New Video!

We recently added a new video to our YouTube Channel. This video feature some of the projects completed by Michael R. McLeod, Architect, PA. You can find a complete list of his completed projects at http://www.mcleodarchitect.com/.

We would love any feedback you may have for us regarding and of our projects. Thanks for checking out our blog!

Happy Earth Day

How well do you know the History of Earth Day? We found a quiz from Planet Green that tests your knowledge about this green holiday. These questions may be more difficult than you think. Here's a few to get you started, good luck!

1. When was the first Earth Day celebrated?
A. 1968
B. 1970
C. 1975
D. 1980

2. Which politician is considered the founder of Earth Day?
A. Senator Gaylord Nelson
B. President John F. Kennedy
C. President Richard Nixon
D. Senator James L. Buckley

3. The first Earth Day consisted mostly of enviromental demonstrations, but also resulted in which of these legislative moves?
A. The creation of the EPA
B. The Ammendmant of the Clean Air Act
C. The development of the Clean Water Act
D. All of these

Are you ready? Take the complete earth day quiz from Planet Green here

What are your plans for this years Earth Day? Leave us a comment and let us know your plans are and how you did on the Earth Day quiz.

Answers: 1. B, 2. A, 3. D

The Island Cottage

Last month on our blog we featured the Porches Cottage, a design ideal for a streetscape lot in a beach house community or anywhere large, covered porches are desirable. If you missed our post on the Porches Cottage you can can get caught up to speed by clicking here, or watch the feature video on our youtube channel here.

This month we created another youtube video to feature a Southern Cottage classic, the Island Cottage.

The Island Cottage house plan is a playful coastal cottage getaway with wrap around porch, roof decks and roof-top observation loft. The plans are available in several different foundation arrangements and sizes such as the standard crawlspace foundation, piling foundation or basement foundation. For more information on this popular cottage design please visit our website or get comfy, pull out a bag of popcorn and enjoy our youtube premiere of The Island Cottage.

Once playing click on video again to view in larger format.

Stevenson Mazda, Wilmington

If you live in the Wilmington area, and have driven down Market Street lately, then were sure you have seen the eye catching Stevenson Mazda Dealership. At night it is hard to miss the dealership's "jewel box" double-stack car display. The facility was based on the Mazda national prototype image program and represents the latest cutting edge of auto sales and marketing.

Stevenson Mazda Wilmington, NC

mCafe

Stevenson Mazda at night

For more information on this project or others completed by Michael R. McLeod please visit our website at http://www.mcleodarchitect.com/.

2010 Azalea Festival Fun

A few of us from the office headed down to the Azalea Festival this weekend and participated in some of the shows and and activities offered downtown. Here are a few pictures from what happened this past weekend.

Stacey and her daughter Lana ventured out to the annual Garden Tour which featured 12 different gardens and the famous Azalea Belles.

The Bellamy Mansion

Lana won over the hearts of all the Azalea Belles she met on the Garden Tour.

Mike and Laura took their grand kids out to see the elephants, tigers, clowns and others perform at the Cole Bros. Circus.

Cole Bros. Circus

A circus would not be complete unless there were some face painting. Pictured above is Mike and Laura's daughter Jenny, and her husband Scott, and their three children: Landon the Pirate, Braden the Zebra and Laura Kayte the Tiger.

Jody braved the Saturday afternoon crowds with a few friends to watch the parade and wander around the many booths and exhibits.

We all had a great time in Wilmington this past weekend and look forwards to nexts years Azalea Festival.

63rd Annual North Carolina Azaelea Festival

The 63rd annual North Carolina Azalea Festival kicked off its 5 days of celebration this week here in the greater Wilmington area.

The Azalea Festival started in 1948 for the purpose of showcasing the beauty of the local gardens such as Airlie Gardens, Orton Gardens, and Greenfield Garden. Since then the festival has grown to include a circus, parade, art show, concert, architecture and garden tours, a firework show and more.

The forecast for this weekend is said to be sunny and in the mid 70's. Hope to see you out there! We'll be sure to post some of our pictures from this upcoming weekend activities.

Legend of the Widow's Walks

If you have visited our Southern Cottages House Plans site, you may have noticed a few of our cottages featuring the popular widows walk. But have you ever wondered why they call it a widows walk? You may be surprised where this architectural detail actually originated from.

You may be familiar with the most common legend of the widows walk. It goes something like this:

"The faithful and dedicated wife, performing her daily circumambulations on the cold and lonely widow's walk: The next sail to top the horizon may well carry her husband, gone to sea these many years. But not today. the sun sets, bring to a close her lonely vigil for this day. Perhaps, though, the much anticipated vision will appear tomorrow and if not tomorrow, the next day."

Recently we read an article from the Fisherman's Voice titled Widow's Walk which discusses the evolution of this popular architectural detail. The author, Tom Seymour, believes that the legend of the widows walk may be nothing more than a "sentiment-laden myth". Here is a summary of his article and his idea of where the widow's walk originated.

Originally, widows walks served as an access point in the roof located near the chimney. Back when houses were generally heated by wood, the residents ran the risk of chimney fires. The widow's walk provided a quick and safe route up to the chimney in which water or sand could then be poured downed the chimney to douse the fire.

The actual appearance of the widows walk has gone through a lengthy evolution. On most colonial structures the widow's walk was nothing more then a simple hatch opening to the roof. At this point in time the widow's walk was strictly used for practicality and lacked any aesthetic appeal.

When the New England economy had begun to improve in the late 1800's, and budgets for building increased, more stylized and ornate widow's walk started to become the trend. These newly altered widow's walks were generally fully enclosed with windows that were able to open to allow for ventilation during the warm summer months. They also provided a great place for people to have their afternoon tea or evening cocktail while enjoying the view.

In the late 19th century after the advances of highly stylized widow's walk came about, the legend of the lonely wife waiting for her captains safe return from sea came about as well. Since then this has became the most popular origin of this popular architectural detail found in many historic homes, and homes still being built today.

The modern version of the widow's walk can regularly be seen in seaside towns. Since the price of ocean views comes at a premium, many have chosen to build a little farther back from the shoreline, and still take in the ocean view a top the widow's walk.

Our Widows Walk House Plan Designs incorporate a roof-top windowed cupola or "widows walk", which we refer to as an observation loft, accessed via spiral stair from the second story hallway. This observation loft is a great place to glimpse a distant view, to survey the landscape or to find a special place to read a book or to work on a project in your personal studio.

Island Cottage

Mountain Cottage