Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Colonial Home Plans - Still the Craze After All These Years

!±8± Colonial Home Plans - Still the Craze After All These Years

A little over a century ago - largely as a result of the American Centennial Exhibition in 1876 which reawakened the American people to its colonial past - there began a popular Colonial Revival craze in design and architecture. Colonial home plans follow the style of the Revolutionary War period, which in turn were imitative of the medieval English architectural style. This style is referred to as Georgian after the English King Georges who reigned from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, at the time when this building style emerged in both England and America. This style is formal, rigid, and symmetrical, but often with a façade above the door and overhead supported by columns or pillars. These structures are typically two-storied, rectangular or square in design, with the length of the building parallel to the street. Steep roofs with gables crown a symmetrical façade which has a large central doorway and evenly-spaced windows on either side. The central fireplace and chimney were necessary to provide heating and cooking facilities in the original colonial design. Usually the entranceway opens into a hall which leads from the front of the house to the back, and gives access to the downstairs rooms on either side. This basic plan can be and has been modified to incorporate decorative features such as elaborate front doors with crown pediment decoration, sidelights and overhead fanlights; side porches and sunrooms; and porches with multiple columns. Interior decoration ideally consists of actual colonial antiques and handiwork, or reproductions of same; and modern fixtures are designed to blend in with the eighteenth century style.

Since the nineteenth century craze there have been several waves of revival of English colonial architecture in the U.S. The original revival after 1876 favored the eclectic style with embellishments such as columns. However the modern colonial style relies more heavily on authenticity, in the mode of such research based historical attractions as Colonial Williamsburg. In the twentieth century colonial architecture has taken on an increasingly scholarly and less embellished turn, such as the elimination of columns. Today's 4 bedroom space saving colonial house plans not only incorporate modern conveniences, but do so in a style more congruent with true colonial architectural style than the nineteenth century version. On the other hand, the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial celebration added another element to the craze, combining the basic colonial plan with the ranch style home design popular at the time. The result was typically a single-story white frame structure with wood shake roof and motifs such as drums, cannons, or eagles affixed to the façade. The past few years has seen another colonial revival in the U.S., this time with more of a British empire or Anglo-Caribbean feel to it. Note that colonial revival architecture has always been more popular in the eastern and Midwestern U.S. rather than California or the Southwest, where Spanish house plans are more congruent with local history and tastes than the Georgian prototype.


Colonial Home Plans - Still the Craze After All These Years

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Monday, December 19, 2011

The 2011 Report on Exterior Wood Millwork, Porch Columns, Porch Rails, Newels, Trellises, and Entrances: World Market Segmentation by City

!±8±The 2011 Report on Exterior Wood Millwork, Porch Columns, Porch Rails, Newels, Trellises, and Entrances: World Market Segmentation by City

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Post Date : Dec 19, 2011 11:57:05
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This report was created for global strategic planners who cannot be content with traditional methods of segmenting world markets. With the advent of a "borderless world", cities become a more important criteria in prioritizing markets, as opposed to regions, continents, or countries. This report covers the top 2000 cities in over 200 countries. It does so by reporting the estimated market size (in terms of latent demand) for each major city of the world. It then ranks these cities and reports them in terms of their size as a percent of the country where they are located, their geographic region (e.g. Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Latin America), and the total world market.

In performing various economic analyses for its clients, I have been occasionally asked to investigate the market potential for various products and services across cities. The purpose of the studies is to understand the density of demand within a country and the extent to which a city might be used as a point of distribution within its region. From an economic perspective, however, a city does not represent a population within rigid geographical boundaries. To an economist or strategic planner, a city represents an area of dominant influence over markets in adjacent areas. This influence varies from one industry to another, but also from one period of time to another.

In what follows, I summarize the economic potential for the world's major cities for "exterior wood millwork, porch columns, porch rails, newels, trellises, and entrances" for the year 2011. The goal of this report is to report my findings on the real economic potential, or what an economist calls the latent demand, represented by a city when defined as an area of dominant influence. The reader needs to realize that latent demand may or may not represent real sales.

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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Other Peoples Homes (2) Elvis, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee

!±8± Other Peoples Homes (2) Elvis, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee

In the words of Paul Simon, "I'm going to Graceland, Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee" and now I've been but, in my case, with a travelling companion several decades more than nine years old and a devoted fan of the "King of Rock and Roll".

Since Elvis Presley's death in 1977, Graceland, the house purchased by Elvis in 1957 and in whose grounds he is buried, has become a shrine to the memory of Elvis and a centre of pilgrimage for thousands of fans who visit every year.

