Photo: Carolyn Reyes Photography © 2017 Houzz
Eclectic exterior home photo in Los Angeles

Stuart Wade, Envision Virtual Tours The second-largest and most developed of Georgia's barrier islands, St. Simons is approximately twelve miles long and nearly three miles wide at its widest stretch (roughly the size of Manhattan Island in New York). The island is located in Glynn County on Georgia's coast and lies east of Brunswick (the seat of Glynn County), south of Little St. Simons Island and the Hampton River, and north of Jekyll Island. The resort community of Sea Island is separated from St. Simons on the east by the Black Banks River. Known for its oak tree canopies and historic landmarks, St. Simons is both a tourist destination and, according to the 2010 U.S. census, home to 12,743 residents. Early History The earliest St. Simons Island Village record of human habitation on the island dates to the Late Archaic Period, about 5,000 to 3,000 years ago. Remnants of shell rings left behind by Native Americans from this era survive on many of the barrier islands, including St. Simons. Centuries later, during the period known by historians as the chiefdom era, the Guale Indians established a chiefdom centered on St. Catherines Island and used St. Simons as their hunting and fishing grounds. By 1500 the Guale had established a permanent village of about 200 people on St. Simons, which they called Guadalquini. Beginning in 1568, the Spanish attempted to create missions along the Georgia coast. Catholic missions were the primary means by which Georgia's indigenous Native American chiefdoms were assimilated into the Spanish colonial system along the northern frontier of greater Spanish Florida. In the 1600s St. Simons became home to two Spanish missions: San Buenaventura de Guadalquini, on the southern tip of the island, and Santo Domingo de Asao (or Asajo), on the northern tip. Located on the inland side of the island were the pagan refugee villages of San Simón, the island's namesake, and Ocotonico. In 1684 pirate raids left the missions and villages largely abandoned. Colonial History As Fort Frederica early as 1670, with Great Britain's establishment of the colony of Carolina and its expansion into Georgia territory, Spanish rule was threatened by the English. The Georgia coast was considered "debatable land" by England and Spain, even though Spain had fully retreated from St. Simons by 1702. Thirty-one years later General James Edward Oglethorpe founded the English settlement of Savannah. In 1736 he established Fort Frederica, named after the heir to the British throne, Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, on the west side of St. Simons Island to protect Savannah and the Carolinas from the Spanish threat. Between 1736 and 1749 Fort Frederica was the hub of British military operations along the Georgia frontier. A town of the same name grew up around the fort and was of great importance to the new colony. By 1740 Frederica's population was 1,000. In 1736 the congregation of what would become Christ Church was organized within Fort Frederica as a mission of the Church of England. Charles Wesley led the first services. In 1742 Britain's decisive victory over Spain in the Battle of Bloody Marsh, during the War of Jenkins' Ear, ended the Spanish threat to the Georgia coast. When the British regimen disbanded in 1749, most of the townspeople relocated to the mainland. Fort Frederica went into decline and, except for a short time of prosperity during the 1760s and 1770s under the leadership of merchant James Spalding, never fully recovered. Today the historic citadel's tabby ruins are maintained by the National Park Service. Plantation Era By the start of the American Revolution (1775-83), Fort Frederica was obsolete, and St. Simons was left largely uninhabited as most of its residents joined the patriot army. Besides hosting a small Georgia naval victory on the Fort Frederica River, providing guns from its famous fort for use at Fort Morris in Sunbury, and serving as an arena for pillaging by privateers and British soldiers, the island played almost no role in the war. Following the war, many of the townspeople, their businesses destroyed, turned to agriculture. The island was transformed into fourteen cotton plantations after acres of live oak trees were cleared for farm land and used for building American warships, including the famous USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides." Although rice was the predominant crop along the neighboring Altamaha River, St. Simons was known for its production of long-staple cotton, which soon came to be known as Sea Island cotton. Between Ebos Landing the 1780s and the outbreak of the Civil War (1861-65), St. Simons's plantation culture flourished. The saline atmosphere and the availability of cheap slave labor proved an ideal combination for the cultivation of Sea Island cotton. In 1803 a group of Ebo slaves who survived the Middle Passage and arrived on the west side of St. Simons staged a rebellion and drowned themselves. The sacred site is known today as Ebos Landing. One of the largest owners of land and slaves on St. Simons was Pierce Butler, master of Hampton Point Plantation, located on the northern end of the island. By 1793 Butler owned more than 500 slaves, who cultivated 800 acres of cotton on St. Simons and 300 acres of rice on Butler's Island in the Altamaha River delta. Butler's grandson, Pierce Mease Butler, who at the age of sixteen inherited a share of his grandfather's estate in 1826, was responsible for the largest sale of human beings in the history of the United States: in 1859, to restore his squandered fortune, he sold 429 slaves in Savannah for more than $300,000. The British actress and writer Fanny Kemble, whose tumultuous marriage to Pierce ended in divorce in 1849, published an eyewitness account of the evils of slavery on St. Simons in her book Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839 (1863). Another Retreat Plantation large owner of land and slaves on St. Simons was Major William Page, a friend and employee of Pierce Butler Sr. Before purchasing Retreat Plantation on the southwestern tip of the island in 1804, Page managed the Hampton plantation and Butler's Island. Upon Page's death in 1827, Thomas Butler King inherited the land together with his wife, Page's daughter, Anna Matilda Page King. King expanded his father-in-law's planting empire on St. Simons as well as on the mainland, and by 1835 Retreat Plantation alone was home to as many as 355 slaves. The center of life during the island's plantation era was Christ Church, Frederica. Organized in 1807 by a group of island planters, the