Fall foliage and the Big Pink--can't get much better on a blue sky Saturday

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Last Saturday after my volunteer work at the Architectural Heritage Center was done, I walked north on SE Grand from SE Alder to East Burnside. My intention, to catch the next 12 or 19 bus home, struck a short-lived snag, but on the way I got to take this fall foliage, Big Pink, colorful Central Eastside Industrial District photo. Crossing SE Ash, I noticed that if I stood in just the right spot, I could make it seem that the Big Pink came up out of the corner of that vintage building painted a pale butter yellow. (I read something recently about plans to tear down the pale butter yellow building and put up some sort of taller building. I am not happy about that. I hope it doesn't happen.) Anyway, I check the traffic signals and the traffic, then stood in the street and took myself this photo. Success! By the way, the Big Pink is on the west side of the Willamette River, and I'm over on the east side taking this photo, almost a mile away! Come back Sunday for a photo or two of the short-lived snag.

Oh, so good. Mama memories.

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Back story: Mama and I lived from October, 2006, until January, 2011, on the 4th floor, actually the top floor, of the Presidential Court apartment building on the corner of NW 22nd Avenue and NW Everett. We loved our apartment and many good days there, with each other and with family and friends, and our dearly departed miniature dachshund Duncan. From our kitchen window, we could see this much of a nearby multi-story, multi-family building. We always wondered what it would be like to see any of the views available from the top floor of that building, but most of all, we wondered what it would like to stand in that space we called the window room that you see in this photo. Mama died in our apartment on January 7, 2011, and getting the chance to go inside that building, much less to stand in that little room, never entered my mind again. Until I got an e-mail from the Architectural Heritage Center announcing a tour of the building, originally apartments, now condos. I immediately went online and signed up for the fundraiser. As I rode the bus in the rain last Sunday, most of what was on my mind was the renewed hope to able to stand in the window room, to look toward our kitchen window and see it from an entirely different perspective. To remember the good times with my Mama. I took this photo of the window room from our kitchen window on May 3, 2009.
 

So imagine my joy when I realized as I was directed to the last of seven condos on the tour and figured out that, based on where I was at that time in the building and putting it together with its views, my last stop would be the condo with the window room. I walked through the rest of the huge, single-story condo before stepping up onto the window room's raised floor. All I really cared about was finding out if I could see any of our windows, if the trees that had grown enough to block a view of the windows. Here's a cropped closeup of those windows. Our kitchen window is the only one still visible, the first one you can see on the right in the olive green painted wall--we lived in the corner of the building on the southwest side of the intersection. The tree hides the two living room windows on that eastward-facing wall.
 

Here's photo that I took of Mama waving at me from that kitchen window, on December 21, 2008. That was a Sunday. I must have been out walking the dog or coming back from walking to the Fred Meyer--I cannot remember. But I remember calling her on the cell phone and asking her to go open the kitchen window and wave at me so that I could take a photo. It took me quite a bit of looking through my photos until I managed to find this one--I didn't have it tagged as Mama, doofus me. Notice the snow? We Portlanders were in the midst of days and days and days of lots and lots and lots of snow. Fascinating to the two of us Mississippians-turned-Portlanders!
 

And here's the wide shot that I took of our building when I stood in the window room. Mission accomplished!

About the AHC Event - Centennial Celebration Tour!
Historic 705 NW Davis Apartments Sunday, September 29, 2013 Timed entries between 1:00 and 4:30 pm Members and Friends Admission: $ 25.00

A benefit for the Architectural Heritage Center, generously presented by the residents of the 705 Davis Condominiums Celebrate the centennial of one of Portland's "grande dame" apartment buildings designed by Whitehouse and Fouilhoux at a special benefit for the Architectural Heritage Center. 

