Tea at Trianon: Is Pre-War Architecture Just Outdated Style With Good Marketing?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Is Pre-War Architecture Just Outdated Style With Good Marketing?

From House Beautiful:

As any architecture enthusiast who slows down while driving on a historic street dotted with 100-year-old homes knows, they just don't make houses like this anymore. And we're not just saying that as a sentiment; we're stating it as a fact. The artisans who created such works of art throughout the first half of the 20th century practiced crafts you don't often see these days. This explains why a historic home from this era may be more intriguing to some, including Patrick Ahearn, founder and lead architect of his eponymous firm in Boston. In a pre-war home, "you'll see elements like beautiful inlaid hardwood floors, significant crown molding, and plenty of wood-burning fireplaces," he says.
Ahearn isn't the only prominent figure in the design community who would rather renovate and improve upon pre-war architecture than create a new build. "Pre-war architecture is timeless, well-built, and functions as the bridge between the past and modern living," says New York City-based Stephen Chrisman, partner at Ferguson & Shamamian Architects. "The details and materials in pre-war architecture provide character and give context to a house or building and bring real beauty into our lives." Of course, there are plenty of restorers and builders out there who can expertly recreate the ornate and sometimes lavish details often found in the nooks and crannies of old structures, but it just isn't the same as actually living with the original architecture. "These houses can be very easily revived, and in doing so, you can breathe new life into a structure that's full of character and uphold the fabric and themes of an overall neighborhood," Ahearn notes. That coveted sense of character, history, and community is what can't be easily recreated. (Read more.)