January 2011

Powell, Jane, and Linda Svendsen. Bungalow Details: Exterior. Salt Lake City [Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2004. Print.

I was trying to figure out good paint colours for the trim on our brick house (currently a weird mix of dark brown, green, and pink), and was thrilled to see another book by Jane Powell, whose book on Bungalow bathrooms I recently reviewed most glowingly.

I looked in vain for paint suggestions, beyond her mentioning several times that bright white trim is NOT appropriate – she seemed to think that I knew what was appropriate already.  I thought I saw reference somewhere in the book to another book that dealt purely with paint colours, but I can’t find it now, either in the resources or in a quick skim of the book.  I will keep on the lookout!

What I loved was her rant on vinyl windows, and she references this article here from a Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Newport.  Her rant goes on for several pages, though!

Bibliography:

• Aladdin Company, The. Aladdin Homes: “Built in a Day” Catalog #29. Bay City, Michigan, 1917. Reprint by Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1995.
• American Technical Society. Cyclopedia of Architecture, Carpentry, and Building, Volume I. Chicago, Illinois, 1916.
• Building Brick Association of America, The. One Hundred Bungalows. Boston, Massachusetts: 1912. Reprint by Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1994.
• Duchscherer, Paul, and Douglas Keister. Outside the Bungalow: America’s Arts & Crafts Garden. New York, N.Y., USA: Penguin Studio, 1999. Print.
• Duchscherer, Paul, and Douglas Keister. The Bungalow: America’s Arts and Crafts Home. New York: Penguin Studio, 1995. Print.
• Grimmer, Anne E., and Paul K. Williams. The Preservation and Repair of Historic Clay Tile Roofs. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Preservation Assistance Division, 1992. Print.
• Grimmer, Anne E. The Preservation and Repair of Historic Stucco. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Preservation Assistance Division, 1990. Print.
• Hull, Brent. Historic Millwork: a Guide to Restoring and Recreating Doors, Windows, and Moldings of the Late Nineteenth through Mid-twentieth Centuries. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003. Print.
• Jester, Thomas C. Twentieth Century Building Materials: History and Conservation. [New York, NY]: McGraw Hill, 1995. Print.
• King, Anthony D. The Bungalow: the Production of a Global Culture. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984. Print.
• Lancaster, Clay. The American Bungalow: 1880-1930. New York: Abbeville Pr., 1985. Print.
• Levine, Jeffrey S. The Repair, Replacement, and Maintenance of Historic Slate Roofs. [Washington, D.C.?]: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resources, Preservation Assistance, 1993. Print.
• Meany, Terry. Working Windows: a Guide to the Repair and Restoration of Wood Windows. Guilford, CT: Lyons, 2008. Print.
• One Hundred Bungalows. —. Boston: Rogers & Manson, 1912. Print.
• (Incomplete)

Wormer, Andrew. Tile Idea Book. Newtown, CT: Taunton, 2005. Print.

Continuing on my run of Taunton Press’s “Idea” books, this tile book seemed like the ideal way to get some stylish (but hopefully not too trendy) tips on bathrooms.  I was surprised by how many pages they devote to kitchens, but of course between back splashes, floor tiles, and the trend of “feature” tiles between the stove and range hood, I should have expected it.

As usual from Taunton, we have tons of pictures of various rooms in the house, including patios and outside stairs.  It goes beyond inspiration with, for example, historical detail, like the tiled risers on Spanish Revival villas. They point out the use of tile in period bathrooms, like the hexagonal tiles traditional in a 1910s-era “sanitary” bathroom, but also show how to update it (not that I would) with small inset tiles or a border.  Finally, they give tips on laying out tiles, which is very useful to me – I tend to start small with the individual tiles, and forget that establishing an overall pattern is important.  They recommend, for instance, a trim line of accent tiles that lines up with the window head casing, and another line that runs just below the window trim, creating a horizontal line that also ties together the room, makes it appear bigger, and acts as a back splash for the sink.

I’ll definitely put this on hold again when I’m planning our bathroom reno.

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.

I read this book in December, during a sick day or two when I wasn’t able to go to work.  I didn’t have anything on the go, so my son loaned me this book that he’d received as a gift for his birthday.

This is a fantasy novel in either an alternate universe or dystopian future.  The protagonist is a female teenage who is the main provider for her family, but then gets taken away to participate in the Hunger Games of the title – a televised competition that pits teens against each other in a death match.

My expectations were low, which is perhaps surprising since I often admit to a love for Young Adult fiction.  I guess I expected this book to be violent – which it mostly is – and therefore not very good – which was an unfair assumption.  I found the characters to be reasonably well developed, the story to be riveting, and the ending to be satisfying and not quite as formulaic as I feared.  I’ll definitely read the next in the series when I need a light, gripping read.

Powell, Jane, and Linda Svendsen. Bungalow Bathrooms. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith, 2001. Print.

