What is old is new again...

The house on the corner has been empty for awhile.

The woman, a recent widow, has moved into an extended care facility.
We thought the family might be putting the home on the market for sale but they have decided to rent it to the granddaughter and her boyfriend. The young couple has been outside in the garden tidying things up, pruning and weeding ever since they moved in.

They have had the windows open wide and inside we have seen step ladders and pots of paint.
The old house is getting a much needed make over.

The tiny home was constructed in the early 1920's.
Mr. and Mrs. Prescott raised 3 sons here and by todays standards it's hard to imagine where would these 3 strapping boys sleep, let alone play.
Perhaps they all shared one room and had bunk beds or a make shift room in the basement or the wee attic room.

I imagine that they would have played outdoors like I did when I was younger. All kids played outside back in the 1950's, our Mothers knew that fresh air and exercise was what young children needed to grow up healthy.

Mr. and Mrs. Prescott were avid and energetic gardeners who spent many hours outside.
They had a thriving vegetable patch, raspberry bushes and fruit trees.
Mrs. P spent many hours tending her garden and making jams and preserving fruit.
We spoke over the fence often, shared snippets of plants, and often a basket of raspberries would come our way.
I learned a lot by watching them in the garden.

Mrs. Prescott spent Mondays washing clothes in her wringer washer
and she hung the clothes out to dry, rain or shine.

                             I am delighted to see that her grand daughter has followed in her footsteps...

The house would probably be a tear down if it was to make it to the market as the current price of lots in our area are $500,000 and up. So naturally we are rather happy that it is currently occupied and being well looked after and appreciated by the family.
I think Mrs. Prescott would be happy knowing that someone is tending her garden and using her clothes line.

I love that they are using the old wooden wheel barrow and all the vintage garden tools too.
I think it's all lovely and quite romantic...
what is old is new again.

Monday is still laundry day on our street...
Hope that your week is off to a fabulous start.

Vintage in the Humble Bungalow

I found this miniature bureau in an antique shop and fell in love with it. I was told that it might have been a traveling sales mans' sample piece.  I knew that it would be invaluable for storage of small things in my 1913 home.

Tiffany necklace which I wrap twice around my wrist and use as a bracelet.

West Coast First Nations Baskets

I love baskets and find they can be beautiful as well as functional.

This wee carving is a mouse, it is unusual. More commonly depicted in carvings are Frogs, Ravens, Eagles, Salmon, Whales and Seals.

Vintage West Coast First Nations Baskets in the Humble Bungalow

  

 Contemporary Sterling silver salad servers

in an early First Nations basket.

The Humble Bungalow lends itself to items from nature. The arts and crafts philosophy evolved from the Victorian era almost as a protest to the clutter and excesses that were common in Victorian times. Honest, simple understated designs using organic natural materials often found on site or locally gave the architect and builder their inspiration.

People were breaking away from the need to amass and accumulate.

Furniture styles were simplified and many pieces were made by the home craftsman. Patterns for furnishing projects were commonplace and featured simple unadorned designs.  Companies that did produce furniture printed and distributed catalogues from which the homeowner could order from.

Our furniture is mostly from that early arts and crafts period. The pieces that we own are in what is commonly referred to as "museum condition" meaning that they have not been refinished and the blemishes that have been acquired over the years are retained.

One chair in particular has a flat and heavy armrest into which someone, likely a child, has carved R.I.P. with a cemetery cross!

As the current resident of the Humble Bungalow I have chosen to decorate within these parameters of simplicity, form and function.

Collecting vintage and using items from nature are most appropriate.

Berried branches from the boulevard in a vintage Weller vase.

Mrs. Plant, a former long time resident of the Humble Bungalow.

She raised 3 children in this small home, tended her cottage garden and worked as a dressmaker to support the family.

The Humble Bungalow is on the Heritage Registry to save it from demolition in the future. Our job is to maintain and preserve it for the next generation.