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January 27, 2006
Back slowly away from the books . . .
I'll admit to a long standing obsession with books, which has in no way been alleviated by the acquisition of this house. Now, in addition to my previous research topics, I've gained a new one: the Arts & Crafts movement, particularly on the Canadian prairies. For most people this wouldn't be a problem but, at the rate that I acquire hoard books, it's definitely a problem (albeit in a good way) for me.
I'm still slowly working my way through the large stack of books that I brought home from the university library a couple of weeks ago (and taking shameless advantage of my graduate student's interlibrary loans privileges). Whereas previously I had but vague ideas about what the house should look like when complete, now I've got the opposite problem. Too many ideas, too little time/space/money/etc. I'm sure that this is a not uncommon problem amongst those of us who have undertaken renovations, whatever the scale.
During the course of my preliminary research (which is preliminary solely because it has yet to earn a dedicated filing crate and computerized folder), I've come across some exceptional books, the kind that I can spend hour upon hour thumbing through, seeing something new each and every time. I've had this experience previously with literary texts (which is one of the reasons I'm doing an M.A. in English), but not (at least to this extent) with more pictorally-oriented texts. I'm learning to read with a new eye, for both text and, for lack of a better term, texture. Like many things in life, the historical rehabilitation that Dana & I are undertaking is a learning experience, in more ways than one. The sacrifices we make whilst making this house our home will be more than worth it because of the many lessons that we'll learn along the way.
Tasha's sole comment to this sleepy philosophical bent is a resounding and surprisingly lengthy snore ;-)
Posted by plainstext at January 27, 2006 07:42 PM
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Comments
Don't forget the personal history of the previous owners. That will also shape the texture of your home's design. Very few houses are pure exapmles of a particular style.
Posted by: ben at January 27, 2006 08:23 PM
Most certainly! Although, there have been a number of times (and I'm sure that there'll be more) that we could've done without the most recent previous owners' personal style ;-) It's interesting to see how a movement (and style) evolves over time, and how different people interpret the same underlying principles in very different ways.
With regards to this house, we know, for example, that it was built specifically for its lot and wasn't a catalogue house, which many homes from this area and era were/are. The house, itself, is slowly revealing things about its history to us, like the fact that the second floor, previously used as attic, was turned into livable quarters in August of 1932. Reading the carefully removed newspaper that was serving as underlay for the rolled linoelum has proved to be very entertaining.
Posted by: Laura (plainstext) at January 27, 2006 09:15 PM