered into the windows, I knew I had to get inside one day. So we head in the direction of the store and as we pass by, we notice that it is awfully dark inside. After parking, we walk over and sure enough it is closed yet again until mid-March. We later learn that the owner is on vacation but we were all heart broken to miss this stop. I will say, if the owner of The Deal happens to read this, if you are planning on closing your store, maybe in the future you can note this on your website. Just a thought.

Not all was lost however. My favorite restaurant in Louisville is located practically next door, Lynn’s Paradise Café. So, we enjoyed a filling lunch and ventured over to the Kentucky Expo Center. A few year’s ago Jordan and I were up in Louisville for New Years and came across this place as it was holding a huge collectible/flea market. When planning this trip, Jordan found they regularly hold this show and wanted to check it out again. So, this was almost the sole reason for going to Cincinnati via Louisville. Well, lets just say, this time around the show was a total flea market with a whole lot of tube socks if you know what I mean. Apparently, while the show is a regular event, it is only the holiday one that has the giant collectible section.

Again, not all was lost. Jordan came across a nice $5.00 lamp and I found a unique NASA glass I have not seen before. Plus, the people watching was amazing! Here are a few pictures from the “show”:

All in all, Louisville was full of highs and lows. But it was now time to leave the Derby City and head to the real deal. The drive from Louisville to Cincinnati is pretty quick. Plus, as you arrive into Cincinnati, the view is great of the skyline as you cross the river. We arrived at our hotel and rested from a long day. We regrouped later in the evening, did a quick drive by of where the show was going to be the next day, and headed for dinner.

I don’t know if I should recount this portion of our adventure, but I feel I really need to. We drove around a bit looking for a place to eat and all we could find were chain restaurants. Believe it or not, not even the i-phone could point us in a promising direction. Next thing I know, Kevin spots a Ponderosa “Steakhouse” and recounts this charming story of eating at them when he was a child. Next thing we know, we all decide to go there and we are parking. Inside, the place is a zoo. While waiting to be seated, Brain and Kevin are almost knocked down by a young girl beating on what I “hope” was her younger sister. In hindsight, we have all now agreed that should have been our final warning and we should have bolted. At the time however we throw caution into the wind, ignore all of the smells and other warning signs, and place our order.

We go over to the trough and make our salads. Two things, it was a wild scene at the buffet, almost like something out of Children of the Corn and I cannot even describe what they were calling “taco meat”. Salads went down fine, no harm hopefully. Well the main event starts when our order comes out. My “steak” is so overcooked that an archaeologist could have used it to obtain a Carbon-14 date. I got off easy however. I look at Jordan’s “chopped steak” and the inside of it has an almost yellow color to it. I don’t know where yellow falls on the rare to well done continuum, but I guess let’s just call this “beef” corn feed. Jordan chokes a few bites down and throws in the towel…wise decision. Kevin for some strange reason decides to order something straight off the Fear Factor TV show, “salmon”. I have no idea what in reality that thing was and how Kevin could eat any of it.

You know the thing about road trips is that you almost have to have some sort of strange adventure or situation that you would almost never find yourself in if you were at home for a road trip to be successful. That is why the movie Vacation is so hilarious. I mean the Griswolds find themselves in all of these odd predicaments along their quest to Wally World. Plus, it gives you ammunition to make fun of Kevin during the second half of the trip…the real prize!

Eddie: How do you like yours, Clark?
Clark: Oh, medium rare, a little pink inside.

Eddie: No, I mean your bun

Day 3 (Saturday 2-27-2010)

Day three marked the opening day of the 20th Century Cincinnati show which was welcomed with about 2-3 inches of snow. I know I was excited and could not wait to get into the main event of our adventure. Our tickets allowed us in during the early preview. There was a line already when we showed up at about 8:45 but it turned out to be a good thing as the guys standing behind us told us of a few more places to check out while in Cincinnati while on our quest for all things mid century. The show itself was amazing. So many examples of furniture and so forth that I have only seen in books were all around us. The organizers and the vendors should all be congratulated. The show had a strong attendance and by the looks of things disappearing, vendors were making quite a few sales.

There was even a few examples of tiki there....just overpriced. I do wonder about the history of the large carved tiki. At first it kinda looked Witco (like the fountain) but not the right type of wood.

Jordan spotted an awesome fiberglass bullet planter with wooden legs for the house and got a great deal on it. My only purchase was for Jordan. My wife is so special to me and I can rarely find “one of those things” to express that to her. So, for her birthday and just being a great person, friend, and partner I got her a Charley Harper print. The colors match our living room so well that I knew I had to get it for her. It is a great feeling to have something that was created by a master that fits so well into what we consider our masterpiece. I could never have done all of this with out you Jordan.

I guess the biggest purchase, both in price and size, goes to Brian. For the last few months, Brian has been focused on finding the perfect fireplace for his room. Well the quest is over for him as a great vendor out of Louisville had the perfect burnt orange electric fireplace. He snapped it up after getting the price down and more importantly measuring the cargo area of the car.

So you would probably think “Wow after seeing all that cool stuff, they have to be done looking”. Well you are wrong my friend. After spending a few hours at the show, we headed into town to the Duck Creek Antique Mall. This place is large and has some great stuff on each of the two floors. We made a few small purchases while Brain bought a great set of three triangular tables. Again, luckily for us and packing, the legs unscrewed!

Next door to Duck Creek is the Mainly Art store. This place is pretty much like Cincinnati’s version of Atlanta’s City Issue. The have great pieces which also have really high prices. But, this stuff is all in great condition and will fit right in to any atomic ranch styled home. Stores like these places are perfect for browsing and once in awhile you’ll find that perfect piece for your home and are willing to then pay the higher prices. I think are friend Kathi from over in Northcrest “East” would need a bib here as there were some amazing chairs throughout Mainly Art. I did actually buy one thing here, a $2.00 Martin Denny album. I almost felt bad with everything practically $500 and up and all I could afford was a record. But I don’t feel too bad as many of the pieces in the store had a sold sign. I’m sure the Cincinnati Modern show drew in a lot of new customers for Mainly Art and they were able to unload some merchandise.

Next we proceeded to a small store just down the street from Mainly Art, Mid Mod. We did a quick walk thru but most everything was again out of our price range. I did really love this great example of a pretty rare Eames coffee table they had.

At this point we needed to refuel. We headed to a local restaurant, had a nice lunch, and then it was back to the hunt. Our last stop for the day took us to an up and coming portion of town were Red Polly is located. First off, this is my type of store. The furniture is priced very fairly and is in a more as-is condition. Unlike Mainly Art and City Issue where practically everything is restored, Red Polly leaves this decision up to you. This is how I prefer it as you can buy a piece at a good price and then decide if you want to get it refinished or just leave it in its natural state. If I lived in Cincinnati, this would be a store I would routinely check in on as I think you could find some great stuff here with some dedication on your part.

After all of this, we were exhausted and needed a break as we still had one more event that evening. A few days prior to hitting the road, I received an email from another mid century modern blogger Baz who’s Atomic Indy is a fun place to follow his renovations. He invited us to an “after show” cocktail party hosted by Susan and Arlen Rissover in their amazing mid century home. In addition to a beautiful exterior, the interior showcases their incredible collection of mid century furniture and Charley Harper art. I know I was blown away not only by their wonderful assemblage of mid century furnishings but by the graciousness and hospitality.

I really have to give Susan and Arlen credit for keeping their original bathroom. Far to often I'm hearing tales of homes having all the originality ripped out of them. My feeling is that we move into these homes with a love of mid century. Why on earth would you want to rip that out? But to each their own, I'm certainlly not trying to pass judgment, I'm just more on the side of conserving what makes our homes unique. I really loved the vanity in their bathroom and hope to use it as a model when we get ready to redo are main bathroom.

