October 2010, Issue 9
Book Review
Page 72
There are amazingly intricate details like wave course, rolled roof edges; stained glass portraits; mullioned glass windows with deliberately cock-eyed shutters; beehive or stair-stepped chimneys; carved wood; or fantastic wrought iron touches.
At the height of the style, even Sears, Roebuck & Co. got into the act, offering a medievalized English cottage in its 1931 catalog.
From individual structures to special court housing developments, much of the Storybook Style from all across America can be found in these pages although a good number of the homes featured are from California.
The Spadena House, formerly built in Culver City, California as offices and dressing rooms for a movie studio in 1921, was moved in 1934 to Beverly Hills, California and turned into a residence.
In Los Angeles, California is the Tam O'Shanter Restaurant, built in the early 20's retains its Storybook qualities even after all these years of being a functional restaurant.
A snow-covered cottage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA, looks like the real-life model of a Currier and Ives print.
The Cunningham House in Spokane, built in 1929, features a turret, stucco and the unusual roofing material clay tile. Tile wasn't favored for Storybook structures because its rigidness did not work well on their fluid roof lines.
Houses in America: Washington, DC; Baltimore, Maryland; and Asheville, North Carolina feature views of the rubble stone masonry plus several detailed shots of the interior of the Asheville Ellington House.
One of the later chapters entitled Cameos offers unique bits of the different houses, from door construction to light fixtures to a secret doorway hiding a linen closet.
The last chapter of the book is devoted to one of the most current Storybook constructions, the Morgan House in Olalla, Washington USA beginning in 1980. This house has been featured in magazines and television shows.
Come on inside and take a tour.
Custom Dolls, Houses & Miniatures / CDHM