This book is, without doubt, the best book on bathrooms I have seen yet.  Forget the “Bungalow” in the title – it is not limited to just Bungalow-style houses.  Powell goes through the entire history of bathroom facilities from the Romans to recent times.  She ends that introductory part by pointing out that bathroom technology is not much different than the 1910s and 1920s, and that after you’ve replaced your old toilet with a low-flow version, a one-hundred-year-old bathroom is perfectly usable.

The book is full of wonderful pictures of bathrooms from museums and private homes, but also manages to pack in a ton of useful information.  Powell breaks down her recommendations into two kinds; “Obsessive Restoration” and “Compromise Solution”.  I’m sure my husband appreciates me being told that some things are obsessive, and it’s nice for an author to show two approaches without presenting her way as the only way.

I hadn’t fully understood that the standard white subway-tile walled, white hex-tiled floor bathroom with white fixtures was standard across all kinds of houses from the late 1800s to the 1920s.  This “sanitary” style was designed to promote health by easy cleaning.  The exuberant bathrooms of the 1920s and 1930s started in 1926 with the advent of coloured porcelain for fixtures, which led to the brilliant green, pink, blue, and every other colour of tile you have seen in old bathrooms (my grandmother’s was pink and black, although it dated from the 1950s).

I’ve renewed this book at the library twice, which means I’ve had it more than two months now, and I’m still sorry that it has to go back tomorrow.  I’ll be going through it again, any time I consider changing anything in a bathroom I own.

Works Cited

• Beecher, Catherine, and Harriet Beecher Stowe.  American Woman’s Home.  New York:  J. B. Ford and Co., 1869.  Reprint: New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1998.
• Clow and Donaldson. Standard American Plumbing: Hot Air, Hot water Heating, Steam and Gas Fitting. Chicago: Frederick J. Drake & Co., 1911.
• Croutier, Alev Lytle. Taking the Asters. New York: Abbeville Publishing Group, 1992.
• Hart-Davis, Adam.  Thunder Flush, and Thomas Crapper. London: Michael O’Mara Books, 1997.
• Horan, Julie L. The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet. Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing, 1997.
• Jester, Thomas C. Twentieth Century Building Materials. Washington, DC: McGraw-Hill Companies, 1995.
• Lambdon, Lucinda. Temples of Convenience and Chambers of Delight. London: Pavilion Books, 1998.
• Lupton, Ellen, and J. Abbott Miller. The Bathroom, the Kitchen and the Aesthetics of Waste: A Process of Elimination. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1992.
• Maddock, Thomas. Pottery. Trenton, New Jersey: Thomas Maddock’s Sons’ Company, 1910.
• National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Well-Appointed Bath. Washington, DC: The Preservation Press, 1989.
• Ogle, Maureen. All the Modern Conveniences. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns-Hopkins University Press, 1996.
• Pathak, Bindeswar, Ph. D, Litt. D. History of Public Toilets. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Public Toilets.
• Prentice, Blair, Helaine Kaplan, and the City of Oakland Planning Department. Rehab Right. Oakland, California: City of Oakland, 1978. Reprint, Berkeley, California: Ten Sopeed Press, 1986.
• Sears Roebuck and Co. Consumer’s Guide Fall 1909. 1909. Reprint, New York: Ventura Books, 1979.
• The Editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine. Sunset Bathrooms Planning and Remodeling. Menlo Park, California: Lane Publishing Col, 1983.
• The Victorian Bathroom Catalogue. London: Random House, 1996.
• Wilson, Henry L. A Short Sketch of the Evolution of the Bungalow: From its Primitive Crudeness to its Present State of Artistic Beauty and Cozy Convenience. Los Angeles, n.d. Reprint as California Bungalows of the Twenties. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1993.
• Building with Assurance. Chicago, Morgan, 1921.  Reprint as Homes and Interiors of the 1920s: A Restoration Design Guide. New York: Sterling Publishing, 1987.
• Wright, Lawrence. Clean and Decent: The Fascination History of the Bathroom and W.C. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd., 1960. Reprint, London: Book Club Associates, 1971.

Waller, Robert James. The Bridges of Madison County. New York, NY: Warner, 1992. Print.

I picked this up from the bedside table in the guest room at my parents’ house during the holidays.  She sometimes puts out books she thinks a guest will like, sometimes piles up books she’s getting rid of, and I think sometimes it’s a place for her to put books that she borrowed from someone.  In any case, it’s usually a coin flip what you’ll find there.

This slim volume captured a lot of imaginations in 1995 when it was published, enough that it was made into a Meryl Streep/Clint Eastwood movie.  I didn’t see the movie and never thought about reading the book, and all I can say about it now is “meh”.  I read it in two evenings before falling asleep, and although it was entertaining enough I can’t say I would recommend it.

The conceit that it isn’t really fiction – that it came from notebooks written by the main character – I found annoying.  It seemed like an apology from the author, to make me accept a romance story more readily than I normally would.  I also never buy the plot of a love that was born in an afternoon, and a relationship that lasted less than a week, leading to a long-term relationship where they’re “true” to each other in spirit, without ever seeing each other or even communicating.  That might be romance, but it’s not love, to me.