Timed-entry tours begin in the courtyard with an overview by Edward Teague, head of the Architecture and Allied Arts Library at the University of Oregon. Visitors will learn about the noted building's history, architect, and architecture, and then be toured through seven one- or two-story units, and an original servant's room, along with an opportunity to learn about ongoing preservation, see historic photographs, and enjoy light refreshments.

Batchelder tiles, Honduran mahogany, and elegant moldings grace the interior, once inhabited by Julia Hoffman, a founder of what is now the Oregon College of Art and Craft, and the chief investor in the building. Other early residents included Max Hirsch, a founder of White Stag, Isabelle Gauld, Oregon chair for Bundles for Britain, Eric Ladd, "before his time" local preservationist, and Fanny and Edgar Lazarus - the latter the architect for Vista House.

Cooler air outside, warmer bodies inside, large windows opaque as a consequence of those differences--the 20 bus on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

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Wearing a quilted black satin brimmed hat, my multi-colored polka-dotted black rubber boots, and with my thigh-length raincoat completely zipped up and the hood pulled up over my hat, I boarded this 20 bus Sunday, September 29, at 12:49 p.m. on my way to a fundraiser tour for the Architectural Heritage Center. I had my Nikon secreted inside the upper left side of my raincoat and my over-the-shoulder black, rain repellant, many-pocketed handbag hanging outside my raincoat on the right side. I left my backpack at home because I had no idea how much turn-around space I would have on the tour. I certainly didn't want to knock anything off of someone's table or wall.

Seeing folks dressed in coats or hoodies, some with their belongings wrapped in plastic bags, didn't surprise me. All of us knew that it had been raining and blowing for hours and hours and would continue to do so.

On my way home after the tour of an intriguing vintage apartment building that had gone condo at some point in the past, the 20 bus filled with thoroughly wet Portland Timbers' soccer fans who gave no clue as to the outcome of the game. It wasn't until I got home and checked Facebook that I learned the team had beat the LA Galaxy 1-0. And that 20,000 filled the stadium in the rain. Guess those who managed to quickly fill the 20 bus felt too water-logged to be excited about the victory. The hordes left on the sidewalks waited for the next bus in the downpour.

Seen downtown, No. 2

Across from Pioneer Courthouse Square, tour guide John looks up at the Macy's building so that he can find an architectural detail to share with us on the June 21, 2013, Architectural Heritage Center's Walking Tour of Downtown Portland's Terra Cotta. Many of the buildings in downtown that give the area its unique atmosphere are decorated and/or covered with terra cotta, be it glazed or unglazed, creamy white or rusty orange.
 

John points out details high up on buildings as he fills in his tour-goers with loads of information.
 

John's engaged delivery captivates tour-goers every single time I've been on one of his tours. See, not even a sporty red vehicle interrupted anyone's concentration. Thanks, John. Thanks, AHC.

Seeing pink in Portland.

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One of several things that I miss about living in Northwest Portland's Alphabet District--seeing the color pink in the spring. Pink-petal-blanketed sidewalks, streets, and vehicles. Saw this nostalgic sight after the AHC Walking Tour NW Sacred Spaces on Sunday, April 21. I'm headed to West Burnside to catch a bus home to NE Portland. Those folks ahead are some who were on the walking tour. Looks like they are still walking, looking, and talking. We had a great time--thanks Architectural Heritage Center.

A shared mass transit stop on SE MLK

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January 26 after the lecture at the Architectural Heritage Center, I decided to ride the Portland Streetcar down to the Oregon Rail Heritage Center to visit the steam locomotives. As you can see from this photo, the streetcar and the TriMet bus share this stop. That's the Morrison Bridge westbound approach you see there above the streetcar.
 

I waited while this lady boarded the bus. I think it's fantastic how that little ramp automatically folds out of the bus floor once the driver activates it. Once the bus drove off, the streetcar moved into place beside the yellow strip of ADA truncated domes which serve as a detectable safety zone, a system of textured ground surface indicators which assist blind and vision impaired pedestrians. Personally, I find them helpful, too, especially when it's been raining. I feel like they're less slick than a wet sidewalk. Anyway, the doors on the streetcar slid open and I walked on, took a seat and looked out the huge windows as we continued southward are MLK, going underneath the eastbound exit ramp of the Morrison Bridge. I love mass transit!

