Falalalala
A Christmas Yuleblog
Cheerful Earful
Ernie (Not Bert)
Jul Igen
Hi-Fi Holiday
Santas Working Overtime
Showing posts with label ZZ - National. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ZZ - National. Show all posts
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Lost Christmas Music
Falalalala
A Christmas Yuleblog
Cheerful Earful
Ernie (Not Bert)
Jul Igen
Hi-Fi Holiday
Santas Working Overtime
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Small Business Saturday
Friday, July 02, 2010
Buying Antique Homes
National Historic and Antique Home Listings
National Trust for Historic Preservation includes their listings of historic homes for sale.
Historic Properties
OldHouses.com
Preservation Directory and their Homes For Sale website
Weichert Realtors Historic Homes Search - Some locations aren't filtered correctly and have no option to pull out just antique homes.
United Country Rural properties throughout the United States
Land and Farm - Thousands of listings that cover the entire US with a large concentration of NY state and southern properties.
Antique-Houses.com
Historic Homes Marketplace
Rapattoni MLS - Rapattoni creates MLS systems for real estate boards across the country that are easy to use and in many cases, enable searching via year built.
New England Antique homes and properties
Antique Homes Magazine (includes some New York listings)
Equine Homes
Wetherbee Farm Real Estate
Connecticut Historic Homes
Historical Home - Antique Real Estate - Blog with a strong emphasis on Connecticut antique homes for sale. Some listings in Massachusetts as well.
Rhode Island Historic Homes
RI Living - Not technically an historical listings database, the Rhode Island MLS does allow you to filter listings by 'historic'. Open Advanced Search, scroll down to Single Family Options/Style Options, click View all options, and select 'Historic'. No guarantees that house's construction dates are accurately input into the database.
New Hampshire Historic Homes
NH Historic Properties - They are now also in Maine and Massachusetts
Yankee Peddlar
K A Perry Real Estate - Wolfboro area
Vermont Historic Homes
Josiah Allen
Williamson Group
Massachusetts Historic Homes
Western Massachusetts - Upton Massamont
Southeastern Mass - Old Dartmouth
Berkshires Historic Homes
Schooner Properties - Cape Cod Historic Homes
New York Historic Homes
Peggy Lampman - Columbia County and the Hudson River Valley Antique Homes
Cooperstown - Leatherstocking Realty
Adirondack Country Homes
New Jersey and Pennsylvania Historic Homes
Turpin Realtors - They cover the wealthy horse country towns around us in northern Hunterdon, Somerset and Morris Counties along Route 78 in New Jersey.
Four boutique firms that cover antique homes in Bucks County Pennsylvania, Hunterdon County New Jersey, Princeton NJ (Mercer County) and Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley:
NT Callaway
Addison Wolfe
Lisa James Otto Country Properties
Dorey Real Estate
Lehigh Valley MLS - Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton Pennsylvania - Not technically an historical listings database, the Lehigh Valley MLS includes a construction date search field. No guarantees that house's construction dates are accurately input into the database.
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Historic Homes
Prudential Homesale Services Group offers access to Trend MLS (south Jersey, Philly suburbs and Delaware), Maryland's MLS and parts of Virginia as well as selected parts of the rest of the US. Their very good search includes a construction date option.
Virginia Historic Homes
Antique Properties
Gayle Harvey Real Estate - Charlottesville Area
North Carolina Historic Homes
Preservation North Carolina
Ashville Historic Homes
South Carolina Historic Homes
Palmetto Trust
Arizona Historic Homes
Historic Phoenix
United Kingdom Antique Homes and Properties
Period Property
Reproduction Homes - Early American Home Designs
Classic Colonial Homes - The yellow Gambrel pictured above is one of their designs.
Connor Homes
McKie Roth Designs
Authentic Historical Designs
Sunderland Period Homes
Period Homes
Russell Swinton Oatman
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Garden Conservancy's Open Days - National
11 Old Postal Road (Shipping Address)
P.O. Box 219 (Mailing Address)
Cold Spring, New York
888.842.2442 or 845.265.5384
Facebook Page
More than 360 private gardens in 21 states offer the chance to explore first-hand examples of outstanding design and horticulture. The 2010 Open Days season begins in early April and extends through the end of October. It includes gardens from southern Maine to southern California, from the tip of Long Island, New York to Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Open Days garden tours are self-guided and flexible and you can shape your itinerary and set the pace to suit your interests. Many gardens are listed on the website but some are private and only available through the Open Days Directory. Discount tickets are available online or through their phone number at 888.842.2442. Tickets do not expire and can be used for future years.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Holiday House Tours
Every December, thousands of people join in one of America's favorite pastimes: snooping around their neighbors' homes. And usually its for a good cause. We've compiled a sampling of homes across the country, open to the public and decorated for the holidays. Some states have multiple tours and we've linked to news articles which list many options. For a few states, we had to get creative and include holiday museum tours. In any case, get out there and have fun!