Graceland was built on a hilly, heavily wooded thirteen-and-three-quarter-acre site on the two-lane Highway 51 connecting Memphis with Jackson, Mississippi, for a Dr. and Mrs. Thomas D. Moore. Over time the name "Graceland" came to refer specifically to the house but originally it applied to the entire area which was establish as a Hereford cattle farm in 1861, by S.E. Toof, the publisher of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. It was named after his daughter, Grace Toof. Ruth Moore, who built Graceland the house, was Grace's niece who planned the house for her daughter, Ruth Marie, who played the harp and piano. Music seeped through it's very foundations. The rooms were designed with an eye to future musical evenings and space was essential. A Commercial Appeal headline for Sunday, October 27th 1940 heralded the "Colonial Courtliness of Georgian Style Exemplified in Stately Graceland". The home that has come to symbolise Elvis.

The house was opened to the public in 1982. I understand about 650,000 people a year pass through the front door. Graceland has become one of the five most visited home museums in the United States and in 1991 gained the honour of being placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Joining one of the many shuttle tours that operate from downtown Memphis, I, personally was prepared to be disillusioned. Would it all be hype and tasteless, but hey, forever curious about other peoples tastes and extravagances it was a 'must do' visit. Surrounded by fellow travellers, devoted Elvis fans, who have all come to see not only where Elvis lived by how he lived, the tour began.

The neoclassical façade of white Tishomingo stone with windows shuttered in contrasting green present a truly tranquil, elegant and stylish house. Entering through the Corinthian columns on the front portico, the "formal" Dining Room and Living Room are lavishly decorated in blue, white and gold colour scheme and given a spacious feel by the mirrors which are a predominant feature of both rooms. The centrepiece of the Dining Room is a spectacular Italian cut glass chandelier purchased by Elvis on an after-hours shopping spree at Belvedere Lighting in Memphis in August 1974. In the Living Room stunning peacock stained-glass windows designed by Laukhuff Stained Glass of Memphis, separate the Living Room from the Music Room. The same company that did the stained glass work around the front door and the stained-glass billiard light in the Pool Room.

Moving into the Music Room, decorated predominantly in gold and white, a black Story and Clark baby grand takes pride of place. The most famous person to play it other than Elvis was James Brown who recalls singing gospel songs with Elvis. The wall mirror in the Music Room illustrates the fact that a lot of things were kept; things weren't thrown away and trashed over the years. This mirror dates back to the Presley's previous home on Audubon Drive where they lived prior to moving to Graceland. The stairway in the hall leads to the upper floor of the house that disappointingly is not open to visitors. I would have loved to have had a nose into the bedrooms and the four bathrooms. The chandelier over the stairs is the largest one of three in the house and the same design as the one in the Dining Room, in the Maria Theresa design. The third chandelier is Strauss crystal and hangs just inside the front door in the foyer.

The TV Room, decorated in black and gold with mirrored walls was decorated in its present style by Bill Eubanks who also decorated the Pool Room across the hall. All the chrome, glass, chrome arc lamps and sectional black furniture are very much the style of the 70's including a yellow leather topped bar and bar stools! The most spectacular feature of the Pool Room is the fabric used to cover the sofas, walls and ceiling. We are told it took something between 350 and 400 yards of fabric and three workmen about ten days to hang it. The room, with its French, Oriental and turn-of-the century European influences is an example of the Seventies American trend toward eclectic decorating, mixing styles of various eras and countries. A similar "retro" trend emerged again in the Nineties. None of the furniture is antique. Most chosen to complement the general décor including the reproduction Louis XV red leather chairs.

All the pictures are either prints, some signed by artists, or - like the Toulouse Lautrecs, just regular commercial reproductions. The gold, green and peacock blue light shade over the pool table is again, the work of Laukhuff Stained Glass in Memphis and done in the revived Tiffany style. Possibly the most spectacular and unique room of the visit though is the Jungle Room. Added to the house in the mid-Sixties it functioned as a screened-in porch, then it was closed in completely and made into a family room or den. Legend has it that Vernon, Elvis' father had been out and about and had seen some hideous furniture in a store in Memphis. Apparently, unbeknownst to Vernon, Elvis had seen the same furniture and had liked it because it reminded him of Hawaii. He bought a whole roomful of it. The big "monkey chair" is so enormous that one of the windows had to be removed to move it into the room. Much of the room's décor seems to be tactile, as with the fake fur on the bar stools and the heavily carved wood, the exotic feathered mirror frame and the ornamental animals.

The indoor waterfall completes the theme although we are told that it wasn't turned on very often because it tended to make the carpet wet.
Finally the office. Housed in a building that was already there when Elvis bought Graceland. Vernon ran the office and had a staff of secretaries to handle fan mail and all the household and personal bills. Elvis gave a press conference sitting at his father's desk in this office in 1960 the day after he returned from his tour of army duty in Germany. In photographs it is possible to see that it is the same desk, same blotter, lamp, filing cabinets and cards on top of the filing cabinet.

