I will be doing a leisurely vacation drive up and down the east coast, and would like to hit some places known for concentrations of good architecture.
Already on the list are New Hope, PA and Charleston, SC, and Cape May, NJ. We will be doing Newport, RI, on a later trip.
Please chime in and suggest some places.
It slips my mind, but what is the place in Florida, up north around the Gulf Coast side, an all-new place, known for some good contemporary stuff. A Tom Hanks movie was partly filmed there, or was it a Jim Carey movie. Sea Breeze? No, that’s not it, that’s a cocktail order.
Replies
Bob
I too am planing a trip to the east this summer and am interested in significant architecture. If you are going as far south as charleston you should hit Savanna. I've never been but the city plan is is as interesting as any I've seen. along with a nice colection of 200-300 yr. old mansions.
There is a new building on the chesapeke (sp?) by smith group architects. award winning green architecture. Though I'm sure if it's finished. I'll think about some more and get back to you. Whan are you going?
Brian
If you find yourself at the I-40 I-85 split, hop off and checkout Hillsborough, NC. Tiny town with a bunch of simple yet elegant colonials. Don't worry, we can fix that later!
I was going to mention Charleston SC.
How 'bout St Augustine in Fla? it has some unique Spanish colonial work
Then there's Mt Vernon on the way back up
Beacon Hill in Boston is intriguing with all the various doorways
Anyplace where the boys went down to the sea before the mast is a palce where wealth once abounded and where ideas from abroad were imported to make for some very beautiful homes.
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Thanks, we will make a stop in St. Augustine. Been there before, but forgot to look.
Mt. Vernon where? Been to George W.'s Mt. Vernon on the Potomac, and to Jefferson's Monticello. Done Grant's farm, too. Also his tomb.
On the way back up, I plan to see Hudson, NY, once a great whaling (believe it or not) port, way up the river from the big town. Supposedly has a fabulous collection of homes circa about 1800 - 1835. I guess if you just finished 8 years of sailing for blubber, looking for spouts, then another couple days sail up the river to get to port, would seem like nothing.
Seaside, FL. That is the place I was thinking about. A quick blast across the FL horse country from St. Augustine.
When you are in Bucks Co. Pa. from New Hope area get on 313 @ Doylestown..head towards Quakertown and you will pass the Moravian Tile museum ...a must see..can't not find it..HUGE castle like place..hop skip anda jump from New Hope..I was raised all around there.
follow to Quakertown and you can go North on 309 towards Allentown, South towards Philly or across to 663 and the N.E. Extension of the Pa. Turnpike..a real hub of an area..good travelling!!!!!
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
I think the movie was "The Truman Show" which was filmed at Seaside Fl., between Destin and Panama City.
This link will help and also point to other sites.
Yes, Newport, RI is beautiful. There are other nice homes in Rumson, NJ and seaside homes on many places on the Jersey Shore.
Historic Williamsburg, VA, though they are reproductions, are first rate. The DuPont's Winterthur (I'm not spelling it correctly) in Delaware is impressive. Georgetown in DC is very classy colonial city architecture.
Depends on what kind of architecture you're interested in. New Hope and Bucks County are great for Colonial and early farmhouses primarily (although there are other notables, like the Moravian Tileworks). About 45 mins. south in an area called Chestnut Hill is one of the greatest concentrations of amazing turn of the century houses I can imagine.
I can second the recommendation on Georgetown in Washington, DC. I grew up there and it has a alot of nice homes, very walkable between the different places so you can cover alot of ground stylewise and see a good deal of homes in a short period.
If you haven't seen the gingerbread houses on Martha's Vineyard they are definitely worth seeing, there are some beautiful homes in Salem, MA. There are also some really nice places on Beacon Hill(as Piffin said), as well as in Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA.
There's a town on Cape Cod, I think Yarmouth or Harwich..can't remember, that has a hotel that looks right out of the Great Gatsby along with the 1920's looking individual beach-tent/umbrella things. There are some other historical homes in that area that are very nice.
-Ray
If you are passing through any way you might want to visit "Historic Hudson Valley" - just about 20 miles north of NYC are a large number of Historic homes that are open to the public - Sunnyside (Home of Washington Irving - of Headless Horseman fame) Lyndhurst - a National Trust Home; Kykuit, the Rockefeller family Estate (with Union Church at Pocantico with Chagall windows), Philipsburgh Manor ( a collection of farm homes from the revolutionary period on) among others - Further north there are even more Boscobel; Caramoor; etc.... All of these homes are on the east bank of the Hudson (with AMAZING views of the Hudson river) and are within 20 miles of each other.
These guys knew how to live!