Episcopal church is the second oldest in the Diocese of Georgia. Embargoes imposed by the War of 1812 (1812-15) prevented the parishioners from building a church structure, so they worshiped in the home of John Beck, which stood on the site of Oglethorpe's only St. Simons residence, Orange Hall. The first Christ Church building, finished on the present site in 1820, was ruined by occupying Union troops during the Civil War. In 1884 the Reverend Anson Dodge Jr. rebuilt the church as a memorial to his first wife, Ellen. The cruciform building with a trussed gothic roof and stained-glass windows remains active today as Christ Church. Civil War and Beyond The St. Simons Island Lighthouse outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 put a sudden end to St. Simons's lucrative plantation era. In January of that year, Confederate troops were stationed at the south end of the island to guard the entrance to Brunswick Harbor. Slaves from Retreat Plantation, owned by Thomas Butler King, built earthworks and batteries. Plantation residents were scattered—the men joined the Confederate army and their families moved to the mainland. Cannon fire was heard on the island in December 1861, and Confederate troops retreated in February 1862, after dynamiting the lighthouse to keep its beacon from aiding Union troops. Soon thereafter, Union troops occupied the island, which was used as a camp for freed slaves. By August 1862 more than 500 former slaves lived on St. Simons, including Susie King Taylor, who organized a school for freed slave children. But in November the ex-slaves were taken to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Fernandina, Florida, leaving the island abandoned. After the Civil War the island never returned to its status as an agricultural community. The plantations lay dormant because there were no slaves to work the fields. After Union general William T. Sherman's January 1865 Special Field Order No. 15 —a demand that former plantations be divided and distributed to former slaves—was overturned by U.S. president Andrew Johnson less than a year later, freedmen and women were forced to work as sharecroppers on the small farms that dotted the land previously occupied by the sprawling plantations. By St. Simons Lumber Mills 1870 real economic recovery began with the reestablishment of the timber industry. Norman Dodge and Titus G. Meigs of New York set up lumber mill operations at Gascoigne Bluff, formerly Hamilton Plantation. The lumber mills provided welcome employment for both blacks and whites and also provided mail and passenger boats to the mainland. Such water traffic, together with the construction of a new lighthouse in 1872, designed by architect Charles B. Cluskey, marked the beginning of St. Simons's tourism industry. The keeper of the lighthouse created a small amusement park, which drew many visitors, as did the seemingly miraculous light that traveled from the top of the lighthouse tower to the bottom. The island became a summer retreat for families from the mainland, particularly from Baxley, Brunswick, and Waycross. The island's resort industry was thriving by the 1880s. Beachfront structures, such as a new pier and grand hotel, were built on the southeastern end of the island and could be accessed by ferry. Around this time wealthy northerners began vacationing on the island. Twentieth Century The St. Simons Island Pier and Village opening in 1924 of the Brunswick–St. Simons Highway, today known as the Torras Causeway, was a milestone in the development of resorts in the area. St. Simons's beaches were now easily accessible to locals and tourists alike. More than 5,000 automobiles took the short drive from Brunswick to St. Simons via the causeway on its opening day, paving the way for convenient residential and resort development. In 1926 automotive pioneer Howard Coffin of Detroit, Michigan, bought large tracts of land on St. Simons, including the former Retreat Plantation, and constructed a golf course, yacht club, paved roads, and a residential subdivision. Although the causeway had brought large numbers of summer people to the island, St. Simons remained a small community with only a few hundred permanent residents until the 1940s. The St. Simons Island outbreak of World War II (1941-45) brought more visitors and residents to St. Simons. Troops stationed at Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah; and nearby Camp Stewart took weekend vacations on the island, and a new naval air base and radar school became home to even more officers and soldiers. The increased wartime population brought the island its first public school. With a major shipyard for the production of Liberty ships in nearby Brunswick, the waters of St. Simons became active with German U-boats. In April 1942, just off the coast, the Texas Company oil tanker S. S. Oklahoma and the S. S. Esso Baton Rouge were torpedoed by the Germans, bringing the war very close to home for island residents. Due in large part to the military's improvement of the island's infrastructure during the war, development on the island boomed in the 1950s and 1960s. More permanent homes and subdivisions were built, and the island was no longer just a summer resort but also a thriving community. In 1950 the Methodist conference and retreat center Epworth by the Sea opened on Gascoigne Bluff. In 1961 novelist Eugenia Price visited St. Simons and began work on her first works of fiction, known as the St. Simons Trilogy. Inspired by real events on the island, Price's trilogy renewed interest in the history of Georgia's coast, and the novelist herself relocated to the island in 1965 and lived there for thirty-one years. St. Simons is also home to contemporary Georgia writer Tina McElroy Ansa. Since Epworth by the Sea 1980 St. Simons's population has doubled. The island's continued status as a vacation destination and its ongoing development boom have put historic landmarks and natural areas at risk. While such landmarks as the Fort Frederica ruins and the Battle of Bloody Marsh site are preserved and maintained by the National Park Service, and while the historic lighthouse is maintained by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, historic Ebos Landing has been taken over by a sewage treatment plant. Several coastal organizations have formed in recent years to save natural areas on the island. The St. Simons Land Trust, for example, has received donations of large tracts of land and plans to protect property in the island's three traditional African American neighborhoods. Despite its rapid growth and development, St. Simons remains one of the most beautiful and important islands on the Georgia coast.

Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary dark wood floor dining room remodel in Chicago

The Ossido line stems from a wager against time, in an attempt to crystallise a material at a specific point in its life and have it stay that way forever. Specifically, it entails the reproduction of a oxidation process on slabs of copper and metal, which generates a very strong and rich colour, yet which inevitably disappears as the oxidation process progresses.

ILT attempted to protect native trees on site while restoring the prairie. Hiking is a delight.
Design ideas for a huge farmhouse full sun rooftop stone formal garden in Chicago for summer.

Hiding permanent stain on a leather club chair made by small dog and enlarged by attempted cleaning. After
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Our attempt at a North Shore Boston Victorian-era Dining Room. Although we do not entertain a lot, the room is very visible and was worth a complete overhaul from 1990s-era decor. We were propelled by a burst cast-iron pipe in the winter of 2021! The project is almost done now, just waiting for a 19th century sofa to be added (after its much-needed re-upholstery). Will update in early April with better photos.

It was in 2012 when Mike Spreckelmeier first met Roy and Patti. They had been despondent after meeting with multiple contractors in an attempt to start their kitchen remodel. The contractors lacked follow through, came tardy to meetings and even failed to show up at others. Determined to leave nothing to chance in the pursuit of their dream, Roy and Patti followed up on a recommendation after overhearing a conversation that was taking place while they were standing in a gallingly long line waiting to cast a vote on Election Day. With a solid recommendation to pursue, Roy and Patti contacted Progressive Design Build. The rest is history. Mike showed up on time. For a small retainer, he provided preliminary sketches, ideas for maximizing space and storage, and solutions for a sunken family room that created a safety hazard and a problem with traffic flow. More importantly, he designed the project to the homeowners’ budget. Progressive Design Build shot some different elevations and designed a plan to raise the floor, allowing all finished floors to be on the same level. Upon completion, the kitchen was stunning. Features included LED backlit fire glass shelving, white recessed panel cabinets, a subway tile backsplash, Granite countertop, integrated refrigerator, undermount sink, and more. The living room was designed with complimentary finishes and included a natural stone fireplace wall with open cabinets flanked on both sides. The 12’ fireplace was made with a floor-to-ceiling white pebble finish. This Bonita Bay project completed on time and on budget—allowing this fabulous family a wonderful opportunity to create lasting memories for many years to come.