We also got to meet a number of other bloggers and members of Cf3. Chris is a local architect and has done a number of projects for the Rissovers. His blog Cincinnati Modernation is a great source of information. It was great to have face to face conversations about a passion we all share or as Baz noted on Twitter “transcending from digital connections to real life handshakes”. Thanks to everyone for including us and we would love to return the favor next time you find yourselves near Atlanta.

Day 4 (Sunday 2-28-2010)

Morning came and we all new the inevitable was awaiting us, packing the car up. I have a feeling that Kevin did a few practice packing rounds in their room the previous night as things went really smoothly. We in fact could fit everything and the fireplace in the car. Not only did everything go in, but there was space left over which prompted us to return to the modern show for one last go-thru.

After breakfast, we had one more stop…the Florence Antique Mall. This was another huge mall and fun to look around in. Brian is a huge Pyrex collector and he said this place had one of the best collections he had ever seen and yes, he did bring home a couple! We found a funky little Asian figural lamp and a few other small things and squeezed it all in the few remaining nooks and crannies in the back of the car.

So that is it. This was our last stop and we were southbound and down, heading back to Northcrest and real life again. Here is what we found along our journey:

After searching just over 400,000 square feet of collectibles and junk, we came home with some great stuff and memories that will last forever. We want to thank our great travel companions Brian and Kevin. Not only are you neighbors but you are dear friends and amazing junkin’ partners. Also, to everyone we met along our journey, thanks for the great times! Oh and to Ponderosa, you should really think about closing down!

Wanna Join the Northcrest Mid Century Modern Fun?

2010-02-22T11:16:00.007-05:00

This weekend was an early taste of spring here in Atlanta. The warm weather we had seemed to draw everyone here in Northcrest outside. In addition to the warm breezes, open houses abounded this weekend. We always enjoy heading out to them and getting a chance to see all the interesting mid century modern floor plans here in Northcrest.

One of our friends and neighbors, Vanessa Reilly has just finished a gem of a flip here in the neighborhood. Her taste for mid century details is quite apparent as you walk through the house. I’m truly jealous of the Viking range in the kitchen and the cool screened in patio off the lower level. The house has a great floor plan with loads of natural light. This one is not going to last for sure!

The next two homes are listed by yet another neighbor here in Northcrest, Cindi Sokol. The first house is on what has to be the highest spot in Northcrest and probably one of the nicest lots as well. The house is in perfect condition and maintains many of the original features. The house is still occupied by the original owners and possesses the highly coveted full basement.

The last house we went into is a bit on the wonky side but has a lot of potential. The backyard has a very nice pool and an awesome two story “shed” that could be used for multiple purposes. Inside the house is where things get a bit odd but the bones are still there for the new owner to build upon. The Hollywood bath still has its original tile floor that is in really nice shape. By the way, if you are reading this and end up being the new owners…please get in touch with us if you decide to update the bathroom as we would love to have the sink!

Ok…so stay tuned…lots of new topics are in the works. The highly anticipated “How to put down hardwood floors yourself and not kill yourself or your loved ones” post is coming up soon. After that we have some fun action pictures and video from our first sledding adventures in Northcrest entitled “How to sled on partly snow covered streets and not kill yourself or your loved ones”. If this is still not enough, the 20th Century Cincinnati Modern show is this weekend and we promise to to fill everyone in on the fun!

I'm at WKRP in Cincinnati.....

2010-02-03T12:02:00.006-05:00

I have to say, things at the house are at a true state of flux. Typical for us, we are juggling multiple projects at the moment. In simple terms, the soon to be Wiki Wiki Room is coming along. Our primary focus right now though is the installation of new maple hardwood floors in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. But like all great projects, you need a break every once in awhile. We and a few other Northcrester’s are going to be heading to Cincinnati, Ohio at the end of February. Our mission is to invade and plunder the 16th annual 20th Century Cincinnati Modern Show. Take a look at the show’s site as the event looks to be fantastic.

In the next, and soon to follow post, I’ll give the details on our first time experience of putting down hardwoods. Here is a quick preview:

I will say this, hardwood flooring really is a DIY project, just know your going to be sore afterwards. But hey…..that’s true about life in general!

Happy 2010 All....Oh What A Trip It Has Been!

2010-01-05T23:24:00.009-05:00

It’s that time again, New Year’s day 2010. It seems like the calendar just flipped 2000 but we are already through our first decade of the 21st century. This year Jordan and I hosted a small get together here in Northcrest and to make the event “unique”, I cooked up a fun surprise event for all of the attendees. But first, let me give you a little back story.

I began to think about the all famous party held each year in Times Square. The night culminates with the famous, and now energy efficient, ball drop at midnight. But why a ball drop? The origin, as you would probably assume, relates to timekeeping. A time-ball was typically a wooden or metal ball that would be lowered at a predetermined time. This was primarily done for ship captains, starting in the early to mid 19th century. The first time-ball was constructed in 1829 in Portsmouth, England. With its success, in 1833, England’s official time-ball was erected atop the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. The ball would be lowered each day at precisely 1:00 PM so ship captains could set their chronometers, a navigational device used to determine longitude at sea (so sorry, no GPS for you!).

At the climax of this technology, over 150 of these devices were constructed. However, with the advent of radio and other more precise navigational devices, most of the stations were razed in the 1920’s. The United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. carries on this seafaring tradition each day as a time-ball is lowered from a flagpole each day at noon.

But as we all know, so many towns across our country have created their own ball drop tradition for so many various reasons. By far the most famous New Year’s Eve event is the New York City Times Square ball drop. The first New Years Eve celebration was held in New York occurred in 1904 in the newly named Times Square (which is really a triangle).

In 1907, the first lighted ball drop was held and continued until 1942. From 1942-1943, the lighted Times Square ball drop was discontinued due to WW II. After 1943, the now famous Times Square Drop has only become larger and more festive event. While New York City may hold claim to the most famous New Year’s Eve celebration, cites and towns across the United States hold other endearing festivities.

I would be remorse without first mentioning Atlanta’s own New Year’s Eve celebration. Of course it is first noted as the southeast’s largest New Year’s Eve Event, the Peach Drop held at Underground Atlanta has become a destination event for some reason. Moreover, in typical Atlanta fashion, it should be noted this event is the second largest New Year’s Eve celebration in the nation.

While New York and Atlanta have their now expected New Year’s Eve “droppings”, there are many other similar such events held all over the country. Some of my favorites include:

Orange County, CA: A Fake Orange To Go Along With All The Fake Body Parts

Bethlehem, PA: A Giant Lighted "Marshmallow" Peep

Mt. Olive, NC: A Lighted Pickle

My Favorite Brasstown, NC: If You Can Look Very Closely Inside That Cage You May See The Live Annual Possum Drop

With so many cities and towns across America holding these great celebrations, we thought to ourselves “What could we do to make our small Northcrest New Year’s Eve party super fun?” To that end, I came up with the first annual “N-Drop”. You say, N-Drop? What the heck does that entail? First, it is focused around a great group of fellow Northcrest folks. Secondly, add in some good food and drinks highlighted by the first “public” appearance of the infamous Kabob-It.

Lastly, surprise party participants with a three foot or so MDF LED C-9 lighted stylized Northcrest N that was hanging from our ceiling. Here is the culmination of these factors at midnight:

It was a blast and thanks to everyone that came over. Really, you guys have helped make 2009 a great year for us….So now what is in store for 2010?

Mele Kalikimaka!

2009-12-22T22:43:00.010-05:00

Well, it's about that time again.....Christmas! Before really getting into this post, I suggest you click on the play button below and turn your speakers on to really set the mood for this post:

So, the 2009 holiday season is really about to get going and folks here in Northcrest are in full participation.

I'm going to start with our dog Pizmo....If a dog can be full of Roll Tide, ooops I mean Yule Tide spirit, Pizmo makes the most of it, just take a look:

I'm a Raindeer.....