A fine home in the Sullivan's Gulch Neighborhood

What a fine home seen on the Architectural Heritage Center Sullivan's Gulch Neighborhood Walking Tour on May 17. The 1917 house which sits on the southeast corner of the intersection of NE 19th Avenue and NE Clackamas Street seems to glow as the setting sun highlights it exterior.

About Sullivan's Gulch, from Portland Neighborhood dot com: Sullivan's Gulch is located in Northeast Portland. It is bordered by the Lloyd, Kerns, Hollywood, Grant Park, Laurelhurst, and Irvington neighborhoods. Sullivan's Gulch is conveniently located on bus lines, and within a short distance to the MAX light rail station at Lloyd Center. Sullivan's Gulch is a mixed urban and residential area that is located within walking distance to dining, shopping, and other entertainment. This well-established community has a mix of older East Portland homes, usually mid-sized to larger family homes located on streets with mature trees. There are also some lovely vintage apartments, and plexes for rent, as well as some newly developed condominiums for a more urban lifestyle.

About Sullivan's Gulch, from Sullivan's Gulch Neighborhood Association at Portlandonline dot com: A historic, pedestrian-friendly, diverse neighborhood in the Northeast section of Portland, Oregon -- just across the Willamette River from downtown. It is a truly urban neighborhood with large comfortable homes, gracious apartments and shady, tree-lined streets, and a vibrant local business district -- yet close to the central city and adjacent to Lloyd Center, bus lines, transit stations, and freeways.

And here's something else from the actual SGNA Web site: SULLIVAN'S GULCH NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION SULLIVAN'S GULCH IS LOCATED IN INNER NE PORTLAND (OREGON). WE'RE BORDERED BY THE LLOYD DISTRICT, HOLLYWOOD, GRANT PARK, LAURELHURST, KERNS AND IRVINGTON NEIGHBORHOODS. WE COVER HOLLADAY PARK AND NE 15TH TO 33RD AND I-84 TO NE BROADWAY. OUR BOUNDARIES INCLUDE LLOYD CINEMAS AND HOLLADAY PARK & THE MAX STATION WHICH OVERLAP WITH THE LLOYD DISTRICT COMMUNITY ASSOCATION. WE ARE THE PROUD HOME OF GULCH-O-RAMA AND A MYSTERIOUSLY BALANCING ROCK GARDEN.

Neons are in! Street level matching colors, No. 3

Last Saturday on the way home from a fine lecture at the Architectural Heritage Center and a rewarding trip to Powell's Books, I got off the bus for the block and a half walk to my apartment building.

On the corner, I noticed these two stacks of orange traffic cones as I crossed to wait for the traffic signal to change at the corner of NE Sandy Blvd. and NE 20th Avenue. "Hmmm," I wondered. "Is tomorrow's Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon coming by here?"

Then I saw the man approaching on the bicycle, wearing, of all things, an orange knit hat covering,  I imagine, a head full of dread locks. I couldn't believe it--orange and orange, right at the same instant that I stood on the corner, camera on its strap hanging around my neck.

Yea for serendipity!

(And more about the cones later on in this series.)

