Announcing BuildingRevival.com: ¡Viva la Preservación Revolución!

While it may seem like I’m a terrible person for not blogging for so long (yes, I am currently writing this in a hair shirt), I can assure you that I have been putting my green preservationy energies into other green preservationy things. One such thing I am particularly proud of: the birth of www.buildingrevival.com, a useful, quirky, accessible collection of resources, articles, projects and ideas for vintage home lovers. We are continually pumping more information and articles into the site, but alas, it is time to let this baby go off into the big, scary cyber world to claw its way into your hearts and minds. It’s pretty, informative, and we think hilarious.

Everybody loves them some Barn Porn.

The website is a collaborative effort between myself and Elisabeth Logman, a smartypants, preservationist, writer, masonry expert, webmistress, and craft maven who has worked tirelessly on this project. Basically, we were both sick of the tired old jargon and general approaches that have historically been employed in an effort to preserve buildings. We also simultaneously found ourselves wrapped up in a number of environmental/gardening/repurposing/rethinking initiatives. So we wanted to create something for everyone. Something accessible to people who think “preservation” is a dirty word, even though that’s pretty much what they want to do (think: “feminism”). We want more people to care about their older homes and, god forbid, actually have fun with them instead of treating them like relics or cursing them every time something needed to be repaired. Homes are meant to be lived in, not pumped full of formaldehyde and surrounded by lilies.

She would LOVE this website. Check out our latest post--it is her birthday, so don't be rude.

As the authors and creators, we also wanted an opportunity to learn and to write about what might initially seem a wee bit off topic while getting these points across. For example, I just learned about witch cakes, delightful pastries made from rye meal and the urine of the afflicted girls/witches, and how they were fed to a dog in an effort to prove guilt during the Salem Witch trials. How does this affect you, you might ask? Well, it might, and that sure seems like an important reason to check out the site. Crucial things like this can be found throughout www.buildingrevival.com, and will no doubt enrich your home life.

There are an obnoxious number of resources on the site in the Underpinnings section, each with its own little description. Yes, this has been a long time in the works, foks.

So, alas, check out the site. Let us know what you think. We have all the serious resources you could ever want available for perusal, but we also want to reach out to people who are not necessarily Daughters of the American Revolution or members of obscure crafting guilds (not that we don’t totally love you, too!), because well, most vintage homeowners are not of that ilk. We just want people to love their homes, stay put, and prevent them from being bedazzled with tacky ornamentation or replaced by unholy cardboard boxes. Suggestions and photo contributions to features like “Barn Porn” and “Houses Gone Wilde” are always welcome and encouraged.

Resident Granny will give you some upbeat tips on the good old days in our Depression Living section of the site.

Thanks to you all for your patience and feedback! Hopefully this will be your new favorite way to avoid writing the narrative portion of your National Register nominations.