Oh great....now they are putting lights on me....I wonder what Digi is doing???

Digi...Living the Good Life....Dreaming of Santa

The holiday season here in the neighborhood got a huge kickoff with Vanessa and Billy's really fun Ugly Holiday Sweater Party. I know that Jordan and I had a blast and by the looks on everyone's faces, everyone was having fun, just take a look:

Hard to Imagine Ladies...But Yes We Are All Taken

Where Are You Two Going????

You Don't Even Want to Know!

For better pictures and commentary....make sure to check out the fantastic host's blog.... Vannessa Reilly

In other holiday events, our friend Kathi held what I hear was a wonderful ladies brunch last weekend. I know that I'm "jealous" of these rumored Northcrest Kitten events....maybe it is about time us guys form a group!

Not only have there been really fun events this holiday season here in Northcrest, so many of the neighbors have been decorating their homes, both on the inside and the outside!

Paul and Kathi's Tree

Vanessa's Decorations

Our Tree and Matching Red Vintage Sled...Man I Hope It Snows Soon!

Yes....That's A Blue Ox!

Jordan's Homemade Stockings From Vintage Tea Towels

Jordan's Homemade Northcrest Ornament

One of the only nice things about having a "real" job is finally having some extra money once in awhile. Well we finally used some of it and bought a Christmas present for each other:

On our most recent junkin' adventure, besides the yummy lobster rolls we ran into, we also happend upon this great Heywood-Wakefield set. The fabric is original and the overall condition is really good. It took some convincing on Jordan's part, but we sprang for it. Really, how often are you going to run into a set like this in original condition?? Well, that is what Jordan kept telling me. I have to admit, the set is going to look amazing in the forthcoming Wiki Wiki Room.

In additon to presents and decorating, which I will get back to in a moment, folks have been baking up a storm here in the hood......

The pictures of the baked goods do not do them justice. Brian and Kevin out did themselves on these. Now I just hope Jordan lets me eat one! Ok, so now the real task at hand must be addressed. I have always loved exterior Christmas lighting decorations. I mean I don't know how many times my Dad and I would head out to destinations unknown just to hunt down the most "tacky" light displays we could find. Here in Northcrest I must say tacky is not the right word at all....Folks are really part of the whole holiday spirit and want to display it....in full technicolor brillance! There has already been some discussion about maybe having a holiday exterior lighting decoration competition next year...

So, without further hesitation....

Please take a second to notice the bear in the window on the right side of the picture. If you are close by, make sure to drive over to the house as the bear actually moves and this display is simply amazing.

This picture does not do this display justice at all. This is one of the few A-Frame homes here in Northcrest and this amazing "tree" rises almost all the way to the tip of the A-frame inside.

All of the decorations all around the neighborhood are great this year. The wonderful silhouettes of the houses here in Northcrest really lend themselves to exterior lighting. The atomic roof lines really beg for mulit-color extravaganza during the winter holidays. I know the pictures fail to really capture the joy, effort, and brillance of all of these displays, but I really did not want to end up on I-Neighbors as we slowly pulled up, me jumping out of the car, and then taking multiple picutes as fast as I could!

However, the final house and the unofficial "winnner" took multiple drive by's in order to even attempt at portraying what is going on in this yard. With a wonderful combination of inflatables, perfect C-9 lights, a sometimes limp inflatable menorah, and awesome blow mold decorations...the winner goes to......Brian and Kevin!

And what display is not complete without a ligh up Baby Jesus (if only Craigslist had come through!):

So, no matter how you choose to celebrate during the holiday season, we just want to say...have fun and cherish what is important to you. The holidays should really remind each and everyone of us what is truly important and those are the things we should all celebrate and hold close to our hearts. We want to thank everyone out there that played a role in our lives this past year. You know who you are and we cannot begin to say how grateful we are to have you as friends and family.

Merry Christmas 2009!

(How much you wanna bet this creepy Santa has a windowless Cargo Van parked in the mall parking lot with a bag of candy in it??)

I Saw a Werewolf Drinking A Pina Colada at Trader Vic's

2009-10-28T10:12:00.002-04:00

Who's looking for something to do prior to heading out on Halloween night? If you are, then why not put your costume on early and head down to the club for the first ever Halloween Spook-Tacular this Saturday (Oct. 31) from 1 PM to 4PM. We will be having some really fun events including a costume contest for both the kids and the adults, pumpkin carving contest, giant bounce house, carnival games, and a fun hayride parade through the neighborhood! Plus, make sure to bring your appetite as we'll be firing up the grill, great side dishes, and a bake sale with plenty of tasty treats!

Recently, we have been writing primarily about events in Northcrest and hoping to help spread the word about them. I have to say, we have been spending most of our free time the last few months helping out with the club and the great events that have taken place. Helping out has been great and we have been able to meet so many of our wonderful neighbors. Again, the unique homes here in Northcrest are just one part of the equation. As I have said in the past and will repeat it again here, it is the folks here in Northcrest that make it so special.

We have also been busy around the house with some projects. Neighbors may have noticed on the last few Fridays a bunch of sheetrock, paneling, and trim in our trash. We are moving full speed ahead after the Spook-Tacular in the basement. Stay tuned and we'll fill you in on the full story. One hint:

Why would you drink a Pina Colada at Trader Vics? Always go for a Honi-Honi!

Northcrest Neighborhood Yard Sale 2009

2009-10-02T10:22:00.005-04:00

If you don’t already know, this Saturday (October 3), the Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club is hosting its annual Northcrest Neighborhood Yard Sale. This year over 40 homes will be participating and everyone should be able to find something they want for a good price. Items range from typical yard sale stuff all the way to great vintage items. If you happen to be looking for IKEA stuff, Jordan and I will be selling a desk and matching chairs, both in great shape. Plus, we will have many other great things for sale!

If you can’t find anything at the individual yard sales, head to the Club where you’ll find a great flea market setup as well as refreshments, freshly grilled hamburgers/hotdog plates for lunch, and bathrooms. You may even want to start there as you’ll be able to pick up a map showing all the homes participating in the sale.
It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day on Saturday, so come on out and say hello!

Make Sure To Bring Home Lots of Stuff!

Georgia Preservation

2009-09-28T21:27:00.003-04:00

Dr. Luce, the head of Georgia's Historic Preservation Division, is retiring after ten years here in Atlanta. In a interview conducted by Steve Goss of Atlanta's NPR Station WABE 90.1, Dr. Luce comments on the general traits of historic preservation, especially here in Atlanta which often maintains a "hostile" attitude toward preservation. Around 7 minutes into the interview, Dr. Luce discusses attempts at defining the historic fabric of 1950's Ranch Homes through a partnership with the Georgia's DOT. Take a listen:

WABE": Georgia's Historic Preservation Division Director to Retire

And The Baying Of His Hounds....

2009-09-28T20:11:00.010-04:00

This past Sunday was the inaugural Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club's Pooch Pool Party. After everything that has happened here in the neighborhood recently, we were rewarded with a beautiful late summer afternoon. Over 35 dogs of all shapes and sizes along with their parents turned out for this super fun event. I said to myself early during the event, this is either going to work out really well or it was going to go horribly wrong! All I can say was that all of the dogs had a blast with one another and it was equally fun just watching it all happen. Neighbors even without dogs came down just to watch all of the dog's antics! Just wait till next year....

Pizmo says..."Buy My Cookies!"

Pizmo getting Wet!

Pizmo and Dignon Trying To Figure Things Out!

Our Littlest Swimmer!

Chloe Really Wanting A Ball

Pizmo and the Aftermath.....

Again, it was a great time and we want to thank everyone that pitched in to help. Without everyone, the dogs could have easily taken over the pool and sent us humans running. No one wants to see a Planet of The Dogs! Now we move on to next weekend....Neighborhood Yard Sale!