Only in Portland, a man and his van attract my attention as I walk to the AHC for a lecture on a sunny, bright Saturday morning

Take a close look at the man in the pea green jacket. Tell me what you think first attracted me? The purple van? Yes. The pea green lettering that perfectly matched his jacket? Yes, that was next. And just that quick, I noticed his purple hair that perfectly matched the color of the WineUpTV.com van. That's why you can see his hair, just the side of his face and the back of his neck. His hair blends out of sight into the side of the van. Here's a link to the Web site where you can visit the Home of the Wizard of Wine . At the link you can watch an episode of WineupTV, hosted by a man with purple hair--I assume it's the same man, but I cannot be sure since I didn't get any closer than the sidewalk where I stopped to take the photo with my iPhone. Keep Portland weird, that's what I thought as I checked the image on the iPhone and continued on my way. P.S. I HATE the new BLOGGER whatever they call it because I cannot get any blank lines to show up between what I consider to be paragraphs. HATE IT! Paragraphs are necessary entities when one is writing. Get real, Google! And I'm quite certain that back whenever it was that they announced this new whatever they call it, I went to their comments or some such and complained up one side and the other about not being able to have a blank line in between what I consider to be paragraphs. Did I hear one word in answer? Nope, not one word. WISE UP, GOOGLE! I've tried indenting what I consider to be paragraphs, leaving untold number of blank lines on the post as I'm working on it. NOTHING HELPS! RATS, GOOGLE! If I could get this to work, my P.S. would not be jammed up against the last sentence about taking this photo.

The AHC Hard Hat Tour of the Salvation Army Industrial Home, #2

An artifact, not so very old from the looks of it, which I found on a second-floor windowsill in the southernmost, older section of the building.

The AHC Hard Hat Tour of the Salvation Army Industrial Home, #1

About the Hard Hat Tour, found at Community NonProfit Resource Group--Portland: This Salvation Army building was the District Headquarters for Men's Social services for the state of Oregon, Eastern Washington, and all of Montana. Architecturally it is a GREAT building, designed by Frederick Manson White who came to the US in 1888. With the firm McCaw & Martin, he worked on downtown Portland's First Presbyterian Church, Dekum Building, and the Armory. In his own practice, he designed the Sherlock Building, Imperial Hotel, and the Auditorium Building. Actually, White did not design the whole building. In 1930 he designed the remodel which added the northern building to the southern building. In another post, I've got a special treat of a photograph which supports the fact that the southern building was a Salvation Army building, prior to the 1930 remodel. Our "hard-hat tour" will allow attendees to see the building before all of its restoration is complete. It is an opportunity for a behind the scenes look at the challenges, conditions, and innovative approaches for a superb adaptive reuse project. We're standing inside the southern most section of the Salvation Army Industrial Home building which is actually two buildings remodeled into one. This part, erected in 1893, started as a hay and feed business. It's great that those huge, first-floor windows remained open, allowing the sun the illuminate the huge room for us. Our first speaker, Morgen from the Architectural Heritage Center, set the historical stage for the tour. Then a woman from Venerable Properties spoke of what had been here up to this point in time and about Venerable's plans for the building. One view of the stairs we did not take to the second floor. The staircase is in the southern most section, too. Looking up the staircase. I held the camera out across the red tape, knowing not to put my foot over there on that part of the floor. Wonder what sort of lives were led by the men who laid these bricks back in 1893? This is the exterior, southernmost wall. One of my favorite items found on the Hard Hat Tour, this sign leaning against the wall which separated the newer portion of the building, the northern part, from the older, southern section. The remodel by Frederick Manson White took place in 1930 and gave the Salvation Army just what it needed, much more space to perform their services for Portland. And I don't mean chapel services, but the many ways in which they helped those in need. Here is the photo as altered at Picnik, HDR-ish. You may remember my lament about the April 19 closing of Picnik. I'm still not happy at all about it's disappearance from my photo/blogging toolbox, but I have found Ipiccy and PicMonkey, both of which give me great hope. See yesterday's post for evidence to their effectiveness. Here's the same photo, altered in Picnik with the special effect Gritty. And here it is, altered at Ipiccy, HDR Picture. Seems to me a decent tool, although I will take me some time and some playing around with the tool to get used to this muted look. After April 19, I'll have to be happy with it, unless PicMonkey comes up with something more like Picnik's HDR-ish. Ipiccy's Gritty special effect. I'll bet you're looking forward to April 19 when I won't have all of these alternatives to shower on you! Ha, ha!

