Photo Phriday - 2015 05 29

The garden at Domo Japanese Country Foods, a restaurant/museum in Denver.

Welby Manor: An Old Building Just North of Denver

One evening, driving around the northern Denver metro area, I drove past a really cool old house.  I always enjoy seeing interesting old buildings; remnants of days past.  My excitement turned to sadness when I saw a notice posted on the door.  It was dark and the house was set back pretty far from the road, so I couldn't read the notice.  I assumed it was a demolition permit or something similar.  I picked up my phone* and started searching for nearby addresses to see what was going on.  Why would someone tear down such a cool building?!  I know it's often cheaper and easier to scrape a lot and build some new, trendy, giant mixed-media thing, but... I prefer the character of old buildings.  They tell a story of the people who lived in the community.

As it turns out, the family that owns the building and surrounding land have been in that area since the late 1800s.  They aren't demolishing the building, they are renovating it and turning it into a focal point of the Welby community!  They are even hoping to turn it into a local museum.  Great news!

I went back a few weeks later and took some photos:

You can read more about Welby Manor here.  I'm glad that this building is being preserved, and I can't wait to see how the renovation progresses!

*I wasn't driving; I was a passenger. Drive safe!

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 22

Uphostery.  East Colfax, Denver, CO.

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 15

A sliver of the moon behind some clouds.

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 08

A flower from last fall.  Not much to say about this one, I just really like the colors and the bokeh.

Lumpy Brick Facades

Denver seems to love an architectural "style"* that I had never noticed prior to moving here.  Lumpy-looking brick facades!  Particularly on 1960s and 1970s apartment buildings.  Ready for some examples?

Examples
1270 Marion St, built 1965

252 Pennsylvania St, built 1971

1265 Downing St, built 1970

1783 Hudson St, built in 1928 (Bonus: a single-family home!)

Clinkers
So what is the deal with all of these lumpy-looking buildings?  After much searching, and thanks to ReadReidRead's blog post, I now know.  They're called clinker bricks, also known as "eccentric brickwork".  Deformed bricks used to be discarded, but then in the early 1900s someone had the brilliant idea to use them in actual building facades.  I'm all for using waste and byproducts, but let's just say the execution on this style isn't my favorite.  Used sparingly, clinker bricks can draw your eyes to different parts of a building.  But when a majority of the facade is made with clinker bricks?  It kind of looks like an inebriated person built your home.

It appears as though this trend didn't make its way to Denver until the 1960s, and fell out of favor by the end of the 1970s.  While there are a few homes built with clinker bricks from earlier (see the single-family example above), the apartment buildings made with clinkers are all from the 1960s and 1970s.

Thanks to automated manufacturing, there are fewer clinkers being made today by accident.  Unfortunately, it appears as though some companies actually make clinker bricks on purpose.

Sources and More Examples

• https://readreidread.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/what-are-clinker-bricks/ 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinker_brick
• http://www.oldhouseonline.com/guide-to-clinker-bricks/
• http://www.historicalbricks.com/products/antique-building-materials/clinker-brick
• http://www.oldhousejournal.com/exteriors_savvy_clinker_bricks/magazine/1495
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/pnmaryf/5193648485/
• http://www.berkeleyside.com/2010/07/14/where-in-berkeley-24/
• http://planetreuse.com/collections/price-asc-building-material/products/74#.VQm5dOH-mpQ

 *I put style in quotes, because I am not sold on their execution of such.

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 01

Spring is here!  Everything is blooming right now, but this photo is from a few years ago when I went to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, AZ.  Highly recommended!

Photo Phriday - 2015 04 24

A hike at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument near Pikes Peak.  I love the warm colors my old camera provided. :)

Photo Phriday - 2015 04 17

I am heading to New York in the near future, which means a visit to my favorite tea shop: McNulty's! Don't worry, even if you aren't into these herbal teas, there is plenty for you to choose from.  Their apple-flavored black tea is my favorite.  Bonus: it pairs well with bourbon or whiskey.

Photo Phriday - 2015 04 10

A rainy evening from when I visited Daejeon, Korea back in 2011.

Photo Phriday - 2015 04 03

The Cutty Sark!

Photo Phriday - 2015 03 27

Ha'penny Bridge over the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland.  It used to cost a half penny to cross this pedestrian bridge, built in 1816.  It is free to cross today.

Photo Phriday - 2015 03 20

One of my favorite photos from a recent vacation to the UK and Ireland, a view of the River Thames at dusk.

Photo Phriday - 2015 03 13 - Two Photos!

A special two-part Photo Phriday, since I missed last week.  Hot air balloons, taken at the Friends and Lovers Balloon Rally over Valentines Day weekend in 2015.

Photo Phriday - 2015 03 06 - No Photos Today

Sadly, there will be no PhotoPhriday today. But stay tuned, because there are interesting things coming soon!

Photo Phriday - 2015 02 27

Train bridge over the Delaware River, between Easton PA and Phillipsburg NJ. Taken from the trail under the Free Bridge on the Easton side of the river.

Also, happy 100th blog post to me! :)

Photo Phriday - 2015 02 20

Flowers outside of City Hall in Scottsdale, AZ.  Meanwhile, more snow on the way for the Denver metro.  Are you ready for spring yet?!  I am!

Photo Phriday - 2015 02 13

Former Bethlehem Steel building and one of the many steeples of South Side.

Photo Phriday - 2015 02 06

A dreary winter day in Denver's Uptown neighborhood, with a Downtown skyscraper (Wells Fargo Center, AKA "the Cash Register Building") in the background.

Interesting tidbit: when I looked up the Cash Register Building to find out its official name, Wikipedia told me that the building was originally intended for Texas and that "a heated roof is necessary to prevent snow from accumulating and sliding dangerously off the curved crown".

Photo Phriday - 2015 01 30

Alpine flowers at Summit Lake on Mount Evans.