Fredericksburg Virginia, just off I-95 in Virginia about an hour south of D.C. is worth a swing through. The traffic can only have gotten more horrendous in the 15 years since I lived there, but it's so close to the highway you'd want to at least peek at the downtown. You could do a nice day's walk through the close in neighborhoods and of course, if you interested in the Civil War the whole area is a place of pilgrimage.
"I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon." ~Ellen de Generes
Fredriksburg is a fine place! I lived there for half a year way back when and drove through not long ago and was impressed all over again.
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It was a lovely place! We lived up on Marye's (sp?) Heights near the college. I wish I had been more of a walker then, it would have been so easy to spend more time meandering through the town. I wish we'd lived there longer than a couple of years.
Hmmmmmmmmm, starting to wonder about where to go when I retire. Probably will head back east, and Virginia sounds nice."I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon." ~Ellen de Generes
"Virginia sounds nice"
nice and expensive!
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Yeah, but Portland sure ain't cheap!"I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon." ~Ellen de Generes
Now that you've made me think of it, most places with great architechture have great property values!
Besides,
any librarian worth her salt
if she doesn't know where the money is buried
knows where to look it up.
;)
I know, I know, you can still only check it out for two weeks like the rest of us
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My top picks would be The Breakers, and The Marble House in Newport,R.I.The only bad thing about visiting places like these is that when you get home you feel like burning your house to the ground.
They are usually not on the tourist maps but you should be able to find, without to much searching, some really fine Trailer Parks.
the South East Is world renowned for them.
All kinds too
Parrallel stacked, inline stacked, Double wides, wheels on + wheels Off,
Metal skirts, Haybail skirts, With & without septic, Metal roof, shingle roof and blue-tarp & tire.
Mr T
Happiness is a cold wet nose
Life is is never to busy to stop and pet the Doggies!!
Go South young man. From Charleston to Beaufort to Hunters Island, you won't believe this place, and on to Savannah.
If you get down far enough, I second St Augustine in Fla. I shot a documentary there a fews years back and there are plenty of stunning architectural examples. A really cool lighthouse too if I remember right.
If you're going to Charleston, SC, you've GOT to see a certain 1700's plantation home...darn it can't remember the name....but you'll see it featured in one of the "things to see" flyers.
Neat thing about it is that it's NEVER been modernized, just carefully and appropriatley restored by a non-profit organization that exisits just to keep it up. They conduct tours several times a day. You can see the hand-planing marks in the raised panel doors and other hand carved woodwork.
Also some excellent unrestored slave cabins with original cypress clapboards.
Closest thing to getting on a time machine than I've been on for awhile.
Sorta depends what you like to look at.
I second Salem MA and Boston.
Also, Portsmouth NH. Portsmouth and Salem are extraordinary for pre-industrial revolution structures. These ports exceeded Boston in their day.
If you goto Newport, do not miss these somewhat lesser known attractions:
Belcourt is on Bellvue like the rest, but privately owned, and less visited. I think this is one of the more interesting tours, though the house is in rougher shape. http://www.belcourtcastle.com/
Also, Blithewold in nearby Bristol is spectacular. http://www.blithewold.org/
Bristol itself is an interesting place, including the Herreshoff Marine Museum, and Colt State Park.
If you like the guilded age part of Newport, consider the summer "cottages" in the Berkshires too. I like Naumkeag in particular. http://www.berkshireweb.com/trustees/naumkeag.html
Been to New Hope and don't think much of the architecture there. I think it was a simple river town which has now morphed into a tourist town. Nice quaint place though.
I'd suggest going south on I-95 about 45 minutes into downtown Philly. (or exit at Girard ave and see some of the gentrifying (sp?)neighborhoods like Fishtown & Northern Liberties) See Old City, then cross town on Lancaster ave (with your windows up and doors locked) through some troubled areas, then along the Main Line and some of the finest suburbs in the country. Stay on Lancaster Pike (US 30) and you'll be in Amish country. (the traffic is terrible ).
I've never left the state, so that's the total of my recommendations.
C
I've got the answer!
Just drive all the length of US HWY 1 from top to bottom. You'll find lots of little architectural suprises. Like this little delight!
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That is impressive. Did you work on that?
Come to think of it, a person might learn more on a bad architecture tour than on a good architecture tour.
Nope. We were driving by on Rte One a coiuple weeks ago and I had the wife stop so I could shoot iot. Got half a dozen picts, all angles. Lot of very interesting things going on and all proportionate and pleasing to look at. After we got down the highway a piece, I got to thinking tjhat the inside might have been a treat too and we should have stopped for a meal
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I second St. Augustine. Also in Florida, there are a few spectacular turn-of-the-century neighborhoods in Miami, with some great spanish-influenced architecture, but some of these areas are islands in the seedier areas of Miami, and have been converted to gated communities.
Not sure how far south you're willing to go, but you can't beat Key West for vernacular achitecture.
Andy