Coore audio upgrade: Dressed, labeled, managed. Do not attempt with the cabinet guys shelves.
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Example of a mid-sized trendy multicolored two-story mixed siding house exterior design in Other with a shed roof and a metal roof

The Ossido line stems from a wager against time, in an attempt to crystallise a material at a specific point in its life and have it stay that way forever. Specifically, it entails the reproduction of a oxidation process on slabs of copper and metal, which generates a very strong and rich colour, yet which inevitably disappears as the oxidation process progresses.

It was in 2012 when Mike Spreckelmeier first met Roy and Patti. They had been despondent after meeting with multiple contractors in an attempt to start their kitchen remodel. The contractors lacked follow through, came tardy to meetings and even failed to show up at others. Determined to leave nothing to chance in the pursuit of their dream, Roy and Patti followed up on a recommendation after overhearing a conversation that was taking place while they were standing in a gallingly long line waiting to cast a vote on Election Day. With a solid recommendation to pursue, Roy and Patti contacted Progressive Design Build. The rest is history. Mike showed up on time. For a small retainer, he provided preliminary sketches, ideas for maximizing space and storage, and solutions for a sunken family room that created a safety hazard and a problem with traffic flow. More importantly, he designed the project to the homeowners’ budget. Progressive Design Build shot some different elevations and designed a plan to raise the floor, allowing all finished floors to be on the same level. Upon completion, the kitchen was stunning. Features included LED backlit fire glass shelving, white recessed panel cabinets, a subway tile backsplash, Granite countertop, integrated refrigerator, undermount sink, and more. The living room was designed with complimentary finishes and included a natural stone fireplace wall with open cabinets flanked on both sides. The 12’ fireplace was made with a floor-to-ceiling white pebble finish. This Bonita Bay project completed on time and on budget—allowing this fabulous family a wonderful opportunity to create lasting memories for many years to come.

It’s always a great surprise to find old tiled flooring hidden underneath carpet or linoleum which appears especially common with 19th century properties where it’s not unusual for the owners to uncover fantastically patterned, original Victorian tiled floors and, naturally, they want to restore them to their former glory. If you have a property of this type you might want to look under the carpets. The majority of the time, however, these tiles have been covered up for decades, allowing for thick layers of muck to build-up and are invariably damaged carpet grippers, surface glue and adhesive tape. This was pretty much the case with this customer who lives in the town of Warminster and was keen to have her own newly discovered Victorian hallway brought back to life, and called me down to see what could be done. Upon arrival at the property, I determined that the tiles would definitely require a very deep clean, including the remove of numerous glue stains, followed by the application of a new seal. Before I could begin the deep cleaning process, I needed to remove the carpet grippers and surface glue, attempting to remove as much as possible by hand using a scraper. For the particularly stubborn areas, I applied Tile Doctor Remove & Go, a powerful stripper specially designed to break down adhesives and solvents, and left it to dwell for 20 minutes to eat through the glue deposits. I then attached a black pad to a rotary machine and scrubbed the area thoroughly to clean the affected areas, before removing the resulting slurry using a wet vacuum and rinsed with clean water. Once I was satisfied that all of the glue had been removed, I proceeded to soak the floor using a solution of the high alkaline cleaner known as Tile Doctor Pro Clean. This is a versatile product that can be used on a wide range of natural stone floors to deal with heavy soil build-up. I left the Pro-Clean to dwell for ten minutes, and then scrubbed it into the tiles to remove the ingrained dirt and also to break down any old and ineffectual seals. The floor was then once again rinsed thoroughly with clean water which was then extracted using a wet vacuum before being left to dry for a couple of days. Upon our return to the property I immediately tested the floor for damp using a damp meter. This is an extremely important test to carry out before sealing any kind of tiled flooring, due to the fact that excess moisture left over from cleaning can cloud the sealer and damage its ability to protect against dirt and stains. Thankfully, the damp test revealed no excess moisture, and I was able to proceed with sealing the tiles. My choice of sealer was Tile Doctor Seal and Go, a water-based topical sealer that simultaneously provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable and aesthetically pleasing low sheen finish, also being water based it doesn’t give off a smell as it dries. This is a very cost effective product that is highly suitable for use on Victorian and Quarry tiles, I applied five costs to achieve the desired finish. The customer was very pleased with the final results. It’s always satisfying to restore original Victorian tiled floors to looking their best once again – and this one was no exception. Stuart Ford Wiltshire Tile Doctor