Northcrest Flooding

2009-09-25T22:31:00.007-04:00

It is hard to know where to begin. When I wrote recently about Northcrest and the surrounding areas receiving huge amounts of rain, I never could have imagined the events that have struck Northcrest. Our neighborhood, starting early Sunday morning, was struck by a series of flooding episodes that have caused many to loose so much. I have hesitated about writing this post. It is hard to write about so much destruction and resulting loss of possessions.

We were lucky….very lucky. We only received about an inch of water in our basement and maybe six inches or so of water in our crawl space. This water was not from the flooded creek, but simply from water draining down the slope in our backyard. With all the rain we had been having the ground was saturated and the water had no place to go and crept into our basement. Nothing some hard work and a wet-dry vac couldn’t fix. The fans are still going in our backroom and crawlspace, continuing to dry everything out.

However, our neighbors directly across the street from us woke up to at least three feet of water in their homes. I really do not have words to describe what we saw, and pictures can only begin to show what happened. The following photos are taken mostly from our front yard and our street. Other views from around Northcrest can be viewed on the Northcrest Modern Blog.

I cannot even imagine what neighbors are facing and what they have lost. If there is anything we can do to help, please just knock on our door.

What we woke up to on Monday Morning

In addition to homes being ruined, our beloved neighborhood club was hit hard by the flooded creek. The tennis courts received the brunt of the force from the flood waters.

It is awful what has transpired this week here in Northcrest, but no one was injured and that is what is most important. Things can be replaced, memories always survive, and now everyone looks to the future for whatever is next.

1st Annual Pooch Pool Party!

2009-09-21T10:53:00.004-04:00

I just wanted to remind everyone here in Northcrest about Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club's inaugural Pooch Pool Party this Sunday, September 27th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Bring your four legged friend down to the pool and let them take a dip in our fantastic pool. Other events include a safe off leash play area full of toys and other fun diversions, Pet portraits by Petra Photo, yummy homemade dog treats for sale, a do-it-yourself doggie salon, and a great raffle full of great services and items for your doggie! Plus, the tiki hut will be open serving hamburger and hot dog plates. Admission is only $5.00 and this is for both pool members and Northcrest neighbors.

The Rain Is Gonna Come, Oh It Surely Looks Like Rain

2009-09-20T09:12:00.022-04:00

If you live anywhere near the southeastern US, you know the crazy amount of rain we have had during the past two weeks. I know that we need the rain, but constant rain day after day can really get to you. This really holds true here in Northcrest because when the rain hits the roof of our house, it makes this very nice sound that really makes me want to sleep. Gray days and rain makes it hard to get things done!

So, here are some pictures of the front yard from mid-summer that we took on a warm and sunny afternoon. Maybe they will help brighten your day on yet another dreary day here in Georgia. We had spent the day adding mulch to our front island and trimming the dogwood a bit. It was a fun day and those of you in our part of Northcrest will remember it as it was the day of the unofficial pool party which brought in all of the cars parked along Regalwoods and other streets. Guests walking by were looking at us working in the front yard like we were crazy!

With all of this rain, we have been working some on the basement bathroom. I’m not going to lie, it has been a struggle but we are starting to see some results. To catch everyone up here is where we stood last:

The first task we tackled was removing the generic vanity that was really dragging the bathroom down. Let’s just say it was attached really well! If you look at the picture below closely, you’ll notice a 2x4 on the wall that the vanity attached to. In addition to being nailed to the wall (I don’t think the previous owner knew about screws) it had globs of Liquid Nail securing it on the wall. I cannot repeat the language that came out of my mouth when I realized what I was up against at that point. So, after removing the lumber, I was presented an additional step of repairing the large sections of wall board.

We also found out that the vanity was put down first, and then the floor tiles around it. Luckily for us when we moved in, there was a box of left over floor tiles in the basement backroom. The odd thing we found out was there are two layers of these generic vinyl tiles, one on top of the other. This translates to more work one day when we get to rip up the floor in the basement and put something else in….I can’t wait!

With the vanity removed and the floor and wall repaired, I turned to removing the trim.

Ok, let’s just say that sloppy workmanship really gets under my skin. Did this piece of trim really need +/- 20 nails holding it to the wall? Funny, when I put in our new trim, it only took four finishing nails to attach this same section of trim. I’m sure that just about anyone who has tackled some projects around their house can tell a similar tale of running into some crazy prior workmanship.

The new trim we put up is 1x4 cedar with a couple coats of lacquer. It looks great and allows for a rustic look. I'm imagining it to be like broken down shipping crates sent to the south Pacific islands full of necessary war supplies.

The best news is that we have finally installed our original sink given to us by Brian and Kevin! It took some real figuring out and several trips to Lowes, but it’s in and we love it! I put on new chrome shut off valves to match the chrome drain plumbing. I also ended up having to attach lumber to the studs and then mount the sink onto them instead of directly to the wall. This was required so I could get all of the plumbing to fit nicely. Retrofitting all of the plumbing required a lot of head scratching at times.

The next step is to trim out the mounting lumber with the same cedar trim I used on the wall. Plus, I’m going to be building a couple small shelves that will flank the sink and tie into trim behind the sink to form a single shelving unit kind of thing!

Removing the generic vanity from the bathroom presented us with a new concept for the basement backroom. We had this empty corner that I always wanted to turn into a wine making station. One of our hobbies is making homemade wine and I have always wanted a space where we can keep all the equipment. Plus, wine making can get messy at times and the backroom was the perfect spot because the floor can be cleaned easily and the cool temperature of the basement is perfect for the brewing and storing process.

We removed an AC vent and are rerouting it to behind the forthcoming tiki bar and attached the topless vanity (with screws and without Liquid Nail) to the wall. With the faux marble sink gone we needed a new counter. The whole theme for the winemaking station was repurposing materials we already had or, doing it cheaply! Using some left over floor tile we found in the basement and a sheet of glass tiles, Jordan made a really cool counter top that is just as functional as it is nice to look at. The walls were painted with oops paint from Lowes and I built a wine rack for the wall with left over scrape wood.

The location is very close to the basement bathroom which makes bottle washing a much easier process. I think it turned out great and we have already used it to make two batches of wine. Wine always helps you forget the woes of improper use of Liquid Nail and shotty workmanship!

Cheers everyone and stay dry out there!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

2009-07-17T16:28:00.012-04:00

Today is the big day! We have a winner in the first ever Home Sweet Split Level Giveaway sponsored by the fine folks at All Modern. To be fair to everyone, we listed all the entries on individual paper tags. Everyone who entered by multiple means received the corresponding amount of tags. So to avoid voting irregularities (who needs another Florida?) lets all see who the big winner is:

Congratulations to Northcrest's own, Kathi and Paul! We'll send an email your way so you can get your Alessi honey jar, nice choice!

Thanks to everyone who joined in the fun. It was fun hearing from people both in the neighborhood and new friends from all over. All the nice comments were very appreciated, many of them coming from our neighbors here in Northcrest. To those that we have not met yet, let's make sure to change that soon. We hope everyone has a great weekend and who knows what may happen next, so keeping reading and commenting!

Eames Lecture

2009-07-13T13:54:00.006-04:00

While we wait to see who the winner is to the Home Sweet Split Level Giveaway, I thought I would pass along a great lecture about the design of Charles and Ray Eames given by their grandson, Eames Demetrios.

Speaking of giveaways, Jordan and I entered one for a Eames chair, but were not the lucky winners. Oh well, I will say everyone wins with this rare footage of Charles and Ray and the interesting discussion from their grandson's point of view. Enjoy the video and thanks to everyone so far that has entered our little giveaway, your comments have been so nice and very appreciated.

Who Likes Free Stuff?

