View allAll Photos Tagged streamlinemoderne
Detail look at one of the Art Deco designed light columns that greet visitors come in from the front entrance from Alameda Street, Los Angeles. Designed in the Streamline Moderne style of Art Deco.
ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streamline_Moderne
Grade I listed. Built in 1936. Architects Mendelsohn and Chermayeff.
The hanging lamp was designed for the stair well.
I love the rounded end of this building's design with all of the glass block windows. Located in Santa Maria, CA
From a vacation I took in 1993. Using the order of the negatives this house was between the "Parque de Bombas" and "Escuela de Bellas Artes de Ponce". With Google Maps and some perseverance I located it on Calle Castillo. As best I can figure it's #28. I've seen other images of it on Pinterest indicating Ponce as the origin but can find no other information about it.
Mickey's Diner was manufactured in New Jersey in 1937 and opened in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1939. It has been in continuous operation ever since.
Mickey's Diner is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Grade I listed. Built in 1936. Architects Mendelsohn and Chermayeff. The hanging lamp was designed for the stair well.
The plate on the floor states . . . .
This plate was laid by the Mayor of Bexhill
the Right Honourable Earl De La Warr on the
6th of May 1935 Erich Mendelsohn & Serge Chermayeff
F.R.I.B.A. Architects"
The surface buildings comprise a circular drum set in a roundabout, with high central booking hall surrounded by lower offices and kiosks. The exterior of the drum is surprisingly complex in its detailing. Cast-iron dado in geometric Greek key pattern around vent covers. Steel window frames in timber surrounds, a pair set either side of blind timber poster boards. Projecting illuminated sign band standing proud of narrow glazing band. Broad projecting eaves formed of a slim concrete slab; high clerestory with strongly horizontal pattern of steel glazing bars under shallow concrete slab roof topped by distinctively Scandinavian style finial of five swirling bands between opal light fittings (they slide to open) with a ball top. The letters to some shop units have contemporary bold signage. Many of the signs, particularly the roundels, are late-C20 replicas of 1930s originals. The station building sits in the centre of an oval island, this with some original and some replaced radial cut paving slabs, as well as late-C20 brick pavers. Grade II* listed.
It's one of only four Charles Holden Grade II* listed stations. The others are Arnos Grove, Sudbury Town and Oakwood.
Streamline Moderne-style building, originally used as a creamery, currently by a company that manufactures coatings. Canajoharie, NY.
Shot with an SMC Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8 manual focus lens.
First presented in the 1933 Chicago's World Fair, the Hispano-Suiza Savanna Master represents the pinnacle of European car technology.
The Savanna Master is powered by a HS v12 engine, rated 800 horsepower. Somewhat underwhelming if compared with other supercars like the SL20 Streamliner. However, what it lacks in raw horsepower is overcompensated by its groundbreaking front driving nacelles, capable of adaptive roll and pitch correction. The result is unparalleled adherence, even in the uncambered expressways that are so common in the Old Continent.
I love streamlined designs inspired by the Art Deco. This streamliner is directly inspired by the gorgeous SL20 Streamliner by Vince Tolouse. If you don’t know Vince’s artworks, then you should definitely go and check his photostream.
IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE
Aquest edifici art decó es troba prop de Russell Square, però amagat en un carreró lateral. S'el coneixia com a Daimler Car Hire Garage, i després Frames Coach Station; fou construit el 1931 com a garatge, com es pot veure per la seva estructura. Ara son oficines de lloguer.
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This gorgeous art deco building, located near Russell Square, was designed in 1931 as a hire garage, and you can tell that from the façade, including circular ramps. Now it's a quite luxurious offices building.
It was known as Daimler Car Hire Garage, and latter, Frames Coach Station.
A hotel inspired by theArt-Deco and Streamline-Moderne designs from the 1930s and 1940s - in particular from the USA. It is not based off any one hotel but colour schemes and elements from many of them found in South Florida.
It's my 3rd shot at a hotel in this style, the last being 5 years ago and another 5 the one before that so I figured I was due another!
I built the signage first then developed the rest of the building around it. I had wanted to round all the corners but could not acheive this with what pieces I had. It was pleasure to be able to integrate some of the more muted colours I've had around for a while and not found the right build to put them in.
Regards
Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.
Tonight however, we have headed north-west from Cavendish Mews, across Marylebone, past Regent’s Park, the London Zoo and Lords Cricket Ground to the affluent and leafy residential streets of nearby St. John’s Wood. It is here that Lettice’s Embassy Club coterie friends Minnie Palmerston and her husband Charles reside in a neatly painted two storey early Victorian townhouse on Acacia Road that formerly belonged to Charles Palmerston’s maternal grandparents, Lord and Lady Arundel. Lettice was commissioned to redecorate their dining room, after Minnie decided to have a go at it herself with disastrous results. Now with the room freshly painted and papered, and the furniture expertly curated and arranged by Lettice, all of Minnie’s dining room faux pas is forgotten, and the Palmerstons are hosting a dinner for Lettice as a thank you. They have also invited another of their Embassy Club coterie, Lettice’s old childhood chum Gerald, also a member of the aristocracy who has tried to gain some independence from his family by designing gowns from a shop in Grosvenor Street, to even up the numbers.
As Siobhan, the Palmerston’s Irish maid, serves roast beef with vegetables to the quartet, Lettice regales her friends with the story of her recent visit to Glynes, her family home in Wiltshire.
“And what was the reception like?” Minnie asks as she picks up her glass of wine.
“Well,” Lettice explains. “Pater was absolutely delighted with Henry Tipping’s* editorial about my redecoration of Dickie and Margot’s in Country Life**. When I arrived, he was sitting in the drawing room reading it, would you believe?”
“Oh, he wasn’t, was he Lettice darling?” Minnie laughs, making her diamond chandelier earrings jostle and sparkle in the light of the candelabra in the middle of the dining table.
“How perfectly droll!” Charles remarks from his seat beside his wife, accepting the gravy boat proffered to him by Lettice who is sitting opposite him.
“He told me how he couldn’t be prouder of me.” Lettice goes on.
“Well, that’s a turn up for the books, isn’t it!” Minnie exclaims, clapping her white evening glove clad hands.
“Oh, I think Pater has always believed in my abilities, deep down inside.”
“Well he’s always been supportive of your aunt’s artistic pursuits,” Gerald adds as he slices the pieces of beef on his plate. “Hasn’t he Lettice?”
“He has, Gerald. And besides, I am his favourite.”
“Even if you do say so yourself,” Gerald chortles before popping a morsel of meat into his mouth and sighing with delight.
“Will that be all, Madam?” Sobhan asks her mistress politely as there is a break in the conversation.
Minnie looks across the black japanned surface of her dining table at her white gilt dinner plates stacked with steaming slices of beef, chunks of golden potato and pumpkin, steamed cauliflower and shiny green peas. “I think so Siobhan. Thank you. We’ll ring if we need anything further.”
“Very good, Madam.” The maid retreats through the door to the left of the fireplace.
“Well, I must say that Minnie and I are as pleased as punch to have a room decorated by a woman written up in Country Life.” Charles says proudly.
“Do you really like it, Charles?” Lettice asks with a sparkle in her eyes.
“Oh yes I do. It’s smashing! Really it is. You’ve dragged it from the Nineteenth Century into now in a very striking, elegant and fashionable way.”
“What a lovely compliment, Charles.” Lettice says, blushing.
“Unlike your wife’s valiant attempts.” Minnie grumbles, dabbing the corner of her mouth with her napkin. “Which only made this room appear like a Maida Vale***** dining room.”
“I’ll never live that slur down, will I my poppet, even if it is true?”
“Never my love.” Minnie smiles back. “However, I have to agree with you. You had the vision Lettice. I could never have done this, and you prevented me from changing or swaying your vision, and I’m so very glad that you did.”
“Yes, at least my paintings don’t get lost against the papering on the walls,” remarks Charles. “And the whole scheme makes the room look bigger, less cluttered and more classical.”
“You’re a wonder, Lettice darling!” Minnie enthuses. “No question!”
“The fact that our dining room has been redecorated by one of the most fashionable society interior designers will certainly give us something interesting to talk about whenever we throw a dinner party.” Charles continues, addressing Lettice.
“And it will finally give me a topic to brighten the dinner table with,” Minnie adds brightly. “At least for a while. Which is so much more palatable than all that dull talk of your boring bankers and their equally tedious wives.”
“Those boring bankers, as you call them,” Charles addresses his wife. “Are my work colleagues and friends, my poppet.”
“Well I can’t help it if you have simply the most boring and tiresome friends in the whole of London,” Minnie replies with a pretty shrug of her shoulders. “Now can I, Charles darling?” She turns to Lettice. “Boring banking, stocks and shares.”