NORTHEAST
Maine - Kennebunkport - Nott House
New Hampshire - Nashua - Nashua Symphony Holiday House Tour
Vermont - Woodstock - Wassail Weekend House Tour
Massachusetts - Needham - Needham Womans Club Holiday House Tour
Rhode Island - Newport - Gems of Newport Holiday Bed and Breakfast Tour
Connecticut - Newtown - Newtown Holiday Festival and Home Tour
New York - Long Island - Long Island Holiday House Tours
New Jersey - South Jersey Holiday House Tours The picture above is from the Mill Hill Holiday House Tour.
Pennsylvania - Hawley - Winterfest House Tour
Delaware - Milton - Holly Festival and House Tour
Maryland - Frederick - Candlelight House Tour
SOUTHEAST
Virginia - Statewide Holiday House Tours
West Virginia - Bramwell - Holiday House Tours
North Carolina - Chapel Hill - The Spirit of Chapel Hill House Tour
South Carolina - Yemassee - Yemassee Town and Country Holiday House Tour
Georgia - Augusta - Historic Augusta Candlelight Tour
Florida - Gainesville - Matheson Museum Historic Holiday Home Tour
Alabama - Montgomery - Old Alabama Town Home for the Holidays
Mississippi - Holly Springs - Christmas in Holly Springs House Tour
Tennessee - Knoxville - Old North Knoxville Holiday House Tour
Kentucky - Louisville - Old Louisville Holiday House Tour
Arkansas - Little Rock - Wildwood Park Holiday Tour of Homes
Louisiana - New Orleans - Preservation Resource Center Holiday Home Tour
MIDWEST
Ohio - Rocky River - Rocky River Junior Womans Club Holiday House Tour
Michigan - Holland - Up on the Rooftops House Tour
Indiana - Carmel - Carmel Clay Holiday Home Tour
Illinois - Columbia - Friends of the Library Holidy Home Tour
Wisconsin - Ripon - Tour of Homes
Minnesota - St. Paul - Christmastime at the Ramsey House
Iowa - Pella - Christmas Tour of Homes
Missouri - St. Louis - Lafayette Square Holiday Parlor Tour
North Dakota - Bismark - Former Governor's Mansion Christmas Tour
South Dakota - Pierre - Christmas at the Capitol
Nebraska - Brownville - Christmas at the Carson House
Kansas - Statewide - Holiday House Tours
SOUTHWEST
Oklahoma - Oklahoma City - Mesta Park Holiday Home Tour
Texas - Statewide including the Fort Worth and Houston areas - Holiday House Tours
New Mexico - Las Vegas - Historic Home Tour
Arizona - Phoenix - Rosson House Victorian Christmas
WEST
Montana - Billings - Moss Mansion
Wyoming - Sheriden - Trail End Historic Site Holiday Open House
Colorado - Boulder - Homes for the Holidays
Nevada - Gardnerville - Carson Valley Museum Holiday Gala
Utah - Iron Mission State Park - Christmas at the Homestead
Idaho - Twin Falls - Junior Club of Magic Valley Holiday Home Tour
Washington - Camano - Holiday Tour of Homes
Oregon - Duniway - Holiday Home Tour
California - Palo Alto - Palo Alto Stanford Heritage Holiday House Tour
Alaska - Palmer - Colony Christmas and Colony House Open House
Hawaii - Maui - Holiday Home Tour
Friday, November 06, 2009
The Shakers
A religious society, begun in Manchester England by Mother Ann Lee, the Shakers first settled outside Albany, New York in 1776. The term "Shaker" came from the spirited movements they made during religious services and refers to "Shaking Quakers". The Shakers believed that the best way to honor God was to strive for simple perfection. This belief led to the creation of beautiful buildings and artifacts for everyday living which are like nothing else on earth. Although never a large group, the Shakers left several villages which have been preserved and turned into museums. A comprehensive list can be found at the National Park Service Shaker Historic Trail. All of the larger sites are listed below.
