Lost art of common courtesy renovating...

I've got my ranty pants on this evening. The demise of basic common courtesy is my general bug bear at the moment. Why are people so inconsiderate, everywhere you go? From shops to queues to restaurants to school pick-up zones. Everywhere! And it got me thinking about the art of common courtesy when renovating.

One of the things about renovating is that if you are doing anything that may directly affect your neighbours in some way, you should try to keep them informed. It is kind of the unwritten rule.

For us, we think very highly of our neighbours who call in or leave a courtesy note in the letterbox to let you know what is happening, whether they are lopping an overhanging tree or even demolishing a house. When they don't keep you in the loop, you feel let down.

image from here

When our neighbour at the back of the Sow's Ear had to demolish a house, which had been damaged by fire, he left a note in our letterbox explaining what was going to happen and when. He also left his phone number so we could contact him if we had any questions. And you know what, that was enough to keep us happy. The art of courtesy is so simple really.

We've been renovating for four years and we hope we've never done anything that has affected our neighbours adversely. Maybe we have?

Sometimes you are so caught up in your own renovation that you forget how your renovations may be affecting those around you.  I'm always on to Jason about not using power tools too early in the morning...but alas, he has been known to power-up first thing on a Sunday morning in all eagerness to get a project finished!

Is it just me feeling this way about the demise of general common courtesy? Are you guilty of doing some discourteous renovating?

New mouldings in the front entry

We have new bull nose and scotia moulding for around the entry windows.

I probably wouldn't have bothered myself, but Jason is one for finishing things off. A details man, if you like. The fact that the entry was decorated with D mould rather than with something more substantial bothered Jason greatly.

Here's what the entry windows look like now. 

Ha! It's very subtle, isn't it? But it gives us great comfort that it matches the rest of the Sow's Ear.

And below is a picture of the entry with it's old D mould border.

It's the small things people!

Front entry windows

For a renovating blog there's not a lot of renovating happening around here at the moment. Jason's been tackling a few smaller projects this winter. They're not major things but the cumulative effect of these jobs finish off the Sow's Ear nicely.

Although we renovated the front entry when we first bought the Sow's Ear, there was one small job that Jason had put on his wish list when the opportunity arose.

That opportunity presented itself when I asked him one lazy morning,"When are you going to get your gear off and do some work around here?"

He got up and put on his King Gees and nail belt. He's totally embraced the work wear look, so the shirtless shots are becoming a rare sight.

The job involved removing some old D mould around the front entry latticed windows and fitting a decorative bull nose and scotia mould. Architectural bling. Jason can't get enough of it.

removing the old D mould from the window

the new mouldings are at Jason's feet.

I 'll show you what it looks like after it is all painted.

Interiors house tour of Brisbane's western suburbs

Another MAD house tour is done and dusted.

This year the Australian Modern publishers, Chris and Susan, outdid themselves with a record number of 70 people joining in on all the modernist fun. The tour concentrated on four homes located in the Western suburbs of Brisbane - Toowong, Indooroopilly and Fig Tree Pocket.

The first home on tour was actually a charming 1923 Queenslander nestled in Toowong, a stone's throw from Mount Cootha. It was owned by a lovely artistic woman who so graciously welcomed us into her home. She told us some of the history of the house which has been in her family since it was built. The interior was a tribute to art and all things beautiful, collected over a lifetime. It was warm and inviting and exuded that feeling of home.

(Please excuse my photos which are poor iPhone quality on a wet and very overcast day.)

Front entrance of the 1923 Queenslander

Enclosed verandah.
I think the tiled coffee table is by Milton Moon 

The next home we visited was Jacobi House in Indooroopilly which was designed by iconic Brisbane architectural firm Hayes & Scott in the 1950s. I've already written about this home here if you are interested in reading more. The new owners are steadily restoring the home which was riddled with white ant damage when they acquired it in 2007.

A corner of Jacobi house in the front of the bookcase which partitions the main living area from the bedroom and bathroom.