“That boring banking I do, and those stocks and shares help pay for all this, Minnie.” Charles counters, waving his knife around the newly appointed room. “And keeps you comfortably in stockings and fans.”
“He has a point, Minnie darling.” Lettice concedes.
“Well, at least they get used for something useful and interesting.” Minnie then faces ahead of her to Gerald. “It is simply too dreary for words.”
“Oh Minnie!” Gerald laughs. “You really are quite something. I’m amazed she can keep a civil tongue in her head when she is surrounded by your friends, Charles.”
“I have to threaten her with divorce.” Charles jokes as he takes a piece of roast potato and pops it in his mouth, smiling cheekily at his wife as he chews.
“Oh Charles!” Minnie gasps. “You are simply too beastly for words. Anyway, enough about your boring friends! No one wants to hear about them! What about your mother, Lettice? Was she as thrilled as your father was about the Country Life editorial?”
“You’ve never met Sadie before.” remarks Gerald sagely as he rolls his eyes. “She is seldom thrilled by anything.”
“Oh surely not, Gerald darling! She would have to be pleased that her youngest daughter is being haled a success.” Minnie retorts.
“Your idea of success and Sadie’s are quite different, Minnie darling.” Gerald replies.
Minnie turns to her friend with questioning eyes shimmering with concern, her lower lip hanging open slightly in anticipation as she waits for her to speak.
“Well, she conceded that if I must be written about, at least it was in a periodical that is respectable.” Lettice explains a little deflatedly.
“No!” Minnie gasps.
“I’m quite sure Sadie will be entertaining all the great and good of the county, lording the story over each and every one of them.” Gerald adds.
“Not that she will tell me.”
“Perhaps not.” Gerald counters. “But I’m sure Bella or Leslie will.”
“That’s terrible!” Minnie exclaims. “How can your own mother not be proud of you, Lettice darling?”
“Oh, dare say in her heart of hearts she may be a little pleased.”
“But she’ll never admit it.” adds Gerald.
“Especially to me.”
“And the Viscount is far too loyal to his wife to give the game away.”
“So what did she say, besides that she was satisfied that at least you’d been written about in an appropriate periodical?” Charles asks.
“Not much else,” Lettice answers. “Other than to remind me that whilst this little foray into interior design may have reaped me a small snippet of momentary notoriety, I should not forget my true duty to my family and society.”
“And what’s that then?” Minnie asks.
“To get married of course.” Gerald elucidates for his friend. “Sadie doesn’t think anything should come between Lettice and a good marriage prospect.”
“I was hoping that with Elizabeth*** marrying the Duke of York that it might deflect Mater from her determination to advance my marriage prospects, but it seems to have done quite the opposite, and all she wanted to do when I was down in Wiltshire visiting them, was to discuss my budding relationship with Selwyn.”
“And how is the budding relationship with the future Duke of Walmsford?” Minnie asks, her green eyes widening at even the smallest amount of gossip.
“You are incorrigible, Minnie!” Lettice exclaims. “You’d be the last person I’d confide in about the state of my love life.”
“Oh don’t be such a spoil sport!” Minnie bounces up and down in her high backed red and gold Art Deco black japanned dining chair. “I’m sure you held out on me about Elizabeth marrying the Duke of York when I asked you whether she was going to marry the Prince of Wales.”
Lettice does not reply, instead concentrating on cutting a slice of beef on her plate.
“Maybe she did, my poppet,” Charles remarks. “Because what Lettice says is true. I love you dearly, but there is no denying you are a frightful gossip.”
“Charles!” Minnie looks wounded, but then gives the game away as she smiles guilty at her husband. “You are a beast, Charles Palmerston! Goodness knows why I married you?”
“It obviously wasn’t for all my boring and tedious friends,” Charles chortled good-naturedly. “So it must be for my good looks and charming manners.” He takes her right hand in his left one and raises it to his lips and kisses it tenderly.
“Oh you!” Minnie blusters, flushing pink at his gesture before flapping at him with her napkin. Turning back to Lettice she says, “You can’t hold out on me about your relationship with Selwyn, Lettice darling! Not with me, one of your dearest friends!” She presses her elegantly manicured fingers to her chest over her heart overdramatically. “Tell me something: any little titbit to make me happy!” She pouts. “Please!”
“You know she’ll wear you down if you don’t, Lettice darling.” Charles sighs. “She’ll be at you all night, like a kitten with a catnip mouse.”
“Oh very well, Minnie.” Lettice acquiesces. “Although I must confess there isn’t much to tell.”
“Do I sense a dwindling in the ardour you have for Selwyn?” Minnie asks, genuinely concerned for her friend, but equally driven by the intrigue of gossip about her.
“Not exactly.” Lettice says a little awkwardly. “I had dinner with Selwyn at Simpson’s**** the other week.” She pauses, unsure what to disclose or even how to say it. “And we had…”
“An argument?” Minnie prompts.
“Not an argument exactly. More of a disagreement.”
“Over what, Lettice darling?”
“Over his mother.”
Sitting next to her, Gerald remains silent and focuses on cutting a potato into quarters.
“His mother?” Minnie queries. “The Duchess of Walmsford doesn’t approve of you, Lettice darling?”
“She can hardly disapprove of me if she hasn’t even met me yet. That’s what we had our disagreement over.”
Gerald continues to focus on cutting up the food on his plate.
“I want to meet her. I think I should meet her, now that Selwyn and I are more serious about pursuing our relationship. Yet he seems to show a strange reluctance to introducing the two of us, and it’s gnawing at me.”
“You’ve only really known one another for a short while, Lettice darling.” Charles reflects.
“You sound just like him, Charles. We’ve known each other over a year now.”
“But how often have you seen one another over that time, between his busy schedule and yours? Maybe a dozen times or so.” When Lettice nods, Charles continues. “Well then, it’s still early days yet. Why roil the calm waters of your budding relationship with the irritation of relations?”
“That was his argument, Charles.”
“Well, it seems perfectly reasonable to me.” Charles concludes. “Don’t you think so, Gerald?”
“Me?” Gerald asks, raising his head from his plate.
“Don’t you agree, Gerald?” Charles asks again.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening.” he lies. “What am I agreeing to, Charles?”
“Oh it doesn’t matter, old bean.” Charles answers dismissively.
“Are you alright, Gerald?” Minnie asks from opposite him. “You’ve gone pale all of a sudden. Don’t tell me you don’t like the roast beef?”
“What?” Gerald looks down into his plate again. “Oh no, no, Minnie. The meal is delicious. Positively scrumptious.” he assures her. He is relieved when he sees the defensive look in Minnie’s green eyes dissipate. He continues, “No, I’m just a bit preoccupied with orders for frocks for the Royal Wedding. Lettice’s isn’t the only outfit I am making for the occasion.”
“So business is looking up for you too, old bean?” Charles pipes up. “Jolly good!”
Gerald sighs with relief as his ploy to steer the conversation away from Lettice’s and Selwyn’s relationship succeeds. Yet as he talks animatedly about the frocks he is making for other society ladies attending the royal wedding, his eyes and this thoughts drift to his best friend.
Although she is smiling and as animated as he is on the outside, Gerald worries that behind the gaiety of her recent success, Lettice is worried about her relationship with Selwyn. Gerald has tried in an oblique way to warn Lettice not to look solely to Selwyn for romance, so as not to be accused of interfering in her private affairs. Even as her best friend, Gerald knows there are only so many lines that he can cross before he is deemed as meddling where he shouldn’t and risks his friendship with her. Hearing Lettice talk about Selwyn’s mother, he worries that the reason Selwyn is reluctant to introduce her to his mother, the Duchess, is because she has plans for her son’s marriage that don’t include Lettice. Whilst he predicted this, and even voiced his opinion to Lettice’s mother, it was ill received by her. Gerald knows it will be even less warmly welcomed by Lettice if it comes from him, when in fact it should come from Selwyn. Yet he worries whether he is doing the right thing or not by not saying anything. He doesn’t want to lose the close relationship wit his best friend, yet at the same time he wonders whether it would be better to risk it to save her heart. Would she forgive him in the long run and come to understand that any pain he inflicted was offset by the pain she was spared had she not known Gerald’s feelings.
*Henry Tipping (1855 – 1933) was a French-born British writer on country houses and gardens, garden designer in his own right, and Architectural Editor of the British periodical Country Life for seventeen years between 1907 and 1910 and 1916 and 1933. After his appointment to that position in 1907, he became recognised as one of the leading authorities on the history, architecture, furnishings and gardens of country houses in Britain. In 1927, he became a member of the first committee of the Gardens of England and Wales Scheme, later known as the National Gardens Scheme.
**Country Life is a British weekly perfect-bound glossy magazine that is a quintessential English magazine founded in 1897, providing readers with a weekly dose of architecture, gardens and interiors. It was based in London at 110 Southwark Street until March 2016, when it became based in Farnborough, Hampshire. The frontispiece of each issue usually features a portrait photograph of a young woman of society, or, on occasion, a man of society.
***Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, as she was known at the beginning of 1923 when this story is set, went on to become Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions from 1936 to 1952 as the wife of King George VI. Whilst still Duke of York, Prince Albert initially proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, but she turned him down, being "afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to". He proposed again in 1922 after Elizabeth was part of his sister, Mary the Princess Royal’s, wedding party, but she refused him again. On Saturday, January 13th, 1923, Prince Albert went for a walk with Elizabeth at the Bowes-Lyon home at St Paul’s, Walden Bury and proposed for a third and final time. This time she said yes. The wedding took place on April 26, 1923 at Westminster Abbey.
*****After a modest start in 1828 as a smoking room and soon afterwards as a coffee house, Simpson's-in-the-Strand achieved a dual fame, around 1850, for its traditional English food, particularly roast meats, and also as the most important venue in Britain for chess in the Nineteenth Century. Chess ceased to be a feature after Simpson's was bought by the Savoy Hotel group of companies at the end of the Nineteenth Century, but as a purveyor of traditional English food, Simpson's has remained a celebrated dining venue throughout the Twentieth Century and into the Twenty-First Century. P.G. Wodehouse called it "a restful temple of food"
This 1920s Art Deco dining room with its table set for fur may look real to you, but it is in fact made up of 1:12 miniatures from my own miniatures collection, including some pieces from my childhood.
Fun things to look for in this tableau include:
The dining table is correctly set for a four course Edwardian dinner partially ended, with the first course already concluded using cutlery, from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering in the United Kingdom. The delicious looking roast dinner on the dinner plates and on the console in the background have been made in England by hand from clay by former chef turned miniature artisan, Frances Knight. Her work is incredibly detailed and realistic, and she says that she draws her inspiration from her years as a chef and her imagination. All the wine and water glasses I have had since I was a teenager. I bought them from a high street stockist that specialised in dolls’ houses and doll house miniatures. Each glass is hand blown using real glass. The water carafe and the wine carafe on the console in the background were bought at the same time. The white porcelain salt and pepper shakers have been gilded by hand and also came from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering in the United Kingdom. The three prong Art Deco style candelabra in the console is an artisan piece made of sterling silver. Although unsigned, the piece was made in England by an unknown artist.
The black japanned high backed chairs with their stylised Art Deco fabric upholstery came from a seller on E-Bay. The black japanned dining table and console in the background were made by Town Hall Miniatures. The tall stands that flank the fireplace were made by the high-end miniature furniture maker, Bespaq. The vases of flowers on the stands are beautifully made by hand by the Doll House Emporium.
The Streamline Moderne pottery tile fireplace surround and the Art Deco green electric fireplace I acquired from Kathleen Knight’s Dollhouse Shop in the United Kingdom. On the mantle of the fireplace stands a miniature artisan hand painted Art Deco statue on a “marble” plinth. Made by Warwick Miniatures in Ireland, who are well known for the quality of the detail in their pieces, it is a 1:12 copy of the “Theban Dancer” sculpture created by Claire-Jeanne-Roberte Colinet in 1925. The tall statues standing at either end of the console table are also made by Warwick Miniatures and were hand painted by me.
The paintings around the room are 1:12 artisan pieces made by Amber’s Miniatures in the United States.
The stylised metallic red dioxide floral wallpaper was paper given to me by a friend who encouraged me to use it in my miniature tableaux.
Deco additions to a non-deco building. A common practice. "Streamline Moderne" is suggested here.
Main Street, Norwich, Connecticut - USA
Although all the rooms of the Rone - Empire installation exhibition are amazing for many different reasons, there are two major standouts. The Dining Room is one. As a well proportioned and elegant space, it runs over half of the original Burnham Beeches floor plan. It features two long tables covered in a Miss Havisham like feast of a trove of found dinner table objects from silverware and glassware to empty oyster shells and vases of grasses and feathers.
The Dining Room installation I personally found especially confronting. In 1982, I visited Burnham Beeches when it was a smart and select hotel and had Devonshire tea in the dining room at a table alongside the full length windows overlooking the terraces below. I was shocked to see a room I remember appointed with thick carpets and tables covered in gleaming silver and white napery, strewn with dust and leaves, and adorned with Miss Havisham's feast of found dining objects.
Melbourne based street artist Rone (Tyrone Wright) used the decaying glory of the 1933 Harry Norris designed Streamline Moderne mansion, Burnham Beeches in the Dandenong Ranges' Sherbrooke, between March the 6th and April 22nd to create an immersive hybrid art space for his latest installation exhibition; "Empire".
"Empire" combined a mixture of many different elements including art, sound, light, scent, found objects, botanic designs, objects from nature and music especially composed for the project by Nick Batterham. The Burnham Beeches project re-imagines and re-interprets the spirit of one of Victoria’s landmark mansions, seldom seen by the public and not accessed since the mid 1980s. According to Rone - Empire website; "viewers are invited to consider what remains - the unseen cultural, social, artistic and spiritual heritage which produces intangible meaning."
Rone was invited by the current owner of Burnham Beeches, restaurateur Shannon Bennett, to exhibit "Empire" during a six week interim period before renovations commence to convert the heritage listed mansion into a select six star hotel.
Rone initially imagined the mansion to be in a state of dereliction, but found instead that it was a stripped back blank canvas for him to create his own version of how he thought it should look. Therefore, almost all the decay is in fact of Rone's creation from grasses in the Games Room which 'grow' next to a rotting billiards table, to the damp patches, water staining and smoke damage on the ceilings. Nests of leaves fill some spaces, whilst tree branches and in one case an entire avenue of boughs sprout from walls and ceilings. Especially designed Art Deco wallpaper created in Rone's studio has been installed on the walls before being distressed and damaged. The rooms have been adorned with furnishings and objects that might once have graced the twelve original rooms of Burnham Beeches: bulbulous club sofas, half round Art Deco tables, tarnished silverware and their canteen, mirrored smoke stands of chrome and Bakelite, glass lamps, English dinner services, a glass drinks trolley, photos of people long forgotten in time, walnut veneer dressing tables reflecting the installation sometimes in triplicate, old wire beadsteads, luggage, shelves of books, an Underwood typewriter, a John Broadwood and Sons of London grand piano and even a Kriesler radiogramme. All these objects were then covered in a thick sheet or light sprinkling of 'dust' made of many different things including coffee grinds and talcum powder, creating a sensation for the senses. Burnham Beeches resonated with a ghostly sense of its former grandeur, with a whiff of bittersweet romance.
Throughout the twelve rooms, magnificent and beautifully haunting floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall portraits of Australian actress Lily Sullivan, star of the Foxtel re-make of Picnic at Hanging Rock, appear. Larger than life, each portrait is created in different colours, helping to create seasonal shifts as you move from room to room.
Although all the rooms are amazing for many different reasons, there are two major standouts. The Dining Room is one. The Study is the other. It features walls of books covered with a portrait of Lily Sullivan, and the entire room is partially submerged in a lake of black water with the occasional red oak leaf floating across its glassy surface.
I feel very honoured and privileged to be amongst the far too few people fortunate enough to have seen Rone's "Empire", as like the seasons, it is ephemeral, and it will already have been dismantled. Rone's idea is that, like his street art, things he creates don't last forever, and that made the project exciting. I hope that my photographs do justice to, and adequately share as much as is possible of this amazing installation with you.
The Dixie Crystal Theatre (also known as the Clewiston Theater) is a historic site in Clewiston, Florida. It is located at 100 East Sugarland Highway. In 1998, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
It is a flat-roofed one-story masonry movie theater, built in a simplified Moderne style in 1941. It is 45 by 93 feet (14 m × 28 m) in plan.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Crystal_Theatre
*******************************************************************************
Early Florida history indicates that the Clewiston area was first used as a campsite by the Indians as they fished the bass-laden waters of Lake Okeechobee. Centuries later, fishing was to become the first recorded enterprise in the area; the sandy beach and natural inlet of Sand Point, now the site of the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers regional office, served as a base of operations for scores of professional fishermen as late as the 1920's.
The Clewiston area also attracted its share of early adventurers and pioneer farmers, most notably a temporary settlement of Japanese farmers who began to grow beautiful vegetables in the fertile lakeside soil about 1915.
The first permanent development was undertaken in 1920 by Philadelphia investors John and Marion O'Brien and Tampa banker Alonzo Clewis, who purchased a substantial tract of land surrounding the picturesque lakeshore and set about to establish a town. The O'Briens and Clewis soon had a railroad line, the "M. H., and C.", built to connect Clewiston with the Atlantic Coast Line terminus at Moore Haven.