It is recorded that when Elvis was a child he made a promise to his parents that "One day, I'll buy you the prettiest house in Memphis, and I'll pay you back for all you've sacrificed for me". Graceland represented that to him. Both house and garden provided a fascinating visit. One I would have no hesitation in recommending to others and one I would happily repeat if I ever found myself back in Memphis, Tennessee.


Other Peoples Homes (2) Elvis, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee

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Sunday, December 11, 2011

How to Use Columns

!±8± How to Use Columns

In recent years, the use of columns in the design of public spaces such as plazas and hotel atriums has shown their wide range of uses. Columns can be a part of the structure in a load-bearing or weight-bearing capacity or purely decorative, and the types of materials from which they can be made are practically endless. The styles available, too, are too many to describe, ranging from stock traditional Roman or Greek columns to specially customized designs that you create.

With these three column components, you can create an infinite number of columns to suit an infinite number of needs. You're limited only by your imagination as almost anything you come up with can be made by a good manufacturer.

Porch Columns

The word "porch" is derived from the Greek "portico," which means a columned entry to a temple. So it is an appropriate acknowledgment of history that porches remain one of the most popular places for columns, whether they are incorporated into the porch railing or stand alone.

Porch columns are available today in a number of designs that help define the front of the house. The more elaborate choice might be a fluted porch column with decorative rings at the top and base, following one of the Roman styles. Round porch columns are made that provide two architectural design choices. Tapered round columns provide a formal touch. Traditional round columns bring elegance as well. Square columns are reminiscent of America's rural tradition.

Porch columns today are manufactured from both wood and synthetics. Fiberglass porch columns have become a popular architectural alternative to wood because they require little maintenance: fiberglass porch columns won't crack, peel or warp.

Exterior Columns

A number of exterior uses for columns are also prominent in today's architectural stylings. For example, a column makes a great base for a garden birdbath or sun dial. Custom sizes can be made from almost any material to create a staggered look or uniform appearance for repeat pieces or complementary ones, as you prefer.

Columns can be used as seats in a garden. Wide bases can be used as a table and smaller bases can be used as side tables. Another interesting exterior use: stepping stones or stairs up to an elevated area or a deck. Columns also work well as fence posts for decks or around the yard. A grand choice would be a walkway or driveway up to the house with columns on each side. Whether covered or uncovered, this creates quite a first impression, adding formality to the look and a great deal of value to the home.

Interior Columns

As new home design has turned to extensive use of wide open spaces, interior columns have become a significant architectural tool. Open floor plans usually incorporate kitchens and eating areas with dens. Architects will often provide breaks in these expanses by using interior columns incorporated with a slight change in elevation. A variation on this concept is a divider between kitchen and den area that has interior columns spaced across the open area above the divider.

Columns are also often used to help define a dining area that is part of a living room. The use of interior columns with furnishings such as sideboards or opaque folding screens between them can frame off an area around the dining table without creating a separate room. These columns can also provide a load bearing function when necessary, serving a practical as well as a decorative purpose.

Decorative Columns

Depending on the interior decorator's motif, these columns may appear to be wood, marble or stone. In most cases however, decorative columns are made from fiberglass, perhaps some sort of fiberglass and stone composite, coated aluminum or pre-cast plaster.
Decorative columns are by definition non load-bearing columns, and so can be made from whatever material is appropriate to match the surrounding decorative style and keep maintenance to a minimum.


How to Use Columns

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The 2009-2014 Outlook for Exterior Wood Millwork, Porch Columns, Porch Rails, Newels, Trellises, and Entrances in India

!±8±The 2009-2014 Outlook for Exterior Wood Millwork, Porch Columns, Porch Rails, Newels, Trellises, and Entrances in India

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This econometric study covers the latent demand outlook for exterior wood millwork, porch columns, porch rails, newels, trellises, and entrances across the states, union territories and cities of India. Latent demand (in millions of U.S. dollars), or potential industry earnings (P.I.E.) estimates are given across over 3,700 cities in India. For each city in question, the percent share the city is of it's state or union territory and of India as a whole is reported. These comparative benchmarks allow the reader to quickly gauge a city vis-a-vis others. This statistical approach can prove very useful to distribution and/or sales force strategies. Using econometric models which project fundamental economic dynamics within each state or union territory and city, latent demand estimates are created for exterior wood millwork, porch columns, porch rails, newels, trellises, and entrances. This report does not discuss the specific players in the market serving the latent demand, nor specific details at the product level. The study also does not consider short-term cyclicalities that might affect realized sales. The study, therefore, is strategic in nature, taking an aggregate and long-run view, irrespective of the players or products involved.

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