VICTORIAN WINDOWS -- ARCHITECTURAL BEAUTIES
Richmond, Kentucky has one of the better collections of commercial second story windows I've seen in Kentucky towns -- most located in their old main street section. Now let me qualify that statement -- I have not seen all the towns in Kentucky. I'm sure there are many others with special qualities.
Included here are a couple of photos of the streetscapes displaying the contiguous line up of some of the buildings. I then have taken close-ups so you can view the workmanship of the Victorian windows.
Why the second story windows and not the whole building? Well, I wanted to concentrate on these old ladies as they appeared in the late 1800s when most of them were built. Sometimes the first floor can be rather contemporary in feeling.
This is not all of Richmond's historic commercial buildings. There are more around every corner you turn in the commercial section. This town is also filled with beautiful historic housing of all sizes and types. Richmond's population is presently a little over 33,000. I would call it a medium size town.
Check out second story exteriors in old towns -- you might discover some fine workmanship as well as beauty.
I went to Richmond to have my bicycle repair. You have nicely captured Richmond's historical district. When hearng the term "Old Ladies" always brings a smile to my day. Richmond does have many ARCHITECTURAL BEAUTIES.
ReplyDeleteKirk -- Yes, they do have a fine bike repair shop in Richmond. Nice that you are familiar with the historic architecture -- no matter if one likes contemporary or historic architecture one can enjoy the fine old workmanship. Thanks -- barbara
ReplyDeleteA great tip Barbara. So much historic detail is on top of buildings.
ReplyDeleteI just love the old buildings. In my city there is an old building that is named after my great, great, great, great grandfather. It says "Parkin Block" on the building. I like to drive by and just look at the building.
ReplyDeleteI love older buildings, especially in small towns. Too bad we can't always learn the stories behind the architecture.
ReplyDeleteMichelle -- Thanks for the comment -- Your posts have had some nice historic places in Kentucky -- barbara
ReplyDeleteBirdie -- Have you ever gone in the building? I would imagine it would be a walk back in time with your great, great, great, great, grandfather -- Thanks for the comment -- barbara
ReplyDeleteNCmountainwoman -- When I was in graduate school, I took a class where we went through old buildings both rural and town and "read the language of the building" It involved recognizing additions and dating it by materials used, shadows (wear marks) that told us which stairs were used the most, wear on the floor for traffic patterns, and more. Granted it was not an oral or written story but we learned that one can "read" the language of a building. Thanks for the nice comment -- barbara
ReplyDeleteWonderful windows, wonderful photography. People miss so much if they don't sometimes look up. I used to think that in NYC but it's true in many other cities and town.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, may I suggest a map of Kentucky sometimes. I assume Richmond is in eastern Kentucky and I'm going to go to my atlas in a moment to look. It's laziness that makes me make this suggestion. I love have geographic pinpoints when I read about interesting places.
Those are some exceptional beauties, Barbara! The vibrant colors in the first set really caught my eye (and won my heart), but the amazing, detailed intricacy of the windows and façades in the second set is stunning. (My favorites are the red and white building and the two-toned sand colored one.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I've been noticing the upper stories of the historic buildings on Sheridan's Main Street lately! We even went in to a law office right after New Year's to enquire about their upstairs (which you'll get to see on my next post, later today or tomorrow, featuring architectural details!) BW and I were entertaining fantasies about loft living downtown, though the lack of a yard for the dogs to romp in was pretty much going to be a deal breaker anyway. Still, it was a fun fantasy - the outsides of those upper stories are works of art, and I had fun imagining their "lofty" interiors. :-)
June -- Good point taken. I too like to know a place by its relationship to the whole of what is being talked about. I found this map online that I thought was informative on finding counties in Kentucky.
ReplyDeletehttp://geology.com/county-map/kentucky.shtml
Richmond is noted on the map as it is the county seat of Madison county. Madison county is in Central Kentucky.
I am gong to try and figure out a way to display the above map on my sidebar -- it might work?
Thanks for the suggestion and the kind words -- barbara
Laloofah --
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of living in an upper apartment over a storefront. Somehow it has a rather exotic feel to it. I knew a few folks in my life that did live in just such arrangements. The high ceilings of the apartments and the large windows facing the street gave these apartments such an air of spaciousness.
Your present abode is marvelous. It seems to fit everyone who lives in it.
Will look for the downtown apartment post.
Thanks for the comment -- barbara
Great pictures! The little town near us has some similar -- but not as many. And many are being renovated -- with very nice apartments upstairs.
ReplyDeleteThe closest old town to us is Fredericksburg VA. Unfortunately, in 1863 the Union Army pounded the center of town to bits, so there are few examples of old store fronts from before 1865. Plenty from later in the century. Also the old houses from the Colonial Era still stand (they are on higher ground above the downtown)though many like our University President's House on Marye's Heights are filled with bullet holes. I wonder how Richmond KY looked after the late War of Northern Agression?
ReplyDeleteYour buildings look like late nineteenth century. Perhaps they are newer old buildings? Interesting architechture nevertheless. I love old things. Dianne
Seen very very similar windows in Paducah Kentucky, just love the architecture which seems to have been lost in todays new buildings.
ReplyDeleteDiane -- I've not been to Paducah. Will have to try to get there in the future. I imagine there are many towns that I have not visited that have fantastic architecture. Thanks for the nice comment -- barbara
ReplyDeleteVicki -- I would imagine that the apartments will be rented right away. How quint it would be to rent a place in an historic building. Thanks for stopping by -- barbara
ReplyDeleteDianne -- They are late nineteenth century. No bullet holes then. There are bullet holes in some of the older buildings where the Battle of Richmond was fought. Thanks for the interesting comment -- barbara
ReplyDelete