They then commissioned the well-known town planner, John Nolen of Boston, to create a plan for the city, and hired the firm of Elliott and Harmon of Peoria and Memphis to survey, map out and direct construction of the streets and canals.
Many of the early group remained to become permanent residents, founding schools and churches, opening stores, and establishing other needed business and professional services.
Within a few years, the rich muck lands around Clewiston attracted a group of Midwesterners interested in emulating the successful cultivation of sugar cane already undertaken on the lake's eastern shore by F. Edward Bryant.
Extensive sugar cane plantations were laid out and the first crops were so rich and abundant it was easy even then to envision Clewiston's future as a sugar center.
Following two disastrous storms in 1926 and 1928, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers carried out a federal project to help control the waters of Lake Okeechobee, thereby creating, even more, land suitable for cultivation and putting Clewiston well on the road to achieving its status as the heart of the United States sugar bowl.
During the 1930's, Clewiston's population continued to grow and the town's commercial and social activities gradually became more diversified. During the 1940's, at the onset of World War II, British Flying Training School Number Five was established at nearby Riddle Field. Here young pilots trained for the Royal Air Force. Many of these cadets formed lasting friendships with the people of Clewiston and they and their families return to their Southern "Yank" friends.
By the 1950's and 1960's, citrus, winter vegetables, and cattle had become important to the economic growth of the area. In recent years, due to freezes in north Florida, more acreage is being planted in citrus. Hendry County has more citrus trees than any county in Florida.
Clewiston's largest industry, however, was and is, sugar, and the town has become known as "America's Sweetest Town," thanks to the activities of the United States Sugar Corporation.
Clewiston's location on U.S. 27 places it at an important crossroads of both local and south Florida traffic and the seasonal influx of tourists from colder climates--many of whom have chosen to make this pleasant little town their year-round home. The city population is about 6,500 with a zip code population of 19,000.
Lake Okeechobee still abounds in huge bass and vast numbers of other fish. And, in continuing its Indian heritage, Clewiston has become a nationally renowned sports fishing center with tourist accommodations available all year.
Clewiston's temperate climate and tranquil palm-filled vistas make it a town for all seasons.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clewiston_Museum
Time for a rest.
An Octan driver stops roadside for a well deserved rest!
The design is influenced by 1950's streamlined trucks and other vehicles.
Cheers.
Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.
Today however, we have headed north-west from Cavendish Mews, across Marylebone, past Regent’s Park, the London Zoo and Lords Cricket Ground to the affluent and leafy residential streets of nearby St. John’s Wood. It is here that Lettice’s Embassy Club coterie friends Minnie Palmerston and her husband Charles reside in a neatly painted two storey early Victorian townhouse on Acacia Road that formerly belonged to Charles Palmerston’s maternal grandparents, Lord and Lady Arundel. Lettice has been commissioned to redecorate their dining room, after Minnie decided to have a go at it herself with disastrous results.
The day is bright and sunny as the weather starts to turn to warmer weather, and the street is quiet with only the footsteps of perambulating neighbours enjoying the good weather and occasional bark of a dog, which blend with the distant rumble of traffic from busy Finchley Road in the distance as Lettice strides across the road and walks up the eight steps that lead up to Minnie’s black painted front door. She depresses the doorbell which echoes through the long hallway inside and waits. Moments later, there is the sound of unhurried footsteps in the hallway that echo with authority as they approach.
The door is opened by a tall middle-aged woman wearing the blue and white striped print dress that is the morning uniform of many women in service around the upper-class houses of London. She wears a crisp white apron over the high buttoned frock, and her pale and slightly bony face framed by dark wavy hair appears from beneath a stiffly starched and goffered morning maid’s cap.
“Good morning, Madam.” the maid says in an Irish brogue, her face changing dramatically as she smiles down at Lettice.
Given the unfortunate nickname ‘Monstrous Minnie’ by Lettice’s old childhood chum Gerald, also a member of the aristocracy and of her Embassy Club coterie, Minnie has the propensity to have fits of histrionics, often ending in her yelling, crying, or both. Such outbursts, often directed towards her maids for the smallest infraction or irritation, make Minnie a far from attractive employer, in spite of the higher-than-average wages that she pays. Since she and Charles moved in to St John’s Wood around twelve months ago, she has been through nine maids within the first seven of those. Lettice is pleased to see Siobhan still answering the front door after five months, and still smiling.
“Good morning Siobhan.” Lettice answers with a sigh of relief, releasing the breath she has been holding ever since she climbed the stairs to the townhouse. Lettice is never quite sure what she will be faced with, or whom, when she visits the Palmerstons. “How are you?”
“Oh, one mustn’t grumble, Madam. Won’t you come in?”
“Thank you.” Lettice says as she steps over the threshold and into the townhouse’s vestibule. “Is your mistress at home?”
“Yes,” Siobhan says with a certain weariness and resignation as she helps Lettice out of her fox fur stole and her favourite powder blue coat and hangs the up on the heavy Victorian coatrack.
“That doesn’t sound promising, Siobhan.” Lettice says cautiously.
Minnie hired Siobhan because she thought that as she was Irish, she would be used to high spirits and histrionics, and from all that Lettice has gathered from her friend since the new maid started, it seems she was right. Siobhan has taken no offence to any outburst from her mistress, and to her credit, has even pulled her mistress into line a few times, which only a woman sure of herself and her beliefs could do without risking dismissal and a poor reference.
“Oh no. She’s fine, Madam.” the Irish maid elucidates with a sigh. “But she’s been like a naughty child around a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve ever since your men arrived two days ago with the new dining room furnishings.”
“Oh.” Lettice mutters, trying to remain serious at the maid’s complaint, but unable to hide the smile of mirth that turns up the corner of her mouth.
“I can’t keep her out of there for love nor money, Madam.”
At that moment their conversation is interrupted by an excited scream.
“Lettice! Lettice darling! Is that you?” echoes Minnie’s voice loudly from upstairs.
“See what I mean.” Siobhan mutters.
With a thump of excited footsteps, Minnie appears on the landing wrapped in a blue jacquard kimono of polychromatic silk with an embroidered collar and cuffs. Taking in her friend’s appearance, Lettice presumes she is halfway through getting dressed for an outing, for she has a soft green frock on beneath the robe, which hangs open, but her feet are still clad in vibrant pink satin mules with marabou feather trim.
“I knew it was you!” Minnie exclaims and she hurtles down the stairs with thudding footsteps and the next moment Lettice is enveloped in an embrace of blue, red and green satin which smells faintly of a mixture of Habinita* and cigarettes. Looking up into her excited face, Lettice can see that Minnie’s eye makeup is only half done. “How are you, Lettice darling?”
Lettice feels Minnie’s whispery kiss on her cheek as she is released from her friend’s enthusiastic embrace. “I’m very well thank you, Minnie darling. And you seem very excited.”
“Oh I am, darling! I am positively in raptures over the things that have been arriving with your men to redecorate my dining room with.”
“Told you.” mutters Siobhan with a knowing look to Lettice.
As if by her speaking, Minnie suddenly becomes aware of her maid’s presence, she says, “Haven’t you got some dusting or airing to do, Siobhan?”
“Yes, Madam.” The Irish maid replies with her eyebrows arching over her dark brown glittering eyes, before bobbing a curtsey and walking off down the hallway towards the rear of the house.
“She seems to be fitting in well.” Lettice nods after the retreating back of the domestic, smiling cheekily.
“Oh yes!” Minnie sighs. “Although she has more backbone than the maids I’m used to. Still, I have to confess that if she’s willing to put up with me, I should be able to tolerate her backbone.” She follows Lettice’s gaze.
The pair watch the maid disappear through a door at the far end of the corridor.
“Come on then!” Minnie slaps Lettice on the back before quickly winding her right arm around Lettice’s shoulder, placing her left hand on her collarbone and guiding her through the maze of overstuffed cream satin settees, nests of occasional tables and potted palms of the Edwardian drawing room and towards the dining room door. “Now, the servants are at your disposal for the day whilst you are here. Cook will serve luncheon when you want in the breakfast room. Just be a dear and tell her when you want to eat by sending a message to her via Siobhan.” Minnie flings open the door to the dining room dramatically and gasps. “Here we are then!”
The dining room is completely transformed. Gone is the old fashioned and rather staid Edwardian furnishings of Lady Arundel’s time, and perhaps more importantly, gone is the busy and bold wallpaper of red poppies against a black background with green and white geometric patterns that Minnie had had hung which had completely dominated the room. In its place, a luxurious metallic red dioxide paper embossed with flowers and leaves from Jeffrey and Company** hangs, giving the room a richness and intimacy. More importantly it doesn’t overpower the modernist paintings chosen by Charles to hang in the dining room, which sit unceremoniously placed on the fireplace mantle and on a black japanned console where Lettice’s men placed them. Two tall modern stands, the only two pieces, besides the paintings, from the room’s previous decoration, stand to one side of the tiled Art Deco gas fireplace. The rest of the room is populated with a jumble of sleek and stylish black japanned modern furnishings and lidded wooden crates of decorative items. The chairs set to go in the dining room are high backed to go with the proportions of the room, which has a high ceiling. They have been upholstered in a bold geometric pattern of red and gold, which compliments their black frames and the stylised wallpaper.
