Your Old House Popular Museum Series Filled With Advice
Cheney Cowles Museum’s popular Old House Workshop is back, and this time even the kids are invited. The series begins Tuesday evening with an overview of interior design from the late-Victorian period through Arts and Crafts, Colonial Revival and Art Deco.
Then on Saturday, Feb. 25, museum volunteers team up with local architects to lead walking tours of Browne’s Addition’s First Avenue, where the whole family will learn what exterior details distinguish Spokane’s handsome old mansions.
The series concludes Feb. 28 with a session devoted to historic landscaping techniques.
“We’re consciously making an effort to develop family programming,” Campbell House curator Marsha Rooney says of this year’s new Saturday session. “Architecture offers a wonderful opportunity to explore interdisciplinary themes like science, design, mathematics and historic preservation.”
Since its inception in 1989, the workshop has been a hit with homeowners eager for advice about their own restoration projects, as well as with amateur historians.
The museum took a workshop break last year and instead sponsored a visit by Steve Thomas, a Ferris High School graduate and host of public television’s “This Old House” series.
This year’s first workshop session will convene in the City Hall Council Chambers, W808 Spokane Falls Blvd. The other two will be held at Cheney Cowles Museum, W2316 First.
The workshop costs $8 per person for each Tuesday evening session, and $10 per family for the Saturday morning walking tour. Admission to all three sessions is $21 per person, $40 per couple. Based on previous years’ attendance, Rooney recommends calling the museum at 456-3932 to pre-register for sessions that interest you.
Here’s more information about each session:
Tuesday at 7 p.m., interior designer and restoration specialist Cynthia Blue-Blanton will discuss floor and wall coverings, window treatments, light fixtures and other decorating details popular between 1880 and 1930.
She promises plenty of handouts, along with explanations of why early Spokane builders chose particular products - certain woods, wallpapers and textures.
“Homeowners need to understand the history of (early residents) before they start knocking out walls,” Blue-Blanton says.
She plans to pay particular attention to the Craftsman bungalow style that dominated South Hill construction from 1911 to 1914.
“There was a surge of building in middle-class neighborhoods during those years,” she says, “that was greatly influenced by social concerns.
“People felt Victorian houses were too large, and that spaces like parlors and smoking rooms pulled families apart. Bungalows reflect the movement toward smaller floor plans.”
Blue-Blanton’s presentation will borrow heavily from the more thorough design courses she offers through Corbin Art Center.
Her spring courses at Corbin will focus on kitchen renovations, the history of Northwest bungalows and how they relate to the American Arts and Craft movement, and wicker style.
For more information about the Corbin Art Center schedule, call 625-6677.
The Saturday morning family session begins at 9:30 at the museum with a 45-minute lecture by architect Mac McCandless. He’ll discuss the role of architects, tools of their trade, and various styles of older homes.
After that, participants will break into smaller groups and walk to one of several nearby homes where, with the aid of an architect, they’ll study specific design elements - windows, doors, roof lines, chimneys, porches and siding.
Upon returning to the museum, family members will collaborate to draw the home they studied.
The session format is fashioned after a program designed by Integrus Architecture and Spokane School District 81.
“Our goal is not so much to pigeonhole each style of house,” explains workshop coordinator Jane Joseph, “but rather to encourage people to look more closely at homes and buildings they see around them.
“Sometimes you need to crane your neck to appreciate Spokane’s architecture.”
The final session begins at 7 p.m. Feb. 28, and examines historic landscaping techniques.
Robert Scarfo, Washington State University associate professor of landscape architecture, will talk about how historic preservation contributes to the health of a community.
From there, landscape designer Suzanne Snowdon will shift the discussion to a more personal level. She’ll look at specific landscape techniques appropriate for historic homes, and consider why homeowners did or didn’t use certain materials 80 years ago.
“I don’t think people use their yards today as much as they did then,” says Snowdon. “And we aren’t as dependent on what we grow in our gardens.”
Another difference, she says, is that people “were more careful about using vegetation for (climate control), since they couldn’t just turn an air conditioner on in summer.”
Gerry Kreuger of Blossoms and Bloomers nursery will suggest roses and perennials suitable for older homes.
The session will conclude with a trade show featuring local merchants and contractors who specialize in historic preservation and renovation.
MEMO: Two sidebars ran with this story under the following headlines: 1. Restoration continues on Campbell House 2. Historic awards