Many of the villages include gift shops with Shaker inspired furnishings. Sabbathday Lake, which is the last active Shaker village with 3 or 4 members, includes a gift shop with actual Shaker antiques for sale. You can check out the Shaker Workshops for Shaker inspired home decor and more information on these and other Shaker villages and musuems as well as a comprehensive list of resources.
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village
707 Shaker Road
New Gloucester, Maine
207.926.4597
Alfred Shaker Village
118 Shaker Hill Road
Alfred, Maine
207.324.6612
Very limited access but contact them for more information. There will be a Christmas open house in their gift shop in December.
Canturbury Shaker Village
288 Shaker Road,
Canterbury, New Hampshire
603.783.9511
Enfield Shaker Museum
447 NH Route 4A
Enfield, New Hampshire
603.632.4346
Hancock Shaker Village
Route 20
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
413.443.0188 or 800.817.1137
Shirley Historical Society
This Shaker settlement is located on the grounds of the Massachusetts Correctional Institution and is only open to group tours by appointment.
Fruitlands Museum
102 Prospect Hill Rd
Harvard, Massachusetts
978.456.3924
Museum includes a building from the Harvard Shaker Village which is now a collection of private residences.
Shaker Heritage Society
And their blog
875 Watervliet Shaker Rd. Suite 2
Colonie, New York
518.456.7890
Shaker Museum and Library
And their blog
202 Shaker Road
Mount Lebanon, New York
88 Shaker Museum Road
Old Chatham, New York
518.794.9100
Shaker Historical Society
16740 South Park Boulevard
Shaker Heights, Ohio
216.921.1201
Shaker Museum at South Union
850 Shaker Museum Road
South Union, Kentucky
270.542.4167 or 800.811.8379
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill
3501 Lexington Road
Harrodsburg, Kentucky
800.734.5611 or 859.734.5411
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 09, 2009
Green Building
Recently, a famous celebrity (yes, you know this person) moved into our neighborhood. Their new house appears to be a "green" home with geothermal heating and cooling and recycled antique timbers. That got us to wondering, what exactly is green? Are some building practices more green than others? And is it greener to build new or retrofit existing buildings?
For instance, this celebrity's home, while certainly friendlier to the environment than most, was built in 2006. Do the recycled building materials and renewable energy offset the impact of building a house where there was none? And since we are so remote here (even in New Jersey), does building a green house where you need to rely on a car make sense? I remember watching an episode of House Hunters where a couple concerned with green building was looking at newer homes along the Oregon Coast. How green is it to build a house in the middle of nowhere? Maybe they should live in Portland. On the subway line.
Our house is 150 to 250 years old. Is that greener than a new "green" house? Or is it so inefficient that its better to tear it down and build purely green? Or is moving into the city our only true option?
We'd love to get solar panels, if the US could get its act together and provide better subsidies, like they do in parts of the the world. New Jersey actually does have the best (or second best) solar program in America but its still expensive. And even if we do go solar, we're still driving all over tarnation to buy groceries and do other errands. Okay, we've raised a lot of questions here and answered none of them!--the calculations are starting to make our heads hurt. And we're not moving to the city any time soon. But maybe we'll see what we can do to make our lives a little greener.
US Green Building Council
Greening the Not So New House - Article from the US Green Building Council
Environmental Protection Agency
Greenbuilding.com
This Old House - Green building and living ideas. The house pictured above is one of their project houses, remodeled with green elements.
Danny Seo and his blog Daily Danny
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Antique Homes For Sale
National Historic and Antique Home Listings
National Trust for Historic Preservation includes their listings of historic homes for sale.
Historic Properties
OldHouses.com
Preservation Directory and their Homes For Sale website
Weichert Realtors Historic Homes Search
United Country Rural properties throughout the United States
Land and Farm - Thousands of listings that cover the entire US with a large concentration of NY state and southern properties.
Antique-Houses.com
Historic Homes Marketplace
Rapattoni MLS - Rapattoni creates MLS systems for real estate boards across the country that are easy to use and in many cases, enable searching via year built.
