Tag: lattice

The Sunday porch: the frame

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Oatlands, Leesburg, VA, Library of CongressA view from the summer house at Oatlands, Loudoun County, Virginia, in the 1930s, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Oatlands Plantation was established in 1798 by a member of Virginia’s prominent Carter family. In 1903, it was sold to William and Edith Corcoran Eustis, and  Mrs. Eustis began to revive the old gardens in the Colonial Revival style. Since 1965, the property has been a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It is open to the public from April 1 to December 30.

The Sunday porch: Oak Hill, Alabama

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Old Ramsey Hse., 1937, A. Bush, HABS, Library of CongressThe Ramsey-Jones-Bonner House, Oak Hill, Alabama, March 24, 1937, by Alex Bush for an Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (all photos here).

A nice front porch, but not especially interesting — except that it is a Carolina (or rain) porch.

Old Ramsey Hse., 1937, A. Bush, HABS, Library of Congress

Its columns rest on masonry bases set “directly on the ground . . . in front of the foundation of the porch floor. This is a distinctive regional characteristic,” according to the registration form (1998) for the National Register of Historic Places for the Oak Hill Historic District.

The back porch, however, is more unusual.

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Old Ramsey Hse., 1937, A. Bush, HABS, Library of Congress

“[The] rear wings have integral recessed porches facing inward and creating an atrium-like space which has been roofed [with] corrugated metal. . . . [The] . . . first floor   [is] essentially an enclosed dogtrot. . . .”

Old Ramsey Hse., 1937, A. Bush, HABS, Library of Congress

The house was built in 1836 by Abiezer Clarke Ramsey, a school teacher and Methodist circuit rider.  In 1937, he married Elizabeth Amanda Wardlaw, a widow with four children.  She and Abiezer had seven more before her death in 1854.

The house still stands in the Oak Hill Historic District.
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The Sunday porch: Queensland

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Queensland porch with shell, ca. 1895, via State Library of Queensland“Decorated corner of a veranda,” Queensland, Australia, ca. 1895, photographer unknown, via State Library of Queensland.

The shell of the giant clam (Tridacna gigas) pictured above was probably taken from the waters around the Great Barrier Reef.  Today, the mollusk is a “vulnerable” species due to overharvesting.

The Sunday porch: Savannah, Ga.

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Price Street, F.B. Johnston, via Library of Congress“Price Street corner York Lane,” Savannah, Georgia, 1939 or 1944, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The Library of Congress catalogue entry for the image above includes the note: “Once in the ‘Restricted District,’ hence the lattice work” — meaning the house had been a bordello. (That would also explain the panel of shutters across the front.)

Looking at Google Maps street view, a very similar house (built 1828) at one of the four possible corner sites still stands in good condition. Across York Lane from it is a two-story building that was probably there at the time of the photo. There are new condos on the other side of Price Street.

The Sunday porch: shadows

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Lattice on 1935 Ala. porch, Library of CongressFirst floor porch of the Kenneworth-Moffatt House, Montgomery, Alabama, October 1935, by W. N. Manning for an Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Lattice Ala. porch, upstairs, Library of CongressSecond-floor porch of the Kenneworth-Moffatt House, Montgomery, Alabama, October 1935, by W. N. Manning.

Lattice on Ala. porch, full view, Library of CongressFront view of the Kenneworth-Moffatt House, Montgomery, Alabama, April 1934, by W. N. Manning.

The building — constructed in 1855 — is now called the Gerald-Dowdell House and houses a law office. A recent view on Google Maps is here.