mid century architecture Archives

The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

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.

Let’s Review: Discover what’s great about your Mid-Century Home

36 min readI’m taking July off from recording the podcast this summer but that doesn’t mean YOU have to.

Instead, I’ve rounded up the BEST of our back catalog to take you on a journey through Master Planning your remodel. Let’s start with making it fun and easy to learn more about your home!

I want you to become an expert on your home before your remodel.

Note, I did not say that you need to become an expert on remodeling … just on your house.

Why? Because it’s going to smooth every step of your remodel journey!

One good reason to take a few of your own measurements, skim an inspection report, or dig into some MCM history about the original owners by chatting with elderly neighbors, is that these activities will set you up for clever design ideas for your remodel. And they will.

But another super important reason getting familiar with your home is essential to a successful remodel is that the more you feel like an expert in the specifics of your house (not even all of them, just in certain parts of it!) the more you interface confidently with everyone else in the project.

Finding the right mid-century home for you with Susan Halla

44 min readSusan Halla, founder of Make It Mid-Century and mid-century enthusiast, joins me this week to dish about her own recent house hunt.

If anyone knows what they’re looking for in a mid-century home, it’s Susan Halla. She has spent the last decade making retro-focused DIY doable for mid-century lovers of all stripes.

When she had to move, she knew she needed another perfect mid-century house to make her home. And she’s just completed a multi-city search that was laser focused on finding a relatively untouched, not too high end mid-century home.