Click on this photo to see it in the note cards/prints gallery.No two drystone wallers would build the same wall. That’s the magic of the medium. This wall is part of the old stone-barn ruin that I wrote about in a previous post. Dan Snow of Vermont writes in the Globe, “A derelict old wall can be restored to its original profile, but even when the same stones are used, it can never be the same wall twice. Every builder will handle the stones differently, resulting in a unique creation every time.” Snow’s book In the Company of Stone first introduced me to his lyrical stone work and poetic prose. I imagine I’ll find his latest book Listening to Stone (from which the Globe essay is adapted) equally engrossing. His is yet another craft I would love to learn. If only it didn’t involve all that heavy lifting…

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

Edward Glaeser writes in the Sunday Globe, “Instead of continuing the debt-fueled policies that got us where we are, why not rethink our approach to the housing market?” He suggests that government subsidies be redirected from "wealthy Americans who borrow to buy bigger homes" toward first-time home buyers, so we can build “more housing where it’s needed.” He continues, “Instead of spending federal money to encourage borrowing and keep prices high, it would make more sense to make housing more affordable by eliminating the artificial restrictions that stymie supply.” Like Rybczynski whose Wilson Quarterly essay I referred to in a previous post, Glaeser sees lot size and density as key factors in affordability. Glaeser writes, “In dense states like Massachusetts prices have been kept high by localities that oppose new construction, with large minimum lot sizes, Draconian barriers to subdivisions, and a general hostility to any multifamily housing. If those uses were eased, then housing would become more abundant and affordable.”

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

This wonderfully cogent essay by Witold Rybczynski, author of Home: A Short History of an Idea and The Most Beautiful House in the World among other books, addresses the “vicious circle” which keeps the cost of new housing out of reach for many. Rybczynski targets the availability of buildable “serviced land,” as a root of the problem. He writes, “For the neighbors, requiring large lots has two advantages: It limits the numbers of houses that can be built and, since large lots are more expensive, it ensures that new houses will cost more, which drives up surrounding property values. But reducing development has another, less happy effect: It pushes growth even farther out, thus increasing sprawl. While large-lot zoning is often done in the name of preserving open space and fighting sprawl, in fact it has the opposite effect.” This is why the Smart Growth and New Urbanism movements are calling for change.

Rybczynski continues, “Smaller houses on smaller lots are the logical solution to the problem of affordability, yet density -- and less affluent neighbors -- are precisely what most communities fear most. In the name of fighting sprawl, local zoning boards enact regulations that either require larger lots or restrict development, or both. These strategies decrease the supply -- hence, increase the ­cost -- of developable land. Since builders pass the cost of lots on to buyers, they justify the higher land prices by building larger and more expensive houses -- McMansions. This produces more community resistance, and calls for yet more restrictive regulations. In the process, housing affordability becomes an even more distant chimera.”

Wilson Quarerly link by way of the Boston Chapter of The Congress of Residential Architects

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

Every once in a while when I comb through my stacks of newly arrived shelter magazines, I think it’s time to reduce my subscriptions. I weigh which to eliminate, often zeroing in on the somewhat staid cover of Old-House Journal. Then I read the cover lines and find my curiosity piqued, and before I know it, I’m engrossed in a story.

The October issue (in print and online) has an interesting feature about a 1932 Frank Lloyd Wright house in Minnesota that’s being repaired by its private owners. As seems to be common with many of Wright’s houses, there were some practical failings from the get-go, mainly in the form of infiltrating water. When the original owner brought the moisture problem to Wright’s attention, he recommended the old standby solution: seal with goop. More specifically, OHJ reports Wright instructed, “The tops of the chimney and walls should be coated twice with rubberoid mastic. This will solve your problem.” OHJ notes “It didn’t.”

The article relays in some detail how the offending exterior components were recently addressed. I wish they had included floor plans and interior photos, but they understandably steered toward a more narrowly focused story. In the print edition there are some reproductions of original elevations and detail drawings for those who, like me, find such things intriguing. It’s enough to keep this subscriber coming back. See what you think.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

My photo of a meadow on Martha's VineyardThe New York Times highlights the hard work that goes into creating a perennial meadow and speaks with Larry Weaner of Larry Weaner Landscape Design Associates about the process. Weaner has been designing meadows for over two decades and is the founder of New Directions in the American Landscape, a nonprofit. Weaner explains that a newly planted meadow will take years to mature and “is not a thing of beauty in its first year.” With proper planning, preparation, upkeep, and patience it can become one though, as the photos that accompany the article can attest.

My mother designed and created a meadow in her backyard around the time Weaner began to study them in the early 80’s. Her meadow was a lush mix of hardy blooms and field grasses, billowing beyond the increasingly smaller area of lawn near the house. Though it probably occupied less than an acre, when you wandered through her meadow you were sure it was larger. It felt wild, free, and exhilarating. I’d like to create a meadow too; wouldn't you?

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast