Jennifer Sale Crane

VAF 2010: “Housing Washington”

Jennifer — Sun, 23 May 2010 14:50:45 +0000

The 2010 Vernacular Architecture Forum conference, “Housing Washington,” has sadly drawn to a close. I’ve heard from many in the architectural history and preservation fields that VAF conferences are their favorite, and now I understand why. A great balance of bus tours, walking tours, and sessions of three 20-minute presentations grouped by theme keeps things [...]

Gunnison Homes: Hidden in Plain Sight

Jennifer — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:58:44 +0000

There’s an open house this weekend of a charming postwar cottage for sale in Silver Spring, with some special qualities that are hidden in plain sight. 1948 Gunnison Home prefab. 9130 Walden Rd., Silver Spring, MD The front brick chimney stack with wrought iron “S”, small metal chimney or roof vent with double slits, and seams on [...]

The Aluminaire

Jennifer — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:50:43 +0000

Aluminaire, NYIT, Central Islip, NY, Aug. 2009 The 1931 Aluminaire just can’t catch a break. It has been moved, and subsequently forgotten, not once, not twice, but thrice in its lifetime. Each time, after a brief flurry of excitement about this one-of-a-kind early American International-style house, it has faded back into obscurity, waiting to be rediscovered [...]

The Geek Atlas: Historic Sites of Science & Technology

Jennifer — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:45:25 +0000

With the increase in preservation of 20th-century historic sites has come a parallel rise in preservation efforts for buildings and places that played host to some of the greatest innovations in science & technology. As a former digital content manager, married to a computer programmer who’s nuts about science, I’ve been following with interest the [...]

BBC Series on UK Preservation

Jennifer — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:15:43 +0000

The BBC is currently airing a documentary series on English Heritage, a historic preservation (termed “conservation” in the UK) governmental advisory commission. It’s a rare opportunity to get an inside look at how our British brethren face the day-to-day challenges of preservation, including the ongoing debate about brutalism. Unfortunely, the Guardian claims that this “grimly [...]

Night at the Museum

Jennifer — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:49:20 +0000

One week ago, on Sunday night around 8:00pm, I received an emergency call that made my heart stop — an ADT rep told me that the smoke detectors in the Arlington Historical Museum had just been set off, and they had notified the fire department. It was the type of call I’d feared most as [...]

DC Community Heritage Project – Grant Workshop tonight

Jennifer — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:05:00 +0000

The Humanities Council of Washington, DC is offering up to $2,000 for nonprofits working on projects to document and preserve DC’s heritage. Deadline for applications is May 1st. To get information and assistance for applying, attend the grant workshop tonight, Tuesday, April 21 rom 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM, at the Southeast Neighborhood Library. For more [...]

The Greening of Historic Preservation

Jennifer — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:42:30 +0000

I spent this past weekend back at my alma mater, Goucher College in Baltimore, for the conference “A Critical Look at Sustainability and Historic Preservation.” Sustainability is a hot button issue for preservation, especially when it comes to LEED standards for green building and whether they really give historic buildings credit where credit is due. [...]

Desperately Seeking Pola: The Conundrum of Oral History

Jennifer — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:34:53 +0000

From the ubiquitous ("George Washington slept here") to the obscure (Bunny Man Bridge), every community has local lore unproved as fact or fiction. Local legends, like some old Hollywood screen legends, often refuse to die. Local myths linger on, taking on new life and usually growing more salacious with each successive generation. Sometimes the story is so preposterous, local historians won't touch it. But often there's just enough plausibility, or a thin shred of evidence, to lure us on a wild goose chase for the truth. 

The First American Prefab?

Jennifer — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:25:11 +0000

We Americans have long been obsessed with documenting -- or claiming -- firsts in achievements and innovations. A claim to "being first" can be influenced by the precise definition of the achievement, the available information at the time of the claim, and yes, ego. In the case of architecture, many prefab homes have been erroneously awarded the title of "first prefabricated house in America."

Some folks think prefab in the U.S. dates back to the Sears Homes of the 1910s to 1930s, since they are perhaps the most successful and well-known kit homes. Many other prefab homes are mislabeled as "one of the earliest," but actually miss the mark by at least 40 or 50 years.