What I dream about when I dream about empty lots...

onecity · PostMay 06, 2014#12014-05-06T01:43+00:00

This is a terrific eye candy blog about small houses that makes me giddy when I daydream about small lot infill...

http://honeyishrunkthehouse.blogspot.co ... nspiration

leeharveyawesome · PostMay 06, 2014#22014-05-06T11:21+00:00

Thanks for the link. It's crazy how much effort, work, and time went into building houses 100 years ago and how nearly impossible it seems today.

onecity · PostMay 06, 2014#32014-05-06T12:30+00:00

Thanks LHA. I think the main reason it's hard to build this way is because no one builds this way, and because houses as a rule are simply too large to do so affordably. I think a lot of standard construction techniques died during the lull in construction caused by the Depression and WW2 and a lot of knowledge was lost and not passed on.

JuanHamez · PostMay 06, 2014#42014-05-06T16:55+00:00

I've heard similar things as well. I was told once that if you ever find a home built in the 30s and early 40s, it likely has some of the best craftsmanship of any building in existance because the architects and builders knew that each project might be their last for a long time during that era.

leeharveyawesome · PostMay 06, 2014#52014-05-06T17:07+00:00

Technology - which by all accounts has made most things better and easier and less expensive - hasn't necessarily played a huge role in making home building or construction in general any better or less expensive. Has home building really improved over a house in Lafayette Square or even a nice house in Gravois Park just because you have Autocad at your disposal? Even without technology, somehow the builders of the past were able to accomplish things like proportion and scale way better than what you often see now no matter the height or size of a building. I'm of the belief that builders used to be artists or at least there was a few artists on the payroll.

It's all a symptom of a diminished culture, a degraded society, a nation in general decline and no longer on the upswing. That's just where we're at. Pan out and look on a longer timeline at what's happened to our great cities. You cannot use the rise or "success" of the suburbs as an argument against general decline. If the suburbs are "bad" then it only supports the theory that, in general, America is in decline.

But I think we can turn it around with a little hard work.

onecity · PostMay 06, 2014#62014-05-06T18:15+00:00

I think we are also at a point where "low value" work like the construction trades, wood craft, and so forth, are no longer considered worthwhile occupational choices for the smarter kids, or the artistically inclined, especially as there is increasing pressure to lower costs by replacing skilled tradesmen with undocumented workers that may not have any real training or developed skills, but cost less and result in higher markups for builders. This aspect of our culture - the relentless cost-cutting and resulting inattention to detail and craft - is really unwelcome and certainly a major contributor to the weakness of the economy. We can't live on apps.

And a pet peeve - I hate fake half-timbering, when 1 inch boards are placed ON TOP OF premade stucco panels, and the timbers align with the surface material seams rather than internal structures. It looks stupid and cheap.