2009-07-08T15:36:00.010-04:00

So, as promised, here we go with the first ever Home Sweet Split Level Giveaway! The nice folks over at All Modern contacted us and asked if we were interested in teaming up with them in a fun giveaway. If you don't know about All Modern, they are a great resource for all of your modern needs. All Modern has a fantastic selection of modern furniture and home accessories from many leading designers. Part of CSN Stores, All Modern is just one of over 260 retail sites that offer a diverse array of products from Herman Miller’s popular Aeron Chair to cookware by Rachael Ray.

So without any further ado, lets get started. Let's start with the good stuff. Instead of us telling you what you can win, All Modern let us choose a variety of prizes, all with values around $75.00. If you win, you will get to choose one of the following fantastic products:

George Kovacs - 4.5" One Light Vanity Wall Sconce

This is an amazing one light bath sconce from George Kovacs that is truly unlike any other sconce you can find. It features a sleek antique nickel finish and an acid etched glass shade.

George Kovacs - 12.5" Wall Sconce in Brushed Nickel

This is an exquisite one light bath wall sconce that will look great in your bathroom. It's unimposing and should blend well with your bathroom decor. This particular sconce features a brushed nickel finish and a slender cased etched opal glass shade.

George Kovacs - Seven Light Table Lamp

A bold step in the future of lighting brought to you by George Kovacs. This wonderful seven light table lamp (15.5" H x 13" diameter) will add excitement to any room as the seven lights appear to be growing from its base. Place this lamp on any table and watch as it quickly becomes a conversation starter.

Nuvem Wire Flower Vase by Fratelli Campana

Nuvem Wire Flower Vase (6.7" H x 3.9" W x 3.9" D). Brothers, and long time partners, Humberto and Fernando Campana make up the dynamic design team “Fratelli Campana.” Their signature Brazilian touch to the design world, significantly emphasizing their take on European design with each work. Their forms are hallmarked by the usage of materials in their raw state and experimentation with poor and recycled matter. The vase is available is Anodized Aluminum, Gold and Blue.

Alessi - Honey Pot by Theo Williams

English designer Theo Williams, known internationally for his tremendous achievements in consumer product design, crafted this piece of functional art in 1995. It's made of clear crystal and mirror-polished 18/10 stainless steel (7.75"H x 3.5" diameter). It features a wand to serve, stir or spread honey that is cleverly attached to the inside of the crystal jar's lid. That way, honey stays inside the honey jar at all times. Plus, it is so attractive, with its hive-style horizontal ribbing, that you can display it with even the most formal of your table settings.

Menu - Pernille Vea Black Milk and Sugar Set with Spoon

The Milk and Sugar Set with Spoon is perfect for any kitchen. The milk pitcher holds a half-liter, and the sugar bowl conceals an accompanying sugar spoon that is held in place by the lid. All of the set's pieces are made of porcelain of the highest quality, fired at 1320 degrees Celsius, ensuring strength, durability, and an easy to clean surface.

CAKE - Node Bowl

An elegant play of light and shadow, the Node Bowl (3.5" H x 11.75" W x 11.75" D ) is as useful as it is beautiful. This bowl makes a great sculpture, but also makes an elegant display for fruits, vegetables or dried flowers. Available in chrome or white, this bowl will be a great conversation piece.

Nuvem Wire Mat by Fratelli Campana

Nuvem (16.9" W x 14.6" D) is an experiment in wire-working, featuring matte aluminum wire that has been tangled and twisted, squashed and then spun to achieve its signature look that again fuses pandemonium with poetry, and embodies their unique experimental approach to design.

Menu - Jakob Wagner Wine Cooler

Elegant and practical, the Wine Cooler (8.7" h) by Jakob Wagner is great to have on hand. Keeping drinks cold, this bucket collects condensation and is a joy to the eye for any occasion.

Now that you have seen what you can win, I’m sure you’re asking “What do I need to do to win?” There are three ways in which you can win. You may do one or all three options, the more options you do, the better your odds will be as each option will count as an entry into the drawing for you.

1) Leave a comment telling which great product you will choose if you win

2) Become a follower of our blog and leave a comment

3) Post a link to this contest on your own blog, Facebook, Website, etc and show the link in your comment.

If you only leave a comment, make sure that we get your email address so we can get a hold of you if you win. The contest starts today and will run for a period of a week. Next Thursday (July 16th), we’ll lock the comment section of this post and choose a winner in a random drawing. Again, the more options you do the more chances you will have to win! Please note, this giveaway is only for folks living in the US and Canada.

We will notify the winner on Friday, July 17th and put them in contact with the great people over at All Modern who will then ship the product of your choice to you! Good luck to everyone and let’s have some fun with this!

Good Luck Everyone!

Summertime and the Living is Good....

2009-07-07T21:43:00.008-04:00

Summer has really set in here in Atlanta. Work around the house recently has been focused on the backyard. This work is preliminary work for the deck that we are about to start. The back portion of what we now know is our property is completely covered in kudzu and other awful vines, scrub, and other various evil vegetation. People that know me understand that I have a deep appreciation for nature and a true love for backpacking, camping, and just about anything that keeps me outside. I can now say, that for the first time in my life, I truly hope that plants feel pain, real pain. Let me explain.

Before

This picture shows the horror that is the backyard. In order to deal with it, Jordan and I have developed and implemented a multi-focus plan of attack to reclaim what is rightly ours. Our D-Day was roughly two weeks ago. Armed with all sorts of implements of destruction, herbicides, and determination, we stormed the hillside. I even looked on Ebay for any remaining left over Vietnam era Agent Orange to no avail.

The Battle Begins

Some of The Victims of a Senseless War

Where we stand today

While battling away on the frontline, I started to think about where on earth this stuff came from. After doing some reading, kudzu had a very innocent arrival in America. In 1876, Philadelphia held a Centennial Expo to celebrate the 100th birthday of our country. Various countries from around the world were invited to build exhibits to highlight important elements of their culture. Japan installed beautiful gardens using native plants to their country. Included in these gardens was the infamous kudzu that was also used in traditional Japanese and Chinese medicines. Interest in the plant by Americans was almost immediate due to the plant’s large leafs and fragrant summertime flowers.

During the 1930’s, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Soil Conservation Service viewed the plant as having limitless potential for controlling erosion. During the 30’s, approximately 85 million seedlings were planted by the CCC across the country. Later in the decade, farmers were paid upwards of $8.00 an acre to grow the vine. The 1940’s saw kudzu’s champion come on the scene. Georgia’s own Channing Cope praised the plant and sung it’s virtues on radio shows, newspaper articles, and even went as far as starting Kudzu Clubs across the southeast to promote what he called a “miracle vine”. However, by the 1950’s, the U.S. government finally came to its senses and began to recognize it as a problem and quickly stopped promoting the plant. Finally, in 1972 the USDA declared kudzu a weed (to nice a word in my opinion).

The southeast maintains the perfect climate for this awful creature. Anyone that has driven along just about any road in the south has seen this pest quickly taking over the countryside. One hero in a war against this silent enemy was Dr. James H. Miller who worked for the United States Forest Service in Auburn, AL. He spent 18 brave years trying to identify a successful weapon for killing this stuff. Basically he found that it takes multiple salvos of herbicide over multiple years to really kill kudzu. He even identified one herbicide that kudzu loves and actually helps it to grow! If you are currently engaged in battling this vine, take a look here for up to date battle plans.

So, we are slowly making some headway in taking back our backyard. In addition to kudzu, we are also under attack by English Ivy. I see this stuff in just about every garden shop and I think to myself “Why are you allowed to sell this weapon of mass destruction?”. Currently, Jordan and I are engaged in a jihad against this waxy leafed terrorist.

This bank next to our car port was once covered with ivy. We removed it all and were able to create a nice space that we are no longer afraid to walk in. Enough about the evils and on to the fun stuff.