We also had the pleasure of visiting Etlin House, designed by Hayes & Scott in 1963 and located in Fig Tree Pocket. The owners have made few alterations and have kept the essence of this mid-century home intact. It is also for private sale or rent in the New Year (if it was on my side of town, I'd snap it up instantly). You can email me if you'd like the details.

The owners kept the original cabinetry and updated the kitchen respectfully. Very cool.

One end of the central lounge room in the Hayes & Scott house. The art work is amazing.

The very last home we saw was designed by well-respected Brisbane architect Geoffrey Pie in 2010 for his daughter. We only viewed the ground floor of the two-storey Fig Tree Pocket home. The bottom floor was constructed from concrete and besser blocks. The property is prone to flooding and if ever the big flood happens again everything can be moved to the top floor, while the entire bottom floor can be hosed out in the aftermath.

This home was full to the brim with great art and decor.

exterior shot near the fire pit. Love the Casalas....

After the tour was over, we were all invited to Geoffrey Pie's family home (the adjoining property to his daughter's home) to eat the yummy lunch which was provided on the tour by super Susan. We were told to make ourselves at home and to enjoy, which we did!

His home is an old timber and tin building with wide verandahs. It is the epitome of a family home, much like the feeling of the first house we visited in Toowong. Again, it was full of art, photographs and objects collected over a lifetime...a real home with no pretensions. We were also allowed the privilege to view Geoffrey Pie's studio that contained 50 years of his archived architectural career.

front bedroom with yellow Mexican suzani

A corner of the dining room with Pandoro cake tins made into lamps.

And that concludes the MAD weekend. It was fabulous and I highly recommend anyone who is interested in great mid-century homes and interiors to join us next year! I'll let you know when the next one is scheduled.

What is the collective noun for many caravans?

How do you describe a group of caravans? Is it a troop of caravans? A fleet of caravans? An armada of caravans? A caravan of caravans?

Well, whatever it is I saw a lot of caravans in the middle of suburbia on Saturday night for the Modernist Architecture and Design weekend. Each year (read about last year's here) the Australian Modern publishers, Chris and Susan, host a fun weekend of modernist architectural talks, films and entertainment. MAD!

This year didn't disappoint and the events were full to capacity. When we arrived we were treated to the sight of about eight vintage caravans parked in and around the mid-century homes in Carina. The theme was cool caravans and cocktails.

Some of the caravans (that travelled from as far as NSW) had actors inside doing a series of readings on topics like drive-in movies, the Mix-master and the typical caravan holiday. It was such a delight to sit in the caravans with lots of different people!

The lovely independent publishers of Vintage Caravan Magazine also provided each guest a copy of their mag. Yay!

Modernism and vintage caravans

After cocktails and dinner, we all congregated inside to watch architect Bud Brannigan's slide show presentation about a sympathetic renovation he worked on in St Lucia during the 1990s. The small mid-century home had been designed in the 50s/60s by renowned Brisbane architect Dr Karl Langer. 

Bud took us on this thoroughly engaging journey of the complete renovation design process. We learnt a little about the original owners who built the home, the sub-tropical designs Karl Langer and landscape architect Arne Fink collaborated on and about the new owners' dilemma of needing more space for a young family. 

The renovation was a fabulous success story with the owners being happy with the end result. And we, as the audience, were feeling all warm and fuzzy...until the last slide when Bud revealed the renovated home was sold a few years later and the new owners demolished the building to construct a project home. 

The full house screamed in collective horror, 'Nooooooo!" 

Such is life.

image from here

The next speaker was Scott MacArthur one of the principal Heritage Architects who worked on the mammoth three year renovation of Brisbane City Hall which was built between 1920 and 1930. What a privilege it was to hear him speak and to view his photographs of the restoration project. Again, it was another engaging talk and although not strictly modernist in nature, it provided an insight into the painstaking job of restoring the heritage listed building. 

I haven't seen the refurbished City Hall yet but I am now going to pay a special trip to see it. The new work looked stunning in Scott's photographs.

image from here

It is always such fun these MAD weekends. In my next post, I'll show you the photos from the interiors house tour that was held yesterday. And if you are keen to know more about the MAD weekends, drop Chris from Australian Modern an email and he can put you on the subscriber list for next year.