Gaia luxury chandelier shown in Nickel with Swarovski Elements. In Greek mythology, the earth was created out of chaos. The Goddess overseeing all, was called Gaia, the Goddess of Earth. Designing is also an attempt to bring order into the chaos of lines, materials and possible combinations. The organically formed branches of Gaia, dance around the crystals, protecting them in a playful yet harmonious embrace. The sublime Swarovski crystals, no longer mere pieces of decoration but by now the very heart of the lighting sculpture, radiate a phenomenal array of reflection and colour.

a 'lasagna mulch' method to enrich the soil in preparation for spring planting around a lemon tree which has been affected by the ongoing drought in an attempt to gather more water thru the winter el nino rainy season TERRA SECO GARDENS

A family that spends a lot of time in and around their beautiful saltwater pool, did not have a place in their home that provided them a visual or physical connection. They also lacked any storage for all their pool “stuff”. With small children and a love for entertaining, they needed a room that served and supported their watery lifestyle. We took over an empty and unused notch along the back of the house adjacent to the pool patio to create a new bright and airy pool house. The new out building attempts to unify 4 areas; an existing deck, an upper master bedroom balcony, a lower lawn, and the pool itself, and provide the missing storage. By locating the pool house at the juxtaposition of these areas, the new room was able to provide a new expanded rooftop balcony for the master, anchor and define the dining and barbeque deck, extend and connect to the pool and patio, and create a new access to integrate the lower lawn – and carve out the much needed storage for the variety of pool toys and equipment. The building itself is 400 sf with bath, laundry, storage, mechanical, kitchen, and living. A single new secure connection is made into the house through the existing mudroom. Clad with crisply detailed ship lap cedar, it draws on the existing material palate of the house and nods to the boat aesthetic in expression and efficiency. With pocketing glass walls the pool house is both the utility building needed, and an expansion of the vibrant pool scene itself, inside and outside, along the poolside. Photographer: Brandon Stengelwww.farmkidstudios.com Location: Edina, MN Completed: 2013 Project Team: Ben Awes AIA, Principal-In-Charge Bob Ganser AIA Christian Dean AIA Nate Dodge

VISION AND NEEDS: Our client came to us with a vision for their dream house for their growing family with three young children. This was their second attempt at getting the right design. The first time around, after working with an out-of-state online architect, they could not achieve the level of quality they wanted. McHugh delivered a home with higher quality design. MCHUGH SOLUTION: The Shingle/Dutch Colonial Design was our client's dream home style. Their priorities were to have a home office for both parents. Ample living space for kids and friends, along with outdoor space and a pool. Double sink bathroom for the kids and a master bedroom with bath for the parents. Despite being close a flood zone, clients could have a fully finished basement with 9ft ceilings and a full attic. Because of the higher water table, the first floor was considerably above grade. To soften the ascent of the front walkway, we designed planters around the stairs, leading up to the porch.

This is painted as part of Tree series. I chose Aspen for their lovely white trunks and flower-like leaves. The artwork has been accepted to be displayed in the juried show. Painted on premier quality canvas stretched on a 1.5 thick frame, using artist grade oil paints, the work is a humble attempt to bring focus on the beauty of nature. Painting is sealed with acrylic varnish and sides are painted black. It is unframed and hangs with d-link and wire assembly. It can be framed as needed. The painting is shipped with certificate of authenticity and care instructions. About Artist About the Artist Bhavna is a San Francisco based independent artist who tries to make a difference through her passion for arts and portraiture. More info at https://bhavnamisra.com/ Email: bhavna.misra@gmail.com

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