One of our new found loves is Northcrest’s Swim and Tennis Club. This oasis is located in the center of our neighborhood and at least once a month holds a social dinner for all the members. This month’s event was on the 4th of July and allowed us all to express the tacky tourist side of our personality. In addition to a great meal and really fun conversation, we were all treated to a great firework show.

The club is run by a great group of neighbors. When I try and explain our neighborhood to friends and so forth, I don’t think they really get it. Really, only people here in Northcrest understand what it is like to live here. The neighbors we have met so far are simply some of the nicest and most interesting people I have met. One great example of our neighbors are Brian and Kevin.

They are currently working on a very well done addition to their house. As a result, the are losing their Hollywood bathroom. They made the effort to save all the vintage pieces from the bathroom for others in the neighborhood that may want to use them. You may remember in an earlier post I made reference to the wonderful vintage bathrooms found here in Northcrest. Well, I can now say thanks to Brian and Kevin, Jordan and I are proud new parents of an original bathroom sink and faucet.

The faucet will need some work, but this beauty is going in our basement bathroom in the near future. All we can say is thanks to Brian and Kevin and to all of our Northcrest neighbors for making this such a wonderful place to call home.

One last thing to mention…..if you like the chance of winning free stuff for your home, check back Thursday for a great opportunity!

The Future Is So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades!

2009-07-02T15:42:00.008-04:00

Our little spot in the digital universe is about to get pretty exciting. I can't spill all the baked beans today, but stay tuned over the next few days for a great opportunity for everyone that reads the blog from our friends at AllModern.Not only that, but we have been making some pretty strong progress in the backyard. And if that were not enough to tune in, some friends in Northcrest made our day a few days ago. I can't wait to share all this!

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Mid-Century Meets The Beach

2009-06-17T08:22:00.008-04:00

As we have talked about previously, our trip to Jekyll Island last year really got us motivated to think seriously about finding an atomic rancher of our own. So, with our return to the island this year, we spent some time searching out other mid century homes on Jekyll. All the homes on Jekyll maintain a very California mid century color scheme as you would expect. Here are some of our favorites and representative examples:

This is our favorite, also the one we stay in. It is for sale, so if your looking and have $427k in your pocket...its yours! Really a pretty good bargain for almost beach property.

Other homes found around the island:

One of our favorites, love the butterfly roof line:

Pretty tasteful addition, I think it affords the owner beach and ocean views over the dunes:

Case Study: Jekyll vs. Hyde

Same roof treatment...done two different ways. One much better than the other.

Interesting mailbox found on Jekyll....

Jekyll's most famous landmark:

Scene from outside our kitchen window one morning:

The Long Awaited Comeback.....

2009-06-12T09:41:00.010-04:00

I think that just about anyone that tries to maintain a blog at least has one post apologizing and/or explaining the reason for a protracted delay in posting. I will spare you and just say…we are busy! We have just made a small step toward working on the exterior of the house. Recently we came across a great reproduction spun aluminum dual-cone outside light on Ebay, replacing our ever lovely ubiquitous ‘classic’ brass fixture $19.99 Lowes special….

Maybe in the near future we can hunt down a better door or modify this one and also change out the dated brass lockset. Like with everything else relating to the house, we always have ideas, it’s just about finding time or just the right object.

We have made some pretty substantial progress in the basement while being absent from the online world. As we have talked about earlier, we wanted to alter the paneling into something more fitting to the room. This is what we have come up with…

The process is pretty simple. First, using the table saw, we ripped standard 2x8 pine lumber down into strips. These strips fell roughly into three primary thickness groups, along with some that were ripped just into random thickness. These stripes were then stained with Minwax English Chestnut stain and allowed to dry. The stripes were then cut into random lengths or to size for some of the tricky areas.

We attached the wood strips directly to the paneling with one of my favorite substances on earth, Liquid Nail. We also used small finishing nails on some of the thinner stripes. When I think back to our original inspiration pictures for the basement stairs, I think we have achieved a look that is very much ours, but has a clear point of origin.

The horizontal lines of the wood provide contrast to many of the vertical sight lines found when looking up into the living room from the basement. The darker stain also mimics the darker layers found in the bookcases plywood edges. Moreover, the thin horizontal lines are classic in the mid century modern homes and is expressed by a wide range of materials. We substituted wood in this case for more common brick or stone. The wood provides a warmth to the basement and should also be beneficial to the acoustics of the room.

So that is where we stand for the most part. This weekend, besides being my birthday, we are going to spend some time outside working on a few landscaping projects and work might begin on the deck. Stay tuned also for pictures from our recent vacation back to Jekyll. Jordan and I spent time searching out the few neighborhoods on the island for atomic ranch homes and found plenty!

"Is that real tomato ketchup Eddie? Oh yeah Clark, nothing but the best!"

2009 Northcrest Tour of Homes

2009-05-06T09:35:00.010-04:00

As we posted in a previous update, Northcrest recently held its annual Tour of Homes. This year, three houses were included on the tour plus a stop at the Northcrest Swim and Tennis Club. It is events like this that adds to the uniqueness of the Northcrest neighborhood. Northcrest contains great mid century architecture and some phenomenal examples of atomic ranch homes. More importantly, it is the people that live inside of these homes that add some much flavor to the neighborhood.

The 2009 Northcrest Tour of Homes took place on a simply marvelous sunny spring afternoon. In addition to enjoying these wonderful homes, we got to meet more of the neighbors. It was great to see the pride and enjoyment that this style of architecture brings to the people that live inside of them. I would like to thank everyone who opened their doors to the neighborhood and hope that lots of money was raised for the Northcrest Hoe and Hope Garden Club. Maybe one year we will be able to return the favor!

The first house we stopped at was just up the street from us and is presently under going extensive renovations. When the house was purchased, it was under foreclosure and was in need of serious repair. The house once maintained a poor addition on the backside which had been practically destroyed by a tree falling on it. The owner, Matt took the opportunity to remove the addition and re-use much of the material from it in various projects in the renovation including a built in desk, stairs, and kitchen shelves.

This house included a Jack and Jill style bathroom the Matt re-did with modern slate tiling.

In addition and what I was most excited to see was the original bomb shelter that is going to be turned into a wine cellar. After talking with the owner, we come to find out that the original owner of the home was a holocaust survivor and he built it when he first purchased the house.

The second house we stopped at, which I failed to take pictures of, had a really nice addition that included a large master suite. The bathroom they installed in the addition was amazing. The final house on the tour was a great example of an A-Frame style Northcrest home.

Ever since first seeing the neighborhood, I fell in love with this style of home. There are really only a few examples of them in the neighborhood and after seeing the inside, I don’t understand why more were not constructed. This home consisted of five levels and the house has been lovingly restored by the owner. Some of the highlights of the house include an original multi-colored “beach ball” light fixture in the living room, fantastic two-level basement, and a great main bathroom. The bathroom is going to be their next project but I do have to say, I would have a hard time replacing the original sink and faucet.

We are currently searching for a similar style sink, so if anyone comes across one…let us know! Speaking of the neighborhood, a little while back a neighbor up the street was moving and had a wonderful moving sale full of mid century treasures. His house was featured in the Atomic Ranch magazine and rightly so. It is unfortunate that he had to move, but as someone once said “One man gathers what another man spills”.

The brass planter has a fantastic look to it and the mint green Hull pottery pots really add a great finishing touch. Now let’s just hope we can keep the plants alive! The casserole dish looks as if it just came from a store. It’s in almost perfect condition and you just can’t beat the triangular form. Finally, Jordan picked up the cool molded plastic chair with great mid century styled legs at one of our favorite “junk” hunting places for $11.

So, in the last post we mentioned we had a plan for combating the paneling in the basement. This weekend we purchased the necessary supplies, pulled out the table saw, and ripped a bunch of 2x10 lumber. Without giving too much away, here is a clue about what we are up to in the basement:

Everyone stay tuned because we will be completing this project over the next week or so!

