Gustav Stickley III visits his famous grandfather’s Syracuse home – If you like American Arts & Crafts, this should interest you. The grandson of Gustav Stickley, now an old man, visits his grandfather’s house which he knew as a boy just before it is restored. Click here for the story and 27 photos.
Unaltered art deco semi for sale
Unaltered art deco semi for sale – there has been a flurry of stories about an unaltered modest 1930s house and its asking price. Here are two of them… The home that’s frozen in time and Art Deco house that’s been left untouched since the 1930s is now on sale
George Skipper’s Royal Arcade
George Skipper’s Royal Arcade – This Norwich shopping arcade looks like it should be in Paris! It is one of a small number of English buildings which have something like a continental art nouveau expression.
Willow Tea Rooms update
Willow Tea Rooms update – The last time I saw Mackintosh’s Willow Tea Rooms, they were looking a little seedy. Now the exterior is fully restored with the interior to follow (via an eye-watering restoration budget). Here are two articles with photos bringing you up to date… Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s restored Willow Tea Rooms revealed and Willow Tea Rooms will complete stunning transformation with £4m lottery boost.
Gaudí and his Modernisme contemporaries
Gaudí and his Modernisme contemporaries – Here is an attractive overview of Barcelona’s art nouveau or Modernisme buildings. There are some colourful photos!
Edgar Wood pays a visit
Edgar Wood has been revisiting the Arts & Crafts Church… more HERE
Tablet Course (computers) for the Over 50s Comes to an End
After completing their eight weeks course, four of the ‘youngsters’ show off their certificates of attendance. A thank you to Karen of Pride Media Association for putting on the course in the lecture room of the EW centre. Karen would like to return in the future to put on similar courses. ‘Apps’ she will next year if not sooner.
The First Church of Christ Scientist, Manchester is on the market
First Church of Christ Scientist, in Victoria Park, Manchester is on the market and is likely to have a change of use. Agents Canning O’Neill are open minded as to what that use might entail but a well aware of the outstanding significance of the building.
It would be great to find a new sensitive use that can also conserve and restore this Edgar Wood masterpiece. For example, why not reinstate the lost Edgar Wood chimneys at the ends of the wings (see photo) and undertake historical paint analysis to restore Edgar Wood’s original internal colour scheme? Along with the Middleton and Hale designs, The First Church has the potential to put Manchester on the international art nouveau visitor trail.
Middleton in Bloom
The inspection for Middleton in Bloom takes place tomorrow, Thursday 20th July. The route takes the inspectors up Long Street and past Long Street Methodist Church and School. The Edgar Wood Society team have been out doing their bit to help and the garden is looking good with the lavender flowering at its peak. The Middleton in Bloom committee have provided plants and a planter for the front steps, for which we are grateful. A big thank you to this group of volunteers for their work in improving the visual environment of the area.
‘Lutyens in Lancashire’ lecture by Richard Fletcher
Richard Fletcher delivered this afternoon’s Edgar Wood Society lecture on the subject of Lutyens in Lancashire.
It was a fascinating overview of Lutyens’ designs in the county, including his Grade I listed Rochdale Cenotaph and its cousin in Manchester. Rochdale also has the adjacent Post Office (but with an uncertain attribution) while Manchester has the impressive and definitely Lutyens Midland Bank, both white Portland stone buildings. Liverpool, on the other hand, has the huge crypt of Liverpool Cathedral which is just a fragment of the vast cathedral originally planned as Lutyens’ finest building. But it never came to be, apart for the large scale model now at Liverpool Museum (photo above by Mike Peel www.mikepeel.net ). Richard’s talk brought to the fore many interesting connections and anecdotes about people and buildings and how each linked into the wider historical scene.
Continue reading “‘Lutyens in Lancashire’ lecture by Richard Fletcher”
Frank Lloyd Wright house planned for Somerset
The fascination with Frank Lloyd Wright continues and a new Long Read article in the Independent outlines proposals for building one of his unbuilt designs in Somerset, a late work the O’Keefe House of 1947.
On-line fund-raising to save Voysey’s Winsford Cottage Hospital
The Landmark Trust aims to raise £355,000 from the public in the next 12 months to save the Arts & Crafts Grade II* listed Winsford Cottage Hospital in Devon, which was designed by C. F. A. Voysey in his long low-lying architectural style.
The money will match a £487,000 grant offer from Heritage Lottery Fund. The trust has also received a lottery grant of £96,000 to develop the project. Full details are HERE on the trust’s website. Continue reading “On-line fund-raising to save Voysey’s Winsford Cottage Hospital”
The house that time forgot…
Pink Art Deco mansion almost untouched since 1930s is for sale in Essex for £1.5m – a good description with photos of the Walter Crittall’s art deco home.
Researching Edgar Wood’s first houses
Edgar Wood Society members are currently researching the three pairs of semi-detached houses, 153-163 Manchester Old Road, Middleton and the people associated with them. Continue reading “Researching Edgar Wood’s first houses”
The furthest travelled group to the Edgar Wood Centre yet
A small group of Arts and Crafts enthusiasts from America, visited the Edgar Wood Centre to conclude their day in Manchester, under the guidance of Julian Holder (Salford University, formally of English Heritage). Earlier in the day their itinerary included the Rylands Library and the Beehive Mills in Ancoats.
POLLING STARTS EARLY
Members of the Edgar Wood Society were up with the lark to open up at 6.30am for polling. The second time this week that the small lecture room has been in ‘commercial’ use. There is certainly a demand in the area for this size of room with easy access at the rear.
It could be a late supper for the Edgar Wood Society member who clears away the polling booth and locks up after an even longer day for the presiding officers!
Course for Tablets for the Over Fifties!
The first of 8 sessions for getting the best out of your tablet (the computer type) for the young at heart, took place this morning in the small lecture room at the Edgar Wood Centre.
This is a free course run by Pride Media Association of Rochdale and was fully subscribed, the small numbers allowing for individual tutition. The location being chosen, because of the bright aspect of the room and the easy access.
We look forward to further courses at the centre, but book early.
Greystoke
It’s gratifying when owners of Edgar Wood buildings show a deep concern for the heritage under their care and this is especially true for Greystoke, a Grade II listed building in Hale, Cheshire, which the Edgar Wood Society is currently assisting with through its chair, David Morris.
Greystoke is one of Edgar Wood’s seven Hale houses. These wonderful house designs trace Edgar’s style as it developed from vernacular inspired Arts and Crafts to the very first art deco architecture. Greystoke was built in 1902 and with nearby The Homestead represents his more expressionist arts and crafts manner.
The owner has liaised with the Edgar Wood historian and architect, John Archer, for many years and this shows in the quality of the work that has been done previously. The new works will involve restoring a series of lost features using old photographs and the society’s knowledge of related buildings and features.
Art Nouveau in Riga, Latvia
A fascinating outpost of continental art nouveau is the Latvian capital Riga and its famous architect contemporary of Edgar Wood, Mikhail Eisenstein whose flamboyant and sculptural buildings are very engaging.
Today, Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with its art nouveau architecture making up an amazing 33% of all city centre buildings… the highest density of art nouveau in the world.
Here is a new on-line piece about Riga’s architecture and cultural associations that is well worth reading…
A mixture of styles in the Latvian capital, by Katherine Wood
Glasgow School of Art Library being restored by Latvians
Here is an interesting piece in The Scotsman on how the extensive wood carving associated with the restoration project is being undertaken by Latvian craftspeople.
The mission to resurrect the GSA’s Mackintosh library, by Dani Garavelli