“You know,” Minnie says, releasing Lettice and stepping alongside the wall where she runs her hands over the lightly embossed pattern in the wall hangings. “I really wasn’t convinced by your choice of red dioxide, Lettice darling, even after we’d been to the Portland Gallery.” She caresses a large flower and several leaves lovingly. “I really did want gold. But now that I’ve seen it hung, I realise you were exactly right.” She looks at Lettice who sighs with satisfaction in response to Minnie’s admission. “Of course you were right, darling! Gold in here would have overpowered the paintings and the furnishings.”
“I did tell you, Minnie.” Lettice replies as she looks around the room.
“At least I did listen to you.” Minnie defends.
“It felt a bit more like coercion.”
“Well, you were right in the end Lettice. I just love this paper! It gives the room a cosy warmth, yet grandeur at the same time.”
“And it doesn’t feel like something out of Maida Vale***?” Lettice asks, referencing Minnie’s husband, Charles’, observation after she had it hung, that Minnie’s choice of bold wallpaper with its red poppies against a black background with green and white geometric patterns made the room feel like something from a gauche middle-class villa.
“Oh absolutely not, Lettice darling!” Minnie assures her friend. “Charles says it’s wonderful, and he will be more than happy to entertain in here.” Minnie looks around at the furniture, crates and artworks with a cursory glance. “Although I do think all this beauty will be wasted on those boring partners from the bank and their equally boring wives. All they care about is money, money, money,” She places a hand dramatically to her forehead and looks direly at Lettice. “Which leaves no breathing space for the art and beauty that feeds sensitive souls like you and I, Lettice darling.”
Lettice cannot help but giggle at her friend’s dramatic pose, covering her mouth with her hands as she does. “Oh Minnie!”
“Oh Minnie is right!” Charles’ pale and youthful face, clean shaven and topped with strawberry blonde hair pokes through the doorway leading from the hallway. He looks remarkably younger than his twenty eight years, appearing more like a boy of sixteen, with facial hair so pale that it is barely discernible against his peaches and cream skin. Stepping into the room he marches the few steps over to his wife and swipes her hand away from the wall. “I told you,” he scolds, not unkindly, but still with a little irritation. “Stop touching the wallpaper, or you’ll mark it.” He turns to Lettice. “Hullo Lettice darling.”
“Hullo Charles, darling!” Lettice replies, accepting an affectionate whispery kiss from her friend. “How are you?”
“All the better for seeing you and knowing that we’ll have a fully functional dining room by the end of the day. She,” He emphasises as he indicates with a flick of his thin eyebrows and a roll of his glittering blue eyes to his wife. “Has been like a jack-in-the box ever since your men came to deliver the furnishings. Every time I can’t find her where I expect her to be, I find her in here, toying.”
“So I heard from Siobhan,” Lettice remarks. “And so I see!” she adds, noting for the first time that several of the crates have had their lids prised open: the statues purchased at the Portland Gallery on Bond Street a few weeks ago lying exposed in their beds of white tissue paper or freed from them as they perch on the edge of the wooden boxes they came in.
“That’s not fair, Charles!” Minnie protests. “I was not toying!” She folds her arms akimbo, the kimono sleeves cascading prettily about her elbows. “I was… I was… communing with my new statues. After all, we’ve paid for them, so why shouldn’t I?”
“I’ve paid for them.” Charles corrects, once again not unpleasantly as he looks lovingly at his wife.
“Oh Minnie!” Lettice exclaims with exasperation. “Really! You couldn’t leave them alone for a few days.”
“Oh she’s like a kitten with a catnip mouse.” Charles laughs. “This project is her new toy, and she spends every waking hour she can in here. I told her though, that we can’t get you to redecorate the drawing room for a few months yet.”
“I wasn’t aware I was going to.” Lettice replies with a little bit of alarm.
“Well, I hadn’t actually gotten around to asking you yet,” Minnie pouts, glaring at her husband. “Thank you, Charles.”
“Never mind.” Charles answers her. “Now,” he adds as he looks his wife up and down critically. “Is this really how you greet our guest: dressed in a wrapper and slippers, Minnie?”
“Lettice isn’t a guest, Charles. She’s our friend. And as such, she’s seen us both in a far worse state than this. Don’t you remember the night Priscilla dared us to go swimming in the St James’s Park duck pond after we’d been at the Embassy until three?”
Charles shudders at the memory of dragging he and his wife from the murky depths of the lake one early morning in May, both of them drunk, drenched and draped in pond weeds, his shoes squelching and both of them shivering as the exhilaration of doing something forbidden loses its lustre as the alcoholic fug and bravado that comes with being tight**** wears off. “That Priscilla is a menace. Thank god she’s in Philadelphia, wreaking her own brand of mayhem there instead. I’m sure Georgie had no idea who he was truly marrying!” He shudders again. “Anyway, it doesn’t signify. Shouldn’t you be getting back upstairs and finish getting ready? We need to go soon.”
“I did want to stay, Lettice darling.” Minnie glowers. “But Charles contrived a visit to his parents for luncheon, whom I might just add, happen to be nicely out of town and down in Surrey, so we’ll be gone all day.”
“I told you, Lettice doesn’t need you scrutinising the placement of every item as she unpacks it, Minnie. You’ll be far more help to Lettice by keeping out of her way and coming with me for luncheon.” He looks beseechingly to Lettice to support his statement.
“It is true,” Lettice admits, speaking with a consoling tone. “That I prefer to work alone when I set up a room, Minnie darling. It will be easier if you come home and see my vision complete, and then you can see what it’s like and we can make any adjustments you want.”
“See, my poppet.” Charles goes up to his wife and drapes his arm around her and pulls her into his chest. “It really will be better if you’re in Surrey for the day. Besides, Mummy and Daddy are so looing forward to seeing you.”
“Oh!” Minnie concedes, her eyes cast to the dining room ceiling, blinking hard so as not to cry and make the makeup around her left eye not run. “I suppose you’re right. Although,” she adds. “I do think you are both beastly for ganging up on me and forcing me out of my own home.”
“Ahh-ahh!” Charles says, running his right hand lovingly over her right forearm. “No histrionics now, my sweet. You know this is best for everyone. Now, go on. Chop-chop! Go and finish getting ready, or we won’t get there in time for luncheon.”
Charles pushes he wife out the door that leads out into the hallway.
“Just ask Siobhan for anything you need, won’t you Lettice?”
“Of course,” Lettice assures him. “Oh, and thank you, Charles.” She casts her eye over Charles shoulder to where she last saw Minnie.
He winks and closes the door quietly behind him.
Lettice sighs and turns back to look at all the furnishings placed in a higgledy-piggledy way throughout the room. She walks up to two of the opened wooden crates stacked atop one another and grasps a statue of a woman in a dramatic pose with her back arched, one arm up and one arm down. She smiles and laughs quietly to herself as she cradles it in her hands. It seems apt to have chosen such a conspicuously posed statue for such a dramatic and vibrant personality as Minnie.
“See I told you,” Siobhan opens the third door of the dining room situated to the left of the fireplace which leads into what had been Lord Arundel’s smoking room. She nods and tuts knowingly. “Like a naughty child she is, dancing round the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, anxious for her presents!”
“Indeed,” Lettice muses, but choosing not to say anything more in deference to her friend.
“And what time should I tell Cook that Madam will be expecting luncheon?”
*Molinard Habanita was launched in 1921. Molinard say that Habanita was the first women’s fragrance to strongly feature vetiver as an ingredient – something hitherto reserved for men, commenting that ‘Habanita’s innovative style was eagerly embraced by the garçonnes – France’s flappers – and soon became Molinard’s runaway success and an icon in the history of French perfume.’ Originally conceived as a scent for cigarettes – inserted via glass rods or to sprinkle from a sachet – women had begun sprinkling themselves with it instead, and Molinard eventually released it as a personal fragrance.
**Jeffrey and Company was an English producer of fine wallpapers that operated between 1836 and the mid 1930s. Based at 64 Essex Road in London, the firm worked with a variety of designers who were active in the aesthetic and arts and crafts movements, such as E.W. Godwin, William Morris, and Walter Crane. Jeffrey and Company’s success is often credited to Metford Warner, who became the company’s chief proprietor in 1871. Under his direction the firm became one of the most lucrative and influential wallpaper manufacturers in Europe. The company clarified that wallpaper should not be reserved for use solely in mansions, but should be available for rooms in the homes of the emerging upper-middle class.
