Category: The Sunday porch

The Sunday porch: conversation

Cindy at enclos*ure9 Comments

1941 porch in Mobile, Alabama, by C.W. Cushman“Porch of old house at Monroe St., Mobile[, Alabama],” taken November 4, 1941, by Charles W. Cushman.*

The atmosphere of this porch is still and quiet, but I think there’s something urgent about the conversation.  The expression of the young woman in pink is serious; the woman across from her has stopped on her way (in or to her own house?) from the grocery store.  They all listen intently to the older woman in light blue.

Cushman was an amateur photographer who began documenting his travels in 1938, using expensive, (then) little-used Kodachrome film.  He continued taking color pictures for 32 years, ultimately bequeathing 14,500 slides to his alma mater, Indiana University.

NPR has an interesting audio/slide show on Cushman and his work here, and here is a series of color photos of New York City that he took in the early 1940s.

*Used with the permission of  the Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection, Indiana University Archives.  I originally posted this image in November 2012.

The Sunday porch: Oxford, Ohio

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The Flower family, probably in Ohio, ca. 1905, via Miami University Libraries Commons on flickr“Flower family on porch, ca. 1905,” by Frank R. Snyder, via Miami University Libraries Commons on flickr.

Impressive porch foliage . . . and in the photo below, by the same photographer.

Mrs. C.E. Kumler family on front porch, by Frank Snyder, via Miami University Libraries Commons on flickr“Mrs. C. E. Kumler family on front porch, not dated,” also by Frank R. Snyder, via Miami University Libraries Commons on flickr.

Snyder was a successful photographer working in Oxford, Ohio, in the early 20th century.  After his death in 1958, his family donated his archive of 4,000 negatives to Miami University.

Garden Bloggers’ Foliage Follow Up is the 16th of every month. Check out more beautiful leaves at Digging.

The Sunday porch: Santa Barbara

Cindy at enclos*ure2 Comments

Vhay house, Santa Barbara CA, 1934, HABS, Library of CongressThe north porch of the Vhay House, 835 Leguna Street, Santa Barbara, California, April 1934, by C. A. Fletcher for an Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.*

Vhay house, Santa Barbara CA, 1934, HABS, Library of CongressThe Rafael Gonzalez House, which was owned by Louise and David Vhay at the time of these photos, was built in 1825.  It is a typical adobe townhouse of the Mexican California period, with walls over 2′ (.61 m.) thick.

Gonzalez was a soldier and landowner when he built the house for his Italian bride. He became mayor or alcalde of Santa Barbara in 1829.  His daughter, Salome, inherited the home in 1866 and lived there until 1923.

The Vhays restored and enlarged the house.  It is now occupied by Randall House Rare Books.

Vhay house, Santa Barbara CA, 1934, HABS, Library of CongressAbove: bougainvillea above and calla lilies below, along the north porch, by C. A. Fletcher.

Vhay HABS, 1934, Library of CongressAbove: north porch, by C. A. Fletcher (cropped by me).

Vhay house, Santa Barbara CA, 1934, HABS, Library of CongressAbove: south porch from the southwest. Photographed April 1934, by H. F. Withey.

Vhay house, Santa Barbara CA, 1934, HABS, Library of CongressAbove: detail of south porch, east end, by H. F. Withey.

Vhay house, Santa Barbara CA, 1934, HABS, Library of CongressAbove: 1934 drawing by Frederick C. Hageman (also the small plan above).

2010 photo by Dilly Lynn, via Wikimedia CommonsAbove:  2010 photo of the Rafael Gonzalez House, now a rare book store, by Dilly Lynn, via Wikimedia Commons.  There’s also a nice painting of the house in 1953 here.

The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

.    .    .    — for a sec
he even sees the calla lily’s furl
in the gesture of voilà!

— Farnoosh Fathi, from “Sympathy“

*All photos and drawings here, except the last image, via Vhay House HABS, Library of Congress.

The Sunday porch: Bound Brook, N.J.

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Bound Brook, N.J., Feb. 1936, porches, via Library of Congress“Back [?] porches of a series of identical houses. Bound Brook, New Jersey,” February 1936, by Carl Mydans, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The winter of 1935/1936 was one of the coldest of that decade in North America.  And the following summer brought the infamous 1936 heat wave.

Carl Mydans was working for the U.S. Resettlement Administration when he took this picture.  Shortly afterwards, he was hired by Life and is probably best remembered today for his war photography for the magazine.

February, month of despair,
with a skewered heart in the centre.

— Margaret Atwood, from “February“

The Sunday porch: view finder

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094498pvAbove: View from the porch of the Flanders Callaway House, Warren County, Missouri, 1938, by Charles or Alexander Piaget, working with Charles van Ravenswaay (later incorporated into a 1985 HABS).*

All photos here via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

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Above: “View from White House porch [looking north to Lafayette Park],” Washington, D.C., 1920, from National Photo Company Collection. President and Mrs. Wilson introduced sheep to the White House lawn. The wool went to the Red Cross.

The Sunday porch: views, via Library of CongressAbove: View from porch at Shady Rest Sanatorium, White Heath, Illinois, ca. 1920 – 1950, by Theodor Horydczak.

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Above: Looking north from the porch of the Kolb-Pou-Newton House [or Boxwood], Madison, Georgia, June 1936, by L. D. Andrew for HABS.

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Above: View of garden from the porch – Oakland Plantation, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, ca. 1988, by HABS.

095350pvAbove: Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Dickbrader and Mr. Arcularius on the porch of the Dickbrader House, Franklin County, Missouri, by  HABS.

150293pvAbove: John Calvin Owings House, Laurens, South Carolina, by HABS.

The Sunday porch: views, via Library of CongressAbove: View from the veranda of the Billings Farm and Museum to Blake Hill, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Woodstock, Vermont, 2001, by David W. Haas for HABS.

014310pvAbove: Porch of Smithcliffs House, North Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, California, by HABS.

207863pvAbove: “View from north porch, looking northeast toward Fort George River – Kingsley Plantation House,” Jacksonville, Florida, 1005, by Jack Boucher for HABS.

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Above: “View from north porch looking south into Back Hall, with Reception Hall south door open [and closed] – Homewood (cropped slightly by me),” Baltimore, Maryland, 2005, by James W. Rosenthal for HABS.

*Historic American Building Survey