Salvation Army Industrial Home Building, photograph, unaltered and altered three ways, plus two

Which version pleases you most? I myself cannot make a decision. Unaltered Picnik Ipiccy PicMonkey A black and white photo, from the 1930's I think, which was on display at the Hard Hat Tour. Fletcher Farr Ayote, Inc.--Industrial Home Rehabilitation Design, also on display at the Hard Hat Tour. Here's some information about the Salvation Army Industrial Home Building: Message from the Architectural Heritage Center: Hard Hat Tour: The Salvation Army’s “Industrial Home” Building, Saturday, March 3, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. Please Meet at the Industrial Home building – 200 SE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. @ SE Ash Street Sturdy shoes are recommended as this is a construction site. This is what was written in the AHC (visitahc.org) newsletter: The Salvation Army is a venerable national institution, serving people in need for more than a century. Throughout the US (and Portland) there are many fine buildings that housed their programs and provided housing. In Portland’s Central Eastside, the Salvation Army’s “Industrial Home” building will be getting a new lease on life, with an adaptive re-use project by Venerable Properties. This 26,000 square foot structure, built in 1893 for a hay and feed business, was acquired by the Salvation Army in 1913. The building was doubled in size in 1930, as part of architect Frederick Manson White’s “face lift” of the building’s entire façade. The Industrial Home model provided jobs and housing for the homeless under one roof. Workers collected and repaired second-hand goods and a thrift-store sold those goods to the public. The building included a workers dormitory, dining facilities, and a chapel—keeping with the Salvation Army’s focus on the “whole person.” Several remodels removed or concealed many of the building’s historic features, but that’s about to change. This is your chance to see the transformation in progress, as original materials are uncovered and historic features are wonderfully restored. The afternoon program will cover the project’s vision, building history, and a top to bottom tour. Our own Education Committee Chair, Morgen Young, will place the Industrial Home building in context with Portland’s other Salvation Army facilities. Fantastic to see the three floors (we didn’t go into the basement) and to hear the history of this building which is actually two buildings and to hear about the plans that Venerable has for a whole lotta square footage. Blogger is changing in April, which as we all know is just a few days away. I made the MISTAKE of clicking on the announcement earlier this evening, and now I'm STUCK there. Rats. I cannot get my previous method of putting links on my posts to work! I cannot figure out how to use what appears to be a link tool on this new method. RATS. So, here's what I read on Venerable Properties Web site about the Industrial Home Building: Venerable’s new development project is the 26,000 sq ft Salvation Army Industrial Home located on Martin Luther King Boulevard and Ash Street. The project will offer approximately 10,000 square ft of ground floor retail/restaurant space to serve the Central Eastside neighborhood. Features will includes large expanses of storefront glass, multiple sidewalk entries, high ceilings, exposed heavy timber structural elements and an oversized skylight for a unique one-story 2,000 square ft addition on Ash Street. The second and third stories will offer 16,000 square ft of office space with huge, new operable windows, high ceilings, exposed structure and light well. As a bonus, the views of Downtown Portland are outstanding. Finally, Industrial Home will offer parking on a contiguous 9,000 square ft lot accessible by both MLK and Grand. This redevelopment will be executed by the same team that resurrected White Stag—Venerable Development, Fletcher Farr Ayotte Architects and Bremik Construction. Architectural planning has being and construction is expected to commence in mid-2012. Brief Building History The building appears to be one building from the exterior; however, the south half was constructed in 1893 and this structure was then expanded and remodeled in 1930 by architect Frederick Manson White, giving it the uniform appearance it has today. While the 1893 building first had a hay-and-feed use, it was later owned and used by the Salvation Army as their Industrial Home in 1913. Industrial Homes were more common in major American cities during this time as the Salvation Army was growing and spreading their mission to help the poor. The purpose of the Home was to provide work and shelter for homeless, unemployed men. They would collect, sort and resell recyclable items such as rags and paper and collect, repair and sell second-hand merchandise such as clothes, shoes, furniture and household items. As was typical for these complexes, Portland’s Industrial Home included a retail thrift store, sorting and repair rooms. The building also contained a dormitory, large washroom, kitchen, dining room and chapel for the workers. In addition to its significance related to the Salvation Army’s work in Portland, it is notable that this building housed the longest running second-hand shop in the city from 1913 to 2010 and probably also housed Portland’s first organized recycling effort.

