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Ohio House Motel Chicago – a survivor

Distinguished by its fabulous diamond shaped exterior, the Ohio House is a fabulous example of mid-century architecture right in the middle of downtown Chicago. Other architectural points of interest include the matching suspended sign, held up by a geometric metal grid which is itself reflected in the pattern block fence that runs along Ohio Street. Rough-faced stone walls and a large stainless steel sign on the east facade add to it’s distinctly Chicago Mid-Century design. The architect for the motel was Arthur Salk of Shayman and Salk, who also designed the Summit Motel on Lincoln and the LaSalle Motor Lodge at LaSalle & Superior (now a Howard Johnson); the firm’s stamp was also on many apartment buildings in the inner suburbs. According to the webite,

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A Modernist Patio for a Traditional Home

Ted Cleary, ASLA, of Studio Cleary Landscape Architecture continues his contributions on midcentury modern garden design, here with the first of his “Case Study Gardens”.  MCM enthusiasts will be familiar with Arts & Architecture magazine’s legendary design feature known as the “Case Study House Program”.  From its inception near the war’s end in 1945, through 1966, the CSH Program showcased innovative modernist designs, many of them modest, others more grand, meant to address the postwar housing needs of the typical American family. Like the CSH examples, some unbuilt, others still existing, these Case Study gardens strive to offer solutions you can apply to the outdoor spaces around your own home. If you own a great midcentury modern home, it’s natural to want a landscape design that’s

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Cool 50’s sites and a 1950’s Landscaping Guide!!

Feeling sort of alone in our preservation of a 50’s home, I did some searches this weekend for 50’s sites and came across these cool items: Shelburne Museum 1950 House Johnson County Museums – The 1950’s All-Electric House I think I’ve mentioned my deep desire for better illustrations of landscape in the 50’s and I FINALLY found this on Ebay! It’s on it’s way to me now! I can’t WAIT!   I have also set up a Flickr Group for folks who are restoring 50’s homes or any pictures of 50’s interior/exterior decorating…this includes those of you who are ripping out (GASP) 50’s decor to restore to another era. Anything is helpful!

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Witco – Tiki and 60’s cool!

The first time I heard about Witco was on a discussion on a Mid-Century Facebook group about Tiki art, the name that kept coming up was Witco, with a link to this post on a Tiki Fan board: My name is Burke Hovde (aka…The Witco Kid on www.tikicentral.com). I’m the son of Ron Hovde, one of the Witco Co-Founders and Artists with Bill Westenhaver. I grew up with Witco everywhere. Witco wallhangings and furniture are all over my parents house and our family’s cabin. Witco started out as Western International Trading Company and imported South Pacific home furnishing items like Capishell Lamps. They also were into carvings that eventually evolved into the rough cedar chain saw carved furniture and Tikis that most people know Witco

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Interior Design

Mid Century furniture Mania

The popularity of 1950s and ’60s furnishings has sparked a sharp rise in prices and a drop in inventory, says Victoria couple Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/century+mania/4015342/story.html#ixzz19hoOzCTL

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Do you have questions about the "Mad Men" set design?

I have been hardly able to contain myself for the last month (I’ve been waiting for the new sets to be finished), but in the next couple of weeks, I will be interviewing one of the wonderful people who design the sets on the series “Mad Men”! (insert hysterical screaming here). If you’re into mid-century style, you surely have drooled all over the sets, wondered where they get their inspiration and wondered how authentic they try to be.  Some of you may even have been picking it apart and noticing some faux pas! So, if you have a question for them, what would it be? I’ll try to ask as many as I can! UPDATE: Because of the show’s production schedule my interview was moved

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Preservation

Updating and renovating? Purist?

I was thinking about renovating this morning – mainly because we’re at a lull on projects until we have some money drop in our lap! 🙂 But I was looking at some real estate ads in Palm Springs (pretty much the mid-century capital) and one mentioned that the kitchen had been “ruined” in an update. There weren’t any pictures, but it got me to thinking about a house we have down the street who ripped out a fabulous concrete block wall to put in a prefab tall “picket” fence. It doesn’t go with the house and I hate it. So, how do we educate people? That there’s a way to “renovate” without ruining and to look for the elements that truly make it a 50’s

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Save the Houston Astrodome

The Houston Astrodome was designed by architects Hermon Lloyd & W.B. Morgan, and Wilson, Morris, Crain and Anderson. The world’s first indoor, air conditioned stadium. The home of Astroturf. An architecture icon known as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” On Opening Day, April 9, 1965, a sold-out crowd of 47,879 watched an exhibition game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird were in attendance, as well as Texas Governor John Connally and Houston Mayor Louie Welch. Governor Connally tossed out the first ball for the first game ever played indoors. Dick “Turk” Farrell of the Astros threw the first pitch. Mickey Mantle had both the first hit (a single) and the first home

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100 Things to Do On Route 66 Before You Die

Recently a publisher, on recommendation of Jim Ross, approached me with an intriguing proposal – write a book about Route 66 that is in essence a bucket list. The challenge fascinated me. How do you whittle down America’s longest attraction, a 2,000 mile corridor of fascinating museums, quirky folk art parks, historic sites, renovated motels, ghost towns, dynamic cities, time capsule restaurants and diners, and breathtaking natural attractions into a list of one hundred must see locations? I accepted the challenge and the result is a fun new book scheduled for release on September 1 that is aptly titled, 100 Things to Do on Route 66 Before You Die. (This “Buy Now” button is to purchase an autographed copy of Route 66: America’s Longest Small Town. Stay tuned for

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Good friends, good times, grand adventures, and exciting times

The good folks at the City of Kingman, Josh Noble, the tourism director, Ray Cullison and the Kingsmen, and the volunteers who labored so hard to make the recent Best of the West on 66 Festival a success deserve a hearty thank you.The good folks at the City of Kingman, Josh Noble, the tourism director, Ray Cullison and the Kingsmen, and the volunteers who labored so hard to make the recent Best of the West on 66 Festival a success deserve a hearty thank you.It was a delightful and fun filled event that my dearest friend and I enjoyed immensely. Even better, it was an event that was shared with, and enjoyed by friends from the Netherlands. Though the event evolved from the rather successful 2014

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Two great Route 66 Exhibits in New Mexico – Catch them before they’re gone!

Route 66: Radiance, Rust, and Revival on the Mother Road Until October 2nd at the Albuquerque History Museum and conceived in honor of the 90th anniversary of Route 66, this exhibition celebrates the art, history and popular culture of the iconic Mother Road. Too often the history of Route 66 in Albuquerque has been overlooked, even though our city sits at the center of the Southwestern leg of the route and boasts, at 16 miles, the longest single-city urban stretch of the highway in the nation. We are also the only place on the Mother Road where the highway crosses itself! Indeed the very re-routing of Route 66 to the east-west alignment was a political scandal, but shaved time and miles off the odometers of road-weary

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