***Although today quite an affluent suburb of London, in 1922 when this scene is set, Maida Vale was more of an up-and-coming middle-class area owing to its proximity to the more up market St John’s Wood to its west. It has many late Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats. Charles’ remark that he felt like he was in a Maida Vale dining room was not meant to be taken as a compliment considering they live in St John’s Wood.
****To get tight is an old fashioned term used to describe getting drunk.
Fun things to look for in this tableau include:
On the lower of the two boxes is a miniature artisan hand painted Art Deco statue on a “marble” plinth. Made by Warwick Miniatures in Ireland, who are well known for the quality of the detail in their pieces, it is a 1:12 copy of the “Theban Dancer” sculpture created by Claire-Jeanne-Roberte Colinet in 1925. The tall statue standing on the edge of the upper box is also made by Warwick Miniatures and was hand painted by me.
The three wooden crates boxes came from The Doll’s House Suppliers in the United Kingdom. Edwardian times were the heyday of advertising, so it was not unusual to see popular household brands labels emblazoned on the side of buildings and even boxes.
The black japanned high backed chairs with their stylised Art Deco fabric upholstery came from a seller on E-Bay. The black japanned console was made by Town Hall Miniatures. The tall stand on which the ginger jar stands was made by the high-end miniature furniture maker, Bespaq.
The three prong Art Deco style candelabra in the console is an artisan piece made of sterling silver. Although unsigned, the piece was made in England by an unknown artist.
The paintings around the room are 1:12 artisan pieces made by Amber’s Miniatures in the United States.
The Streamline Moderne pottery tile fireplace surround and the Art Deco green electric fireplace I acquired from Kathleen Knight’s Dollhouse Shop in the United Kingdom.
The stylised metallic red dioxide floral wallpaper was paper given to me by a friend who encouraged me to use it in my miniature tableaux.
Flamingo Las Vegas (formerly The Fabulous Flamingo and Flamingo Hilton Las Vegas) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in (technically) Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The property includes a 72,299 square-foot casino along with 3,460 hotel rooms. The architectural theme is reminiscent of the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne style of Miami and South Beach. Staying true to its theme and name, the hotel includes a garden courtyard which serves as a wildlife habitat for flamingos. The hotel was the third resort to open on the Strip and remains the oldest resort on the Strip in operation today, and has held that title since 2007 when the closure and demolition of The New Frontier took place. It is also the last remaining casino on the strip that opened before 1950 that is still in operation. After opening in 1946, it has undergone a number of ownership changes.
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/
Sears is closing its northwest Houston, Texas, store at 4000 N. Shepherd Drive after 70 years of business at this location. It is not yet known what will become of the Streamline Moderne bus shelter with the fab Sears neon sign integrated into the top of it.
After this store closes, the Houston area will be left with only one Sears store, located approximately 21 miles away in the city of Pasadena.
More: medium.com/@mollyblock/historic-houston-store-to-close-af...
Railway station of 1935 built by Southern Railway in a Modern style, using reinforced concrete and red brick. Replaced an earlier station of 1863. Wood Street, Kingston upon Thames, London.
(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)
Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.
Today however, we have headed north-west from Cavendish Mews, across Marylebone, past Regent’s Park, the London Zoo and Lords Cricket Ground to the affluent and leafy residential streets of nearby St. John’s Wood. It is here that Lettice’s Embassy Club coterie friends Minnie Palmerston and her husband Charles reside in a neatly painted two storey early Victorian townhouse on Acacia Road that formerly belonged to Charles Palmerston’s maternal grandparents, Lord and Lady Arundel.
Having taken her future sister-in-law, Arabella Tyrwhitt, to her old childhood chum and best friend Gerald Bruton’s couturier in Grosvenor Street Soho for her initial wedding dress consultation, Lettice has left the two together to discuss designs whilst she visits Minnie in St John’s Wood. Minnie, a highly strung socialite, has redecorated her dining room in a style not to her husband’s taste, or so she was told by Minnie over a luncheon Lettice hosted for Arabella last week. Known for her melodrama, Lettice quietly ponders whether it really is as awful as Minnie implies as she pays the taxi driver the fare from Soho to St John’s Wood and alights the blue vehicle onto the street.
The day is bright and sunny, and the street is quiet with only the occasional bark of a dog and the distant rumble of traffic from busy Finchley Road in the distance as Lettice strides across the road and walks up the eight steps that lead up to Minnie’s black painted front door. She depresses the doorbell which echoes through the long hallway inside and waits. Moments later, there is the thud of Minnie’s hurried footsteps as she flings open the door dramatically.
“Lettice darling!” she cries, standing in the doorway in a beautiful may green day dress which compliments her red hair and green eyes, with cascades of green and black bugle beads tumbling down the front. “Come in! Come in!” she beckons her friend with enthusiastic waves which make the green, black and gold bangles on her wrist jangle noisily.
“Minnie.” Lettice leans in for a whispery kiss on the cheek as she steps across the threshold and follows Minnie’s indications and steps into a drawing room off the hallway, the room filled with diffused light from a large twelve pane window that looks out onto the street. Looking around her, she quickly takes in the overstuffed cream satin settees, nests of occasional tables, clusters of pictures in gilt frames in every conceivable space on the William Morris style papered walls and the potted parlour palms. “Oh yes,” she remarks as she removes her green gloves. “I do see what you mean. Very Edwardian.”
“Isn’t it ghastly, Lettice darling?” Minnie asks as she steps into the drawing room. “Here let me take your, umbrella, coat and hat.” She helps her friend shrug off her forest green coat and takes her rather artistic beret with its long tassel. “I think Lady Arundel could walk in here and not find a thing out of place!”
“It could be worse,” Lettice remarks, looking up at the crystal chandelier suspended from the ceiling high above. “It could be decorated in high Victorian style and lit with gasoliers*.”
“True darling.” Minnie calls from the hallway where she hangs up Lettice’s things on a heavy Victorian coatrack. “But you have yet to see my dining room faux pas.”
“Now Minnie, no matter what I say, I want no histrionics today like we had over luncheon last week,” Lettice chides her friend with a wagging finger. “Poor Bella didn’t know where to look.”
“Oh I am sorry.” Minnie apologises. “Coming from the country, she probably isn’t used to our London ways.”
“Your emotional outbursts have nothing whatsoever to do with London ways, so don’t go foisting it off.” Lettice replies, cocking one of her delicately plucked eyebrows at her friend.
“You sound just like Gladys.” Minnie says.
“Well, I hope I’m not as shrill sounding as her,” Lettice replies with a chuckle.
“And how is the beautiful bride-to-be?”
“Happily ensconced with Gerald in his Soho atelier, no doubt talking about all the finer details of the dream wedding frock I have already heard about from dear Bella.”
“She seems quite lovely, Lettice darling.”
“Oh, I adore Bella.” Lettice agrees with a wave of her hand. “Given we grew up running in and out of each other’s houses, living on neighbouring properties, it was inevitable that she would marry one of my brothers, or Lally or I marry one of Bella’s brothers. I’m just glad that it wasn’t the latter. All Bella’s brothers, whilst charming, take after their grandfather, and he was not a handsome man. Bella has her mother’s delicate and pretty genes and she and Leslie are well suited. They both love the country, and as you know from luncheon last week, Bella likes the county social round. As Pater says, Bella will one day make a wonderful chatelaine of Glynes**, supporting Leslie as a dutiful wife, hosting important county social functions like the Hunt Ball, opening fetes and awarding prizes at cattle shows.”
“How does Lady Sadie feel about her usurper?”
“Oh Mater loves Bella as much as we all do.” Lettice replies breezily. “Of course, Pater doesn’t dare express his appreciation quite so volubly in front of Mater, but I’m sure she is silently thinking the same thing, not that she would ever share that with any of us. No, the problem will be if Pater decides to pop his mortal clogs before she does. I don’t know how happy she will be to hand over the mantle of lady of the manor to her daughter-in-law, even if she does love her.”
“Well, let’s hope we don’t have to worry about that for a good while yet.” Minnie says soothingly.
“Indeed yes!” agrees Lettice. “Now, show me this dread dining room of yours, Minnie darling. I’m famished, and I’m intrigued to see just how much of a faux pas it really is.”
“Come right this way, interior decorator to all the great and good of this great country of ours,” Minnie says rather grandly as she walks towards a door that leads from the drawing room to the next room. Suddenly she pauses, clasping the brass doorknob in her hand and turns back to Lettice who has trailed behind her. “Prepare yourself my dear for l’horreur!” And she flings the door open.