New England Antique homes and properties
Antique Homes Magazine (includes some New York listings)
Equine Homes
Wetherbee Farm Real Estate
Connecticut Historic Homes
Historical Home - Antique Real Estate - Blog with a strong emphasis on Connecticut antique homes for sale. Some listings in Massachusetts as well.
Rhode Island Historic Homes
RI Living - Not technically an historical listings database, the Rhode Island MLS does allow you to filter listings by 'historic'. Open Advanced Search, scroll down to Single Family Options/Style Options, click View all options, and select 'Historic'. No guarantees that house's construction dates are accurately input into the database.
New Hampshire Historic Homes
NH Historic Properties - They are now also in Maine and Massachusetts
Yankee Peddlar
K A Perry Real Estate - Wolfboro area
Vermont Historic Homes
Josiah Allen
Williamson Group
Massachusetts Historic Homes
Western Massachusetts - Upton Massamont
Southeastern Mass - Old Dartmouth
Berkshires Historic Homes
Schooner Properties - Cape Cod Historic Homes
New York Historic Homes
Peggy Lampman - Columbia County and the Hudson River Valley Antique Homes
Cooperstown - Leatherstocking Realty
Adirondack Country Homes
New Jersey and Pennsylvania Historic Homes
The Weichert Realtors link above is a great place to start the North Jersey antique homes search. It's pretty comprehensive but not perfect. The North Jersey MLS, GSMLS, does not include an historic home search capability but its easy to use.
Turpin Realtors - They cover the wealthy horse country towns around us in northern Hunterdon, Somerset and Morris Counties along Route 78 in New Jersey.
Four boutique firms that cover antique homes in Bucks County Pennsylvania, Hunterdon County New Jersey, Princeton NJ (Mercer County) and Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley:
NT Callaway
Addison Wolfe
Lisa James Otto Country Properties
Dorey Real Estate
Lehigh Valley MLS - Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton Pennsylvania - Not technically an historical listings database, the Lehigh Valley MLS includes a construction date search field. No guarantees that house's construction dates are accurately input into the database.
Virginia Historic Homes
Antique Properties
Gayle Harvey Real Estate - Charlottesville Area
North Carolina Historic Homes
Preservation North Carolina
Arizona Historic Homes
Historic Phoenix
United Kingdom Antique Homes and Properties
Period Property
Reproduction Homes - Early American Home Designs
Classic Colonial Homes - The yellow Gambrel pictured above is one of their designs.
McKie Roth Designs
Authentic Historical Designs
Sunderland Period Homes
Period Homes
Russell Swinton Oatman
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Tiny Houses - National
Perhaps once a fad, tiny houses, and downsizing in general, appear to be growing in popularity. There are two blogs: here and here,
a society and a network if the idea interests you. Living in such a small space, may not be for everyone, but its certainly an intriging and maybe romatic idea. What we like best about these small homes are the style and thought that go into creating them. They really are jewel boxes to be admired.
The Country Dogs live in 1600 square feet which is tiny for New Jersey standards - you would think that such a small state wouldn't have room for all the massive houses built and expanded over the last few years, but there you go. It's very lucky that we found such a small house on such a large, beautiful property in this moneyed, sought after area. Had this house gone the way of most in this part of the state, someone would have doubled the size over the years. Thank goodness for the little old lady who held on to it for so long. If only someone had stopped her from renovating in the 50s. Oh well, can't have everything!
We'd have trouble downsizing much further (the cat's now 2 years old and he's getting fat!) but maybe we could use one of these small homes in the back meadow near the fruit trees for sleeping out on cool summer nights. Ahh..
Tiny Texas Houses
20501 E Interstate 10,
Luling, Texas
830.875.2500
Tumbleweed Tiny House Company
Sebastopol, California
Vermont Tiny Houses
802.933.6103
Monday, June 29, 2009
International Gay Rodeo Association - National
The International Gay Rodeo Association holds events all across the country in stadiums usually not too far from major city downtown cores. We thought we'd give you some options in case you'd like to sample some of the small town living just outside the major cities. We'll keep updating the list as we discover more places but here's a taste:
Phoenix
Bisbee, Arizona
Jerome, Arizona
Denver
Salida, Colorado
Frisco, Colorado
San Antonio / Fort Worth
Hico, Texas
Chicago
Galena, Illinois
Lebanon, Illinois
Philadelphia
Skippack, Pennsylvania
San Diego
Julian, California
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