Happy Mother's Day to All the Moms Out There!

The Lifestyle Room Begins to Take Shape

2009-04-28T10:25:00.010-04:00

In addition to talking about what we are up to with the house and our lives, we hope to be able to share various history discussions we come across that seem relevant and interesting. To me, plywood is an amazing product that has allowed humans to construct a wide variety of finished goods through quick and efficient construction techniques allowed by its invention.

Most think of plywood as a “modern” building material however; archeologists have found traces of laminated wood in the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs. As far as what people today consider plywood, the first patent for what could be called plywood was issued on December 26, 1865, to John K. Mayo of New York City. Plywood first made an impact in 1905 when the city of Portland, Oregon was gearing up to host a World’s Fair. At that time, a material called “3-ply veneer work” was utilized for a number of different purposes. The product created considerable interest among fairgoers, including several door, cabinet, and trunk manufacturers.

Between 1905 and 1934, plywood was used only for a narrow range of products, primarily doors. In 1934, Dr. James Nevin, a chemist developed a fully waterproof adhesive. This technological advancement allowed the material to be used in significant new ways. However, the industry remained fragmented. Product quality and grading systems varied widely from mill to mill. In order to better promote the material, the Douglas Fir Plywood Association was formed and held its first regular meeting on June 13, 1933.

The association took advantage of a 1938 law that permitted registration of industry wide trademarks, allowing plywood to be promoted as a material rather than by individual brand names. These developments helped clear the way for the more successful promotion of plywood’s benefits to the construction industry.

If one had to define the most important period of plywood’s history, one needs only to examine the role plywood played in World War II. The war was the proving ground for plywood. The product was declared an essential war material and production and distribution came under strict controls. Plywood barracks sprung up everywhere. The Navy patrolled the Pacific in plywood PT boats. The Air Force flew reconnaissance missions in plywood gliders. The Army crossed the Rhine River in plywood assault boats. There were thousands of war accessories made of plywood—from crating for machinery parts to lifeboats for the Navy fleet. Like so many other products utilized on a mass level during the war, peacetime applications became obvious.
By 1954, the industry had grown to 101 mills and production approached 4 billion square feet. That same year, the Stanford Research Institute predicted that demand for plywood would rise to 7 billion feet by 1975. In reality, production jumped to 7.8 billion feet in just five years, and by 1975 U.S. production alone exceeded 16 billion square feet, more than double the forecast. If interested, you can read more about the history of plywood at the Engineered Wood Association and the Hardwood Plywood and Veneer Association web pages.

Plywood is one of the most important wood products relating to mid century modern design and architecture. Firstly, the housing boom of post World War II required materials that would expedite the development of the ever expanding American suburb. Plywood was the answer as it proved itself in numerous applications throughout the “modern” American home. One specific example of plywood usage in Northcrest is clearly visible on the exteriors of many homes in the neighborhood. Most of the homes utilize exterior grade plywood for board and batting siding. When I say most homes, I’m certainly not speaking about ours! One day I vow to rip the vinyl siding of our house and bring back the classic exterior of the home. As a side note, I personally think that vinyl siding is probably the worst thing to happen to homes, especially historic homes.

Plywood was also used famously for mid century modern furniture design. Plywood and other newly used furniture making materials (e.g. plastics, fiberglass, chrome) allowed for flowing and curving forms. Technology allowed for new processes for molding and manipulating these building materials, allowing designers to step away from squares and rectangles and explore a more fluid approach to design.

It is impossible to discuss the relationship between plywood and mid century modern design without mentioning the husband and wife team of Charles and Ray Eames. Charles was an architect and Ray was an artist, designer, and filmmaker who shared her husband’s passions. Together they created some of the most iconic pieces of the 20th century for Herman Miller Furniture.
The Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW) was their first chair made by molding plywood. Charles developed techniques for manipulating plywood into various forms while making leg splints (molded from his own leg) for wounded soldiers fighting in World War II. The Eames Lounge Chair (#670) and Ottoman (#671) is a true American icon that is part of MOMA’s permanent collection. It differed from the LCW as it was designed as a luxury chair. The chair has a molded veneer shell which was upholstered with leather. This chair is still produced today by Herman Miller. Vintage chairs commonly have a rosewood veneer and the earliest chairs had down stuffing as opposed to later models with foam. There are many more designers and furniture companies that designed and produced mid century style furniture, which we will continue to discuss in future posts.

So you might be asking yourself, what does all this rambling about plywood mean? Well, the short answer is that the first portion of the Lifestyle Room is installed. Tucked in just to the left of the floating stairs leading to the basement is a newly installed “library” or reading nook.

I drew on common mid century materials as we developed the idea for these shelving units. The entire project is constructed finish grade plywood, stained with Minwax Natural tinted stain, and finished with three coats of semi-gloss polyurethane. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I typically use lacquer as a finishing coat but with the light plywood, I wanted a more yellow appearance (something hopefully resembling a Heywood-Wakefield finish) and the lacquer was not quite right. As such, I switched to polyurethane which anyone that has worked with poly knows that it will certainly shade wood yellow.

The upper cabinets are attached to the lower cabinets with galvanized pipe and flange. While not chrome tubing, I think the galvanized pipe invokes the same aesthetic and this detail mimics the aluminum tubing supporting the upper kitchen cabinets. We have started thinking about an entertainment station for the living room to house the TV and so forth and plan on continuing utilizing metal tubing in it as well.

In all, I think the space is working out well. By no means is the paneling going to be the final wall treatment in this portion of the basement. We have formulated a plan for dealing with the paneling and will start work on it hopefully this week. Stay tuned as this wall treatment I think will really tie in the bookcases to the room. I’m really excited about getting started and not just because Liquid Nail is needed for the project!

In addition to the bookcases, we also did some preliminary work on the tiki side of the basement. Basically, the installation of the bookcase freed up two old particle board bookcase that I swear I have been moving around forever. Anyway, we moved these bookcases over to the tiki side and were finally able to unpack most of our tiki collection. As we were unpacking, it was clear that we are going to need multiple display areas for the collection. With “scrap” wood left over from the bookcases, I set about trying to build my own mid century styled credenza.

When I started, Jordan gave me her famous “I don’t know if this is going to work out” look. But after some planning and basic layout, the cabinet came together rather quickly. Again, the cabinet and shelves are made from plywood. The low arching legs and vertical shelving supports are multiple portions of plywood glued together and then sanded to the desired shape. I installed a sliding panel door to hide the left side of the cabinet to hold a portion of our record collection. The stain is Minwax Special Walnut stain with four coats of Deft lacquer.

I’m really pleased and surprised with the outcome. This is really my first attempt at constructing “furniture” and it was a great learning experience. I’m certainly not on the same level as the Eames, but I still think Norm would be proud!

Atlanta Event II

2009-04-22T21:42:00.005-04:00

Just a quick heads up....Archaeologists from around the world are converging on Atlanta this week. Atlanta is hosting the 74th Annual Meeting for the Society for American Archaeology this year. I'm usually not much for the larger conferences, but with it being so close to home, hard to pass up! It should be fun to run into old friends and hear the latest word on the Moundville Site.

Spring is Here To Stay

2009-04-14T21:51:00.008-04:00

Washington may have its cherry trees, but here in Atlanta, we have our Dogwoods and Azaleas to signal the arrival of Spring. It’s a great time to live in the South, now full of sights and aroma of renewal. With the warming afternoons, our attention is quickly turning toward the outside. We have ideas for some landscaping in the front yard and deck construction should begin soon. We celebrated the promise of warmer weather with a very nice and tasty Easter brunch.

We recently helped my parents go through their storage unit that they are attempting to empty. Among the numerous dusty boxes, we came across some fun stuff. A sizeable amount of my childhood LEGOS, vintage Erector set my grand father restored, and two teak shoji screen frames came home with us.