Minnie and Lettice walk into the townhouse’s dining room, which like the adjoining drawing room has a high ceiling. Lettice is surprised that after the grandeur of the drawing room, it’s a much smaller room, perhaps more suited for intimate dining rather than a large banquet. She glances around and quickly takes in the mixture of old and new. An Edwardian dining setting in Queen Anne style fills the majority of the space, whilst a late Victorian sideboard and spare carver chairs press against the wall. To either side of the new Art Deco gas fireplace stand two modern stands on which sit rather old fashioned urns. Modernist paintings in bold colours hang on the walls, but Lettice can barely see them for the bold wallpaper of red poppies against a black background with green and white geometric patterns.
“Oh I see.” Lettice remarks, neither enthusiastically nor critically, but in a rather neutral way.
Lettice walks around the dining table on which stands a Georgian Revival tea set with steam snaking from the spot of the pot, a small carafe of water and glassware, crockery and cutlery for two at the head of the table. She stands before the Streamline Moderne fireplace surround and runs an elegant hand over one of the bold red blooms, feeling the slightly raised pattern. She sighs as she contemplates what she sees.
“Do you think it looks like something out of Maida Vale, Lettice darling?” Minnie asks hesitantly.
For a moment, Lettice doesn’t answer as she traces one of the green lines towards the gilt edge of a frame holding a painting of a tiger. “Tyger Tyger burning bright***,” she murmurs the beginning of the William Blake poem.
“Yes,” Minnie acknowledges her friend with a sigh of pleasure. “He’s rather glorious, isn’t he?”
“He is,” Lettice agrees. “However his gloriousness is diminished somewhat by the wallpaper which draws away attention from him, and the red fox.” She points to a larger canvas hanging over the sideboard.
“So you do think it’s middle-class Maida Vale then.” Minnie pronounces in a downhearted fashion.
“No, I don’t.” Lettice clarifies, turning around and placing a comforting hand on the slumped left shoulder of her friend. “And I think it was very unkind of Charles to say so. The wallpaper is beautiful, Minnie. It just doesn’t suit this room.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, this is quite an intimate room: taller with these high ceilings, rather than wide. This wallpaper would suit a longer room with low ceilings, where expanses of this pattern could be exposed uninterrupted.”
“Like a mansion flat?”
“Exactly, Minnie! I did something similar for the moving picture actress, Wanetta Ward last year. She had a long, exposed wall and the bold pattern I used worked beautifully. And this wallpaer does nothing to show off yours and Charles’ beautiful paintings. It detracts rather than enhances. The paintings and the wallpaper vie for attention. Think about the National Gallery, or the Tate Gallery****. When you see pictures hanging on the wall, what do you notice about the surrounding to the painting?”
Minnie thinks for a moment, screwing up her pert nose with its dusting of freckles. “Well, I can’t say I’ve ever actually noticed the walls, Lettice darling.”
“Correct again, Minnie. No-one thinks about the walls because you’re not meant to. Your focus is meant to be on the paintings.”
“So you think I should strip the walls and paint them? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Well, you could, Minnie.” Lettice replies. “Or you could paint the walls and decorate the upper edge with a nice frieze paper.”
“Then it really would look like Maida Vale.” Minnie argues. “Only people who can’t afford wallpaper get friezes hung.”
Lettice considers her friend’s remark for a moment. “Mmm… yes, you’re quite right Minnie. Well, Jeffrey and Company***** do stock a range of beautiful papers in vibrant colours with pattern embossed into them. They look very luxurious.”
“Oh!” Minnie clasps her hands in delight. “I do like the sound of that! What colour would suit this room do you think?”
“Oh I should imagine a nice warm red or orange to go with this.” Lettice taps the top of the tiled fireplace surround. “And that colour range would also compliment your polished floors.”
“And I could get black japanned furniture like you, Lettice darling! I do like your chairs.”
“Oh no.” Lettice shakes her head. “Black japanned furniture is fine, but not my chairs. They are far too low for this room. You need an equivalent high backed chair.” She reaches out and pats one of the dining chairs. “Lady Arundel chose these well as they echo the height of the room. Perhaps if you had something high backed padded with a complimentary fabric to the paper: say red or orange.”
“Oh Lettice you are so clever!” enthuses Minnie. “When can you start.”
“Don’t you want to ask Charles before you go spending his money on redecorating, Minnie?” Lettice laughs. “Surely he’ll want a say.”
“Oh Charles told me today when I reminded him that you were coming for luncheon before he left for the office, that he’ll happily pay for anything you recommend, or better yet your services. So you don’t need to worry on that account.”
“Well, I would have to finish Dickie and Margot’s.” Lettice tempers.
“Oh, of course.” Minnie agrees.
“Well, I don’t have another redecorating assignment after them, so let me contemplate it.”
“I’ll go and get luncheon whilst you contemplate.” Minnie exclaims with a clap of her hands before scuttling away through a second door to the left of the fireplace.
With her exuberant friend gone, Lettice looks around the dining room, contemplating what she has suggested, picturing what embossed wallpaper in a rich red or vibrant orange would look like as a backdrop for the paintings. “Pity.” she muses as she again runs her hands over the stylised poppies in the pattern on the wall. Turning around she looks across the room. “Sorry Lady Arundel,” she remarks, tapping the top of the nearest dining chair again. “But it looks like your granddaughter-in-law wants to modernise.
“I’m afraid it’s Cook’s afternoon off today,” Minnie says apologetically as she walks back through the door through which she went, carrying a tray of tomato, ham and cucumber sandwiches. “So we’ll have to settle for these.” Looking down at the plate of appetising sandwich triangles as she places them on the dining table’s surface she adds. “I do hope she remembered not to make tongue****** ones. She should remember that I can’t stand cold tongue.”
Lettice peers at the fillings of bright red tomato, vivid green cucumber, and pink ham. “I think we’ll be safe.”
“Well, there’s half a trifle left over for dessert just in case they aren’t nice.” Minnie adds hopefully.
Lettice is suddenly struck by something. “Minnie?” she asks. “Minnie, why are you carrying the tray? And come to think of it, why did you answer the door? Where is Gladys?”
Minnie blushes, her pale skin and smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose reddening. “She handed in her immediate notice the week before last.”
“Oh no! Not another one Minnie?”
“She said she couldn’t work for a woman who had such histrionics as I do, and she’s gone back to Manchester.”
“Oh Minnie!” Lettice shakes her head dolefully.
“See! I told you, you sounded like Gladys, Lettice. I’ve been getting by with the tweeny*******, but Cook grumbles, so I can’t keep pinching her. That’s why I’m so grateful you gave me that telephone number for that domestic employment agency in Westminster. I’ve a new maid starting next week. Her name’s Siobhan, so I figured that she can’t complain about my histrionics as she’d be used to them, being Irish.”
“Well, let’s hope so Minnie.” Lettice chuckles as she pulls out her dining chair and takes her seat. “I can’t keep up with the revolving door of maids that come in and out of this house. How long have you been here for now?”
“Seven months or thereabout.” Minnie replies vaguely as she takes her own seat in the chair at the head of the dining table.
“And how many maids have you had in that time?”
“Nine.” Minnie replies with a guilty gulp.
“No wonder Charles feels his club is better suited to entertain prospective business associates.” Lettice shakes her head disapprovingly. “A tweeny waiting table.”
“Well hopefully, with Siobhan starting next week, and you agreeing to redecorate my dining room faux pas,” She looks around the room with glittering, excited eyes, as she imagines the possibilities. “Charles will be happy to start entertaining here.” She pauses and thinks for a moment. “You will won’t you?”
“Will I what, Minnie?”
“You will redecorate my dining room, won’t you?”
Lettice reaches around Minnie’s teacup and squeezes her friend’s hand comfortingly. “Of course I will. I’ll come up with some ideas of what I think might suit this room and then I’ll show you and Charles. Charles has to have some input, even if he has told you that you that I have carte blanche when it comes to redecorating.”
*A gasolier is a chandelier with gas burners rather than light bulbs or candles.
**Glynes is the grand Georgian family seat of the Chetwynds in Wiltshire, and the home of Lettice’s parents, the presiding Viscount and Countess of Wrexham and the heir, their eldest son Leslie.
***”The Tyger” is a poem by English poet William Blake, published in 1794 as part of his “Songs of Experience” collection and rising to prominence in the romantic period of the mid Nineteenth Century. The poem explores and questions Christian religious paradigms prevalent in late 18th century and early 19th century England, discussing God's intention and motivation for creating both the tiger and the lamb. Tiger is written as Tyger in the poem as William Blake favoured old English spellings.
