Possible New Blog In the Works

I've had a lot of fun the past few weeks hanging out on some mid-century modern groups and forums on Facebook and elsewhere.

I love the architecture and decor from that era. Some of it brings back memories ... for example, memories of a brass starburst clock my mother bought when I was in the first grade or so, similar to this. Except, as I recall, all the "rays" were the same length, and the face was solid white and had larger numbers...

I got into "MCM" in a big way several years back and bought some neat stuff off e-bay, and had vague plans for giving my house the "look and feel" of the fifties and sixties, but other pursuits kept me busy, and I put house fixup on the back burner.

But I've enjoyed my recent reacquaintance with it so much, I'm making plans to work on the house some more.

Our house is mid-century -- built in 1957 -- a three-bedroom atomic ranch, but the only thing modern about it is the low, sloping roofline that extends out over the carport. Inside, it's very conventional. Plaster on lath walls, rather elaborately milled woodwork -- the antithesis of modernism. It's very strong, and solidly built -- a Gibraltar of a house. And it sits on what passes for "high ground" in these parts, so we don't evacuate during hurricanes.

It was built in what some folks identify as the last years of the Old Florida era...

The term "Old Florida" generally denotes Florida the way it was at least two generations ago. It's a Florida from  the 1960's and earlier with roadside attractions,  hamburger stands and other reminders of  yesteryear that are quickly vanishing.  http://www.florida-secrets.com/Old_Florida/OldFlorida.htm

Somebody flipped this house (poorly) in the 1990s. Its Florida character, along with its jalousie windows and ornamental concrete blocks, was ripped out and it was given the Home Depot treatment. The fake-pane casement windows they put in are awful. Yes, I understand that older jalousie windows weren't energy efficient, and presented a security risk. But there were ways to deal with that.

I'll have to live with the windows, but there's a lot I can to do return much of the home's character -- and make it a blending of mid-century modern and Old Florida. And that's what I'm going to blog about...









But if anybody thinks I'm abandoning the South and its Confederate heritage, let me disabuse you of that notion right now.  My devotion to Dixie goes back to preschool. I'm not going to abandon my region, not now, not ever.