Altered with Picnik, Basic Edits: Exposure, Sharpened, Cropped; and Effects: Advanced/Cloned, No. 4

Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland's living room. I cloned the young man's backpack out of the photo and a small round object which was in front of him on the bricks. Normally I wouldn't do such cloning, I'd try cropping it out. However, I decided, "Why not?" I've got little more than two months left with my beloved Picnik, so I'm going to go for it. I really like the results, too. I like the sunshine, especially below his right knee and the sort of glow around him on the bricks; the shadows following the concrete forms along the curve; and the glistening, rain-wet bricks in both patterns.

I took this photo on an unusually sunny winter day in Portland, January 21, 2012, downtown. It would have been my dearly departed husband LeRoy's 65th birthday. I was out and about after that morning's top-knotch lecture at the Architectural Heritage Center--one of the best lectures I've attended:
Real Estate Development and the Re-Shaping of Old Portland
Focusing on the early days of Portland, Dr. Tracy Prince, author of Portland’s Goose Hollow, presented a slide show of historic photos and maps to demonstrate how dramatically different the terrain of Old Portland (the west side—from the Willamette River to the West Hills) was from today’s terrain. This changed terrain includes: building the Great Plank Road which ran through the narrow and dark Tanner Creek Canyon; burying Tanner Creek, Johnson Creek, and Balch Creek; filling Couch Lake and Guild’s Lake; filling the 20-block long, 50-feet deep Tanner Creek Gulch; building streets upon 30-50 foot pilings in areas that today’s residents would describe as flatlands; and 1870s Oregonian stories about 25-foot deep cuts required when B Street (Burnside) was graded beyond the gulch. Such incredible alterations to Portland’s natural landscape were seen as necessary for growing a young frontier city and to accommodate real estate development.


The photo as it came out of the Nikon D50.

Architectural Details: A Photography Workshop, Image No. 4

Brickwork on the Patagonia clothing store, 907 NW Irving, Pearl District, Portland, Oregon. Naturally you're aware that he wanted us to pay attention to architectural details like these various brick patterns, especially in conjunction with the concrete blocks and the metal piece. This particular images has been changed at Picnik, an online photo-altering site, with Focal Zoom, then CinemaScope. I also checked Letterbox my photo.


Here it is, HDR-ish, courtesy of Picnik. You can see the concrete blocks and the metal piece much better in this version of the photo.


And here it is, merely straightened at Picnik.

Architectural Details: A Photography Workshop, Site of Image No. 3

First, I had fun at Picnik with one of the photos that I took standing in a vacant lot at the intersection of NW 10th and NW Hoyt, looking southwest. I especially enjoying seeing items inside the windows revealed as I applied the various effects.


At this site, we were asked to look at the shorter, older brick building juxtaposed with the taller, modern one and to notice the textures, angles, and lines. This the photo that I had altered in the Effects section of Picnik--first I clicked on Invert, then Lomo-ish, and finally HDR-ish.


Here is how each effect looks if done alone to the image. Invert. Lomo-ish. HDR-ish. With no additional tinkering with the slider bars. If you click on each photo, you can get a better look at each effect's impact on the image.


Then we were asked to line up the corner of the brick building with the line beneath the outer edge of the rust-colored section which held the balconies on the newer building. It's easy to tell that there is some distance between the two buildings in this photo.

