the midcentury ranch for a new generation
35 min readThe neo-mansard roof is as polarizing as an architectural feature can be.
Mansard roofs belong along a street in Paris or maybe on an 80’s vintage Burger King, right?
Yet, a slew of mid-century architects seemed to independently decide to give them a try in residential design during our favorite decades. Why, though? Why?
Today, I’m talking that over with our favorite mid mod house historian, Atom Stevens.
In Today’s Episode You’ll Hear:
27 min readThe University Hill Farms neighborhood is one of my favorite parts of my home town and in today’s episode I’ll be your tour guide!
What’s the best mid-century neighborhood near you?
I don’t just mean the spot with the best mid-century homes.
What’s the best neighborhood?
Now MCM houses all tend to exist near schools, parks, libraries, churches, office buildings and more from the same era.
But while the mid-century years are my absolute favorite for housing design, they weren’t always the best for urban planning.
For one thing, it kicked off our national car-centric planning era, and we’re still in it. But there are some winners.
Today I want to talk about the history and qualities of one of my favorite parts of my hometown, the University Hill Farms neighborhood. If you’re Madison local, it’s the area around Hilldale mall, and it’s great by several measures. It’s even a historic district inventoried in the National Register of Historic Places.
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63 min readI am bringing you a conversation with my favorite expert on caring for historic homes, Scott Sidler, the historic window whisperer.
Do you think of your mid-century home as historic?
Maybe you don’t. After all, MCM stands for mid-century modern.
But I kinda do! These houses are all 50 to 75 years old at this point. That’s getting up there!
Because of that, I am bringing you a conversation with my favorite expert on caring for historic homes, Scott Sidler, the historic window whisperer.
If you know Scott, he has an Instagram handle of @theCraftsman blog. His blog is “the Craftsman blog”. He spends all of his time talking about how to repair windows on craftsmen and Victorian and other historic homes.
So what does that have to do with me, with us, with our love of mid-century?
We may have named our main platform communications for different eras of housing, but Scott and I share the same passionate love for all things vintage.
26 min readI have to admit being a reluctant provider of gift guides. So instead of another listicle with vaguely mid-century-ish products, this gift guide takes a slightly different approach.
The “check your inbox”, “must have gift lists” and “buying guides” we are inundated with right now kind of give me the ick. Especially since we’ve just been hounded by all of the “buy right now energy” Black Friday Energy.
Plus, when I put mid-century gift guide into Google to see if I was forgetting anything as I prepped for this episode, what I actually came up with was a whole bunch of listicles with links to modern-ish products with vaguely mid-century styles that I just didn’t really enjoy scrolling through. After all, as mid-century enthusiasts, we tend to be focused on vintage, timeless things, right? Rather than new things that miss the mark on both quality and style.
So instead of another listicle with vaguely mid-century-ish products, this gift guide takes a slightly different approach. Focusing on experiences, design collaboration, and supporting small, quality businesses rather than succumbing to the urgency of sales. Today I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, that you already know you can gift someone more than an object. But sometimes the “what” of it all is the challenge.
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27 min readUse the holidays to focus your remodel plans.
I want you to use your holiday prep time to plan your remodel.
Okay, Before you tell me, Della, that’s crazy. I can’t plan a remodel right now. The holidays are when I’m busiest.
You’re right. Of course you can’t. You know me. I wouldn’t ask you to make your life harder when it’s already full. But … what if I told you that you could also use this time to focus your remodel planning and make real progress without spending time picking out tile or making phone calls?
Instead, make your future life easier by harnessing all of the satisfactions (and frustrations) that are part of the celebratory times in your house.
Continue reading “Yes, You Can Use the Holidays to Plan Your Remodel!”33 min readThe good news? Your home is currently grandfathered into every code statute written and approved after the day it was built.
Let’s get the scary part out of the way first. Your mid-century house, the one you love for its charm and quirks, does not comply with the modern building code.
That’s ok for now. No one is going to knock on your door tomorrow demanding you rewire every outlet in the house.
Continue reading “Your mid-century house is not up to code”Where are all my history nerds? Raise your hands. This week is for you. I’m talking historic maps, digitized collections and crowd-sourced cartography projects. I KNOW!
I was so tickled when a Ready to Remodel student showed up to an Office Hours call a few months ago with so much fresh confidence derived from finding the Sanborn maps of her own property.
Her local permitting office was willing to accept the map she found as proof of a grandfather in the structure that meant they were able to carry on with their plans for a WHOLE LOT LESS paperwork!
Plus, turning up a historic resource had helped her feel confident in her interactions with her local building department and advocating for her remodel plan. This is what Discovery is all about!
I was delighted to hear her name check the Sanborn map collection, because it took me right back to my university days.
Continue reading “The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps”32 min readIn honor of spooky season, let’s talk nightmare mid-century remodel scenarios.
Can you picture it? Sure you can. We’ve all seen some really scary remodeling choices —on Zillow, on Instagram, or sadly, maybe even in our own homes.
You can file this under schadenfreude if none of it applies to your house. Or it can serve as a what not to do guide to help you avoid mistakes. If you’re already living one of the nightmare mid-century remodel scenarios I’m about to describe, then let’s focus on the fact that you’re far from alone.
AND there’s hope!
I really believe that a good, solid master plan can bring any mid-century house back from the brink of horror.
Continue reading “Nightmare Mid-Century Remodel Scenarios”27 min readToday, some more excellent advice on planning the landscape the yard of your mid-century home from Jim Drzewiecki of Ginkgo Leaf Studio.
Winterizing your yard (the right way) actually is more about planning and planting the right way up front than it is about an endless checklist of October landscaping tasks.
A lot of people (me included) tend to believe that an amazing looking yard requires constant effort and care.
Amazing news: that’s just not true.
When you’ve designed your mid-century yard the right way … with a layout that complements the house and a collection of plants that look good in every season, there isn’t that much you must or SHOULD do to get the yard ready for winter!
Surprise, surprise, a little master plan thinking for your yard can keep it looking good and easy to care for all year round!
Let’s talk about how to plant a year round garden with great advice from Jim Drzewiecki (of Ginkgo Leaf Studio).
Continue reading “Winterize your (Mid-Century) Yard: Advice from Ginkgo Leaf Studio”36 min readAre you considering new siding for your mid-century home? Before you call a contractor or pick a sample, let’s talk about what mid-century siding is and how to make good choices for your house.
During the 80s and 90s, when appreciation for MCM was at a low ebb, too many of our sweet ranches were re-wrapped in narrow strip beige vinyl, covering up their original colors and patterns.
If you’ve been dealing with that kind of generic cover-up, or if your siding is simply damaged or in poor repair, you might be considering a replacement.
Before you call a contractor or pick a sample, let’s talk about what mid-century siding is and how to make good siding choices for your home.