The screens were used by my parents when they lived in the orient during the late 1960’s. We did not know exactly what we were going to do with them at the time. Once at home, a new idea presented itself in the hall with unique results.

In neighborhood news, the annual Northcrest Tour of Homes is taking place April 26 between 2:00 and 5:00 PM. Everyone should try and make it as all donations go to the Northcrest Hoe and Hope Garden Club. We are especially excited about the A-Frame house!

Finally, we have been absent from the blog as we have started to tie up some projects in the basement. Stay tuned for next time to see what’s lurking downstairs now.

Atlanta Event

2009-03-11T07:14:00.007-04:00

Our neighbor, Cindi Sokol, sent out an email the other day to folks in Northcrest. The Atlanta Preservation Center is sponsoring the 6th Annual Phoenix Flies historic building tour throughout the month of March. There are some great tours of some of the last few remaining historic buildings standing in Atlanta and the best part, it's free! Something we can all appreciate during these times.

March Winds Will Blow All My Troubles Away. . .

2009-03-03T20:31:00.012-05:00

So, here we are with the arrival of March. We were greeted by the month with a freak snow storm. I’m not a huge fan of cold temperatures, but I do love snow. Mother Nature laid down about three inches of wet snow this past Sunday here in Northcrest. We actually had thunder while the snow was falling, a very odd occurrence to say the least. Luckily, living in the south usually means not having the snow stick around. This holds true for this snowfall as most was gone by Monday afternoon, except for places in the shade which still is holding on to the last bits of winter.

March has always been one of my favorite months as it signals the approach of spring. The transition from cold winter temps to the annual rebirth of spring I think is good for the human soul to witness and be a part of.

The last week of February also marks Jordan’s birthday. This year, her and I celebrated with a nice home cooked Paella. Jordan’s parents also paid us a visit over this past weekend for her birthday. We really want to thank them for the amazing present they gave Jordan…it means a lot to the both of us.

Here are just some random pictures from the house from this past weekend during the birthday festivities:

Jordan's newest road side find addition to her art room....

I also have made quite a bit of progress down in the basement. I got one set of bookcases completed. I used a natural tinted stain and semi gloss polyurethane to achieve the light finish. The next picture shows a completed shelf unit on top of a yet-to-be stained unit. All in all, I think they turned out pretty well.

I don’t have all the fancy tools the Norm has, but I make do with what I have. I have all the standard workbench sized tools (table saw, chop saw, band saw) but when working with 4 x 8 sheets of 5/8 inch ply, you quickly learn how a Norm sized table saw makes all the difference. But for my skill set at this point in my life, I’m pretty excited about the outcome of this part of the project. I have a couple more to make for the other wall in this portion of the basement. I plan on getting a start this week and hopefully should have them completed pretty quickly.

Little Jordie All Tuckered Out....Getting Older is Tiring!

Yet Another Friday....Thank God!

2009-02-20T12:33:00.013-05:00

This is old news to those of you in Atlanta, but we had our first serious bad weather on Wednesday evening. As the pictures will show, we had primarily pea sized hail here in Northcrest. There was only about five to ten minutes of really strong stuff. We survived and more importantly, there was no damage at our place or around the neighborhood.

Severe weather is certainly nothing to laugh at, but all of the local weather folks often make me laugh. One of my favorites is located in Birmingham, Alabama and works for ABC 33/40, Mr. James Spade. I miss his island of hair and his enthusiasm for often only mildy severe weather. With him, you never really needed to look at the radar. You could literally tell the severity of the weather based on how high he had his sleeves rolled up. Moreover, I'm pretty convinced that his "Storm Center" is really just a converted broom closet loaded with Red Bull and some random "radar" monitors.

As we have been talking about, our attention is now fully turned toward the basement. There is a full bathroom down there and we are currently working toward giving it a WW II style. Down the road, I would like to turn the bathtub into a full shower. This bathroom shares a wall with the basement backroom. All of the mechanical systems for the house are just behind this wall, so modifying it should be a bit easier than some situations.

When we moved in, the bathroom was pretty plain. We have painted, added a new mirror, new switch plates, and a new light. Immediate plans include the removal of the vanity and replacing it, adding some display shelves, and some new decorations. Jordan went through a family photo album that contained some great pictures that her grandfather took from the European theatre during WWII (see below). I love this image with all the pin-ups in the background. As it stands, the bathroom remains semi-plain but heading in the right direction.

Progress is also being made on the bookcases. I have now pretty much finished the casework and just lack some details. This weekend will be spent sanding and finishing them. If all goes well, we should have them installed by the end of the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!

With today being Friday, I spent sometime looking through various images we have collected over the years. Before we know it, we will probably get started working on the tiki bar. To me, the word tiki refers to wooden and stone carvings the ancient Polynesians crafted representing deities or actual chiefs. Returning soldiers from WWII who served in the Pacific missed the exotic beauty of the South Pacific. As a result, restaurants and bars sprang up that were decorated with items reminiscent of the islands. Traditonal carving and materials merged with the mid-century era both in the home basement and in public establishments.

A tiki bar is a multi-layered experience filled with exotica music, Polynesian inspired decorations, well crafted and highly detailed rum based cocktails, and a strong mid-century vibe combining to allow for a few hours of escape from the world directly around us. Tiki is not Jimmy Buffet, Florida bars with cartoonish “tiki” carvings and thatch, Sweet and Sour mix with rum served as a Mai-Tai, Corona beer, or any kinda “It’s five o’clock somewhere” mentality.

To get us all on a similar page, below are a few interior shots of classic tiki establishments of the past. These images are a starting point for us as we begin to design our own little metaphoric slice of the South Seas. The vintage postcard images below are from various establishments (Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic’s in Boston, Denver, and San Francisco) during the heyday of tiki bars.

This next image is from inside the South seas Restaurant in Boston. I love this one and coming across is last night was great. The stairs are very similar to ours, maybe we should put a water feature under our stairs?

Move ahead a few decades, and tiki establishments are still around, just not in the same amount. Here in Atlanta, we are very fortunate to have a Trader Vic’s located in the downtown Hilton off Courtland St. It remains pretty much untouched from when it was first constructed in the 70’s. Two large Oceanic Arts tikis greet you as you walk in from their outside entrance.

It’s a great place to spend the evening and the smell of the Chinese ovens is amazing. The bartenders (esp. everyone’s favorite Joel) create drinkable experiences from age-old recipes. We have some wonderful memories from Trader Vic’s and hopefully these images will inspire us to create a similar feel in our home. Nothing like having your vacation spot in your basement!

Real Polynesia from Our Honeymoon...Having Mai-Tais at Duke's with this View....Nothing Better!

Hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend!

Steps in the Right Direction in the Basement

2009-02-17T11:04:00.002-05:00

With the stairs to the basement now complete, our attention has turned toward the basement. Until a bit warmer weather and more funds, the deck remains in a holding pattern. Awhile ago, Jordan and I purchased wood for the sole purpose of building a series of bookshelves for one end of the basement. However, like so many times, procrastination and other projects won out. To remedy this, I spent Presidents Day ripping 4’ x 8’ plywood sheets into the necessary size.

One side of the basement is going to serve as a library/reading area/office with the opposite end containing the Wiki Wiki Room, our home tiki bar. I got one of the bookcases completed yesterday. This one bookcase is going to be positioned above a lower one and connected to it by pipe and flange. The idea of using pipe and flange came from the small aluminum tubing that supports the one set of the kitchen cabinets. This theme will be carried out in other planned furniture projects we have.
The plywood is going to be stained using a light, natural color to hopefully match the Heywood Wakefield table and IKEA chairs we already have. Light natural stains are one of the typical finishes common to mid-century modern furniture. With the plywood now cut to the correct width dimension, assembly for the rest should go pretty quickly. Hopefully by the end of this weekend, I should have the first set complete.