Architectural Details: A Photography Workshop, Image No. 2

Above the front entrance of The Gregory Lofts in the Pearl District. Our instructor wanted us to look for details to photograph, using light and shadow and angles and shapes. I took the photo you see below and then when I uploaded it, I decided to rotate it using Picnik, hoping to enhance the architectural details.


Interesting what changing directions can accomplish.


And here's a photo of the entrance that I took from across the street as I waited to go into the meeting site for the workshop. I felt pretty good about noticing the architectural details all by myself, especially when the instructor pointed it out to us as a subject for our photographs.

Architectural Details: A Photography Workshop, Image No. 1

When I read this information online about an event in conjunction with the 2011 Portland Architecture and Design Festival----Architectural Details: A Photography Workshop, Saturday, October 15, 1:00 PM----naturally I felt compelled to read the rest of the information:

"Explore Portland’s striking building facades and architectural details through your camera lens with local photographer Josh Partee. This two-hour walking tour will commence at the Center for Architecture with coffee and introductions, and will then lead you to the most photo-friendly structures around NW Portland. The instructor will provide professional guidance on how anyone can take better snapshots of their built environment, with a special focus on unique building details. These lessons will come in handy whether you’re walking around the neighborhood or sightseeing in far-away locales.

Josh Partee is a Portland, Oregon based professional photographer. Formally trained as an architect, his love for the building process and architecture have kept him working alongside designers, making sure their projects look their best in print and on-screen."

I clicked to register myself. The workshop was full. So sad. Then I checked back a day or so later to see if I could find a waiting list. Lo and behold, due to interest a second workshop had been added for October 22, same time! I got in! Hooray!

Here is the first of the photos I took that day which I have decided to post--they will come to you not in the order that I took them but in the order that they appeal to me.

This is the Joanne Lilley Grand Staircase inside the Gerding Theater's lobby. Here's some information about the building that houses the theater. You’ll be glad you’ve clicked on the link because not only will you get info, you’ll find both historic photos and construction/renovation photos, courtesy of my beloved Architectural Heritage Center.

He spells it clinker, she spells it klinker, but it's all brick to me.

On May 19 I enjoyed an Architectural Heritage Center Neighborhood Walk, through the Hollywood District. We saw lots of interesting houses and buildings, heard lots of interesting history, and walked lots and lots of blocks. Since I don't have house architecture styles memorized, I can't remember what we saw where, drat it. But I can remember clinker bricks. I've had some fun with Picnik on these photos.


Here's a close-up photo of the same front porch column. I wonder if it is completely made of clinkers or if they just cover the column?


Around the corner and down the block, more clinkers decorate this porch.


I saw this house before the one that is in the top photo, but seeing the clinkers painted gray bothered me too much to put this house as the first photo. However, I have altered the photo in Picnik so that you can see the design developed with the clinker bricks. And thank goodness the person who wielded that doggone paint brush didn't get up on the roof and paint the chimneys!

I think you'll learn lots from this Old House Journal article, “The Accidental Charm of Clinker Bricks”.

And here's some info from Wikipedia: Clinker bricks are partially vitrified brick stones used in the construction of buildings.
Clinkers are burnt under temperatures so high that the pores of the fuel property are closed by the beginning sinter process. Thus they are considerably denser and therefore heavier than regular bricks. Clinkers hardly take up water and are very resistant.
In early brick firing kilns, the surface of the bricks that were too close to the fire changed into the volcanic textures and darker/purplish colors. They were often discarded, but around 1900, these bricks were discovered by architects to be usable, distinctive and charming in architectural detailing, adding the earthy quality favored by Arts & Crafts style designers. Modern brick-making techniques can recreate the appearance of these bricks and produce a more consistent product.
In the United States, clinker bricks were made famous by the Pasadena, California architecture firm Greene and Greene who used them (often in combination with native rocks) in walls, foundations, and chimneys.