****In 1892 the site of a former prison, the Millbank Penitentiary, was chosen for the new National Gallery of British Art, which would be under the Directorship of the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square. The prison, used as the departure point for sending convicts to Australia, had been demolished in 1890. Sidney R.J. Smith was chosen as the architect for the new gallery. His design is the core building that we see today, a grand porticoed entranceway and central dome which resembles a temple. The statue of Britannia with a lion and a unicorn on top of the pediment at the Millbank entrance emphasised its function as a gallery of British art. The gallery opened its doors to the public in 1897, displaying 245 works in eight rooms from British artists dating back to 1790. In 1932, the gallery officially adopted the name Tate Gallery, by which it had popularly been known as since its opening. In 1937, the new Duveen Sculpture Galleries opened. Funded by Lord Duveen and designed by John Russell Pope, Romaine-Walker and Gilbert Jenkins, these two 300 feet long barrel-vaulted galleries were the first public galleries in England designed specifically for the display of sculpture. By this point, electric lighting had also been installed in all the rooms enabling the gallery to stay open until 5pm whatever the weather. In 1955, Tate Gallery became wholly independent from the National Gallery.
*****Jeffrey and Company was an English producer of fine wallpapers that operated between 1836 and the mid 1930s. Based at 64 Essex Road in London, the firm worked with a variety of designers who were active in the aesthetic and arts and crafts movements, such as E.W. Godwin, William Morris, and Walter Crane. Jeffrey and Cmpany’s success is often credited to Metford Warner, who became the company’s chief proprietor in 1871. Under his direction the firm became one of the most lucrative and influential wallpaper manufacturers in Europe. The company clarified that wallpaper should not be reserved for use solely in mansions, but should be available for rooms in the homes of the emerging upper-middle class.
******Beef tongue (also known as neat's tongue or ox tongue) is a cut of beef made of the tongue of a cow. It can be boiled, pickled, roasted or braised in sauce. It is found in many national cuisines, and is used for taco fillings in Mexico and for open-faced sandwiches in the United States.
*******A tweeny is a between maid, who works in the kitchen as well as above stairs, assisting at least two other members of a domestic staff.
This rather bright dining room is perhaps a little different to what you might think, for it is made up entirely of pieces from my 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures collection, some pieces from my own childhood.
Fun things to look for in this tableau include:
The Queen Anne dining table, chairs and sideboard were all given to me as birthday and Christmas presents when I was a child.
The three prong Art Deco style candelabra in the sideboard is an artisan piece made of sterling silver. Although unsigned, the piece was made in England by an unknown artist. The vase of flowers to the left of the candelabra is beautifully made by hand by the Doll House Emporium. The carafe to the right of the candelabra is another artisan piece made of hand spun glass. I acquired it as a teenager from a high street dollhouse stockist.
The ornately hand painted ginger jar is one of a pair and comes from Melody Jane Dollhouse Suppliers in Britain. The tall stand on which the ginger jar stands was made by the high-end miniature furniture maker, Bespaq.
The paintings on the walls are 1:12 artisan pieces made by Amber’s Miniatures in the United States. The stylised floral and geometric shape Art Deco wallpaper is a real Art Deco design which I have sourced and had printed in high quality onto A3 sheets of paper.
On the dining table the tray of sandwiches are made of polymer clay. Made in England by hand by former chef turned miniature artisan, Frances Knight they are very realistic with even the bread slices having a bread like consistency look. Her work is incredibly detailed and realistic, and she says that she draws her inspiration from her years as a chef and her imagination. The water carafe came from the same high street stockist as the carafe on the sideboard. The Art Deco dinner set is part of a much larger set I acquired from a dollhouse suppliers in Shanghai. The Georgian Revival silver tea set on its tray I acquired from Smallskale Miniatures in the United Kingdom.
The Streamline Moderne pottery tile fireplace surround I acquired from Kathleen Knight’s Dollhouse Shop in the United Kingdom.
Built in 1936. Architects Mendelsohn and Chermayeff. Large building in two sections with two-storeyed east wing and assembly hall to the west. Rendered walls with parapet to flat roof. East wing fully glazed on south side with cantilevered iron-railed balconies continued round the projecting bow at the junction of the assembly hall, which has largely plain elevations without windows. Rear has strip windows and continuous glazing to ground storey of hall. West end has two large staircase windows flanking higher centre. Large cantilevered bar window above central entrance on north side. Ground storey piers to south elevation now faced with ceramic tiles. Grade I listed.
In 1998, the De La Warr Pavilion Trust launched an appeal to replace the Pavilion's aging bandstand. Affectionately known to locals as The Bus Shelter, this 1970s brick bandstand was out of keeping with the modernist roots of the Pavilion and detracted from the view of the sea.
To this end, the Pavilion Trust launched an appeal aimed at raising the £75,000 necessary to design and construct the new bandstand. After an RIBA competitive interview process, the contract to design the bandstand was given to award-winning architect Niall McLaughlin.
The DLWP invited children from eight local primary schools to take part the in the planning and design of the bandstand. The bandstand's design evolved from concepts developed by the children, in collaboration with the architects and architecture students, during a series of workshops held at the Pavilion.
The Huntridge Theater was designed by S. Charles Lee in 1944 in the Streamline Moderne style. It is on the National Register of Historic Places #93000686.
One of its murals shows an Ameripride linen delivery truck, driving away from us forever.
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In downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 25th, 2009, the Excelsior Laundry Company Building, built in 1942 and later known as the American Linen Supply Building and the Ameripride Building, on the east side of 2nd Street Southwest, south of Roma Avenue Northwest.
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Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names terms:
• Albuquerque (7013267)
• Bernalillo (county) (2001428)
Art & Architecture Thesaurus terms:
• glass block (300374977)
• green (color) (300128438)
• laundries (businesses) (300005153)
• light green (300128475)
• mural paintings (visual works) (300033644)
• Streamlined Moderne (300253564)
• towers (building divisions) (300003615)
Wikidata items:
• 25 May 2009 (Q12966017)
• 1940s in architecture (Q60996001)
• 1942 in architecture (Q2721183)
• AmeriPride Services (Q4742484)
• Central New Mexico (Q5061505)
• Downtown Albuquerque (Q5303346)
• May 25 (Q2585)
• May 2009 (Q236764)
Library of Congress Subject Headings:
• Commercial buildings—New Mexico (sh2018000485)
• Laundry in art (sh85075071)
The station is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line, between Highgate and Finchley Central stations and is in Travelcard Zone 3.
It was opened in 1867 as part of the Great Northern Railway's line between Finsbury Park and Edgware stations, with two platforms. In 1935, the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) announced a project, to take over the railway lines from and link them to both the Northern line at East Finchley and to the Northern City line at Finsbury Park. The construction of the first phase of this project involved extending tube train services from the Northern line's existing terminus at Archway station, through a new section of paired tunnels under the railway's Highgate station to emerge south-east of East Finchley station, where track connections to the railway line were made.
For the introduction of London Underground services, the original station was completely demolished and rebuilt. The station was provided with two additional platforms, giving four in total. The platforms comprise two parallel islands with tracks on both sides. This was necessary as the intention of the development project was that trains would be able to run south from East Finchley to Highgate via both the surface and the underground routes. The inner pair of tracks initially served the surface route, whilst the outer pair serve the tunnel route.
The new station was constructed in an Art Deco/Streamline Moderne design by Charles Holden with L H Bucknell. Like Holden's other designs for London Underground in the 1930s, East Finchley station was inspired by European architecture (particularly Dutch) that Holden had seen on trips to the Continent during that decade. The track here runs roughly north-west to south-east. The imposing station building, built on rising ground adjacent to the railway bridge over High Road (A1000), has three entrances. The two main entrances to the ticket hall are on the north side of the tracks (off to the left above) facing High Road and the third, minor entrance, is on the south side (off to the right above). The entrances are linked by a passage under the tracks which provides access up to the platforms.
A strong feature of the station is the semi-circular glazed stairways leading to the enclosed bridge over the tracks occupied by staff offices. Today, the station is a Grade II listed building.
The streamline moderne Casa de Serralves, part of the Fundacão Serralves, Porto.
c20society.org.uk/building-of-the-month/casa-de-serralves...
www.serralves.pt/en/institucional-serralves/fundacao-apre...
IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE
Foto presa amb una Rolleiflex 3.5F fabricada entre 1969 i 1971; Carl Zeiss Planar f3.5 / 75mm; Ilford Delta 100 revelat amb Perceptol 1+1. Mireu-les en mida gran!
Aquest edifici art decó es troba prop de Russell Square, però amagat en un carreró lateral. S'el coneixia com a Daimler Car Hire Garage, i després Frames Coach Station; fou construit el 1931 com a garatge, com es pot veure per la seva estructura. Ara son oficines de lloguer.
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Picture taken with a Rolleiflex 3.5F, made c.1969-1971; Carl Zeiss Planar f3.5 / 75mm lens; Ilford Delta 100 developed in Perceptol 1+1. Looks much better in large size!
This gorgeous art deco building, located near Russell Square, was designed in 1931 as a hire garage, and you can tell that from the façade, including circular ramps. Now it's a quite luxurious offices building.
It was known as Daimler Car Hire Garage, and latter, Frames Coach Station.