The House

Here she is showing her best side. Its a classic Milwaukee bungalow built in 1927. It has many of the typical craftsman style features including some beautiful built in cabinetry with leaded glass doors. This was a transitional period in bungalow design and this house begins to show some Spanish Colonial influence; coved ceilings and deeply textured walls in the living room and dining room that give it an almost cave like feel. It also shows some of the first signs of faux, sporting a decorative fireplace complete with outlet for electric fire unit, and medieval looking light fixtures with applied finishes. As a founding member of the Foes of Faux, this does not sit well with me. Luckily the light fixtures can be changed and I have long term plans of installing a wood burning stove in the fireplace. Or if I get really ambitious (and come into some money), I'd love to build an exterior chimney and make the fireplace fully functional. For now I'm thinking of rewiring the cheesy fiberglass faux fireplace just for the kitsch factor. Although this summer we are mostly concentrating on the interior, eventually we're going to pull off the vinyl siding and the aluminum and let her breathe again. Then she'll really shine. I suspect, judging from the untouched overhang over the back entrance, that there are patterned cedar shakes under the siding and I believe that they curve outward at the bottom of the gables where they meet the brick. We'll give her a new color scheme too. Right now there's a bit too much brown and beige for my tastes. Shana will do wonders with the garden and eventually we'll add a low wooden fence and a new front porch.