Fetishes and obsessions – winners are Fedora and Karyn Gerard
Posted by Blaze Author in Sarah Mayberry, Uncategorized
Thanks to everyone for playing and for introducing me to some awesome new buildings. Happy reading until next month….
Original post:
Hmmm. I suspect I may have made this blog post sound more interesting than it is with that title. Oh well. You’ll just have to humor me! I wanted to talk this month about one of my enduring obsessions, the art, architecture and fashion of the Art Deco era. Ever since I was a youngster I have loved the rounded shapes of Art Deco furniture, and my first house had some fantastic stained glass feature windows with gorgeous Art Deco landscapes. I love the art, particularly the old travel posters, but my absolute passion is reserved for Art Deco architecture.
I love it. I love its curves and clean lines. I love the big windows and generous rooms. I love the simplicity. And when it comes to cinemas, I love its elaborate grandeur. We are lucky enough to have several fabulous Art Deco cinemas in my home town of Melbourne. I went to one recently to see Withnail and I, with the bonus of a pre-screening chat with one of the stars, Paul McGann. While everyone else was asking Mr McGann why he parked the car so strangely in scene 19 or something like that, I was gazing rapturously at the decorative plasterwork on the walls and the lovely old light fittings and the vaulted roof and…well, suffice to say I was off in my own little world.
The stunning leadlight roof.
The balcony seating - fit for royalty, with velvet seating and everything!
The screen.
When my partner and I went to Italy a couple of years ago, we spent two months renting an apartment in Florence and one of our favorite things to do was to go to the Odeon Cinema at night time to watch English language movies. This cinema has to be seen to be believed – it’s truly, breathtakingly stunning. I’ve included a couple of piccies here for you, but they in no way do this place any justice at all.
I tell you, you felt like royalty sitting in that cinema. Even bad movies took on a new gloss under that gorgeous lead-light dome. Every time someone tells me they’re going to Florence I urge them to seek out the Odeon – it lives large in my memory as one of the highlights of my trip.
The reason I’m sharing my obsession with you this month is because my latest book, Her Best Friend, is out at the moment and the heroine, Amy Parker, is also obsessed with Art Deco architecture (fancy that!). Her great-grandfather built The Grand Picture Theatre in the main street of Daylesford, a small Victorian town, back in the 30s, and ever since she was a little girl Amy has dreamed of buying back the now-decrepit cinema from the local council and restoring its grandeur. Every cent she’s ever earned has gone towards this goal, and now, at the ripe old age of 29, she’s about to achieve her dream. She’s got a big loan and she’s convinced the council to sell the cinema to her so she can restore it and turn it from an embarrassment and an eyesore into a tourist attraction – but there’s one small hitch.
I’m not going to spill all here, but you can read the excerpt over at my website here and it will get you started on the story. I loved writing this book, for so many reasons. I loved Amy and Quinn’s friendship, I loved the setting, and I loved creating The Grand. That place is so real to me, it’s going to be a rude awakening not to see it in main street when we next visit Daylesford.
I’m going to give away 2 copies of Her Best Friend or any other of my backlist books for posters this month. My question for you is this: what’s your favorite building/monument/architectural style? Are you all about modernism? Or are you nuts about gothic or the baroque? Does the Eiffel tower do it for you, or the Empire State Building? I’d love to hear from you, so over to you.
PS. And Happy Easter to you all. I hope you all made yourselves suitably sick on chocolate. My stomach is still aching…
Entries (RSS)
I like Gothic styles myself but my favorite building is The Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh.
Oh and I have to insert my jealousy into this comment. Paul McGann! He was the Eighth Doctor!!! I have a geeky obsession with Doctor Who.
Hi Andrea. Yes, there were quite a few Dr Who fans at the screening. But they managed to control themselves and only ask Withnail and I questions. Good self discipline! I just checked out the Cathedral on Google images – wow! It’s gorgeous. I’m about to go check it out some more…
Hi Sarah! I dont know that I like just one specific style. I like pieces from different ones. I love the stained glass of art deco, but I really love the victorian and renaissance style homes. But my dream home style would be Antebellum architecture. Big columns, covered wrap around porches and grand staircases. Something you would see in Gone With The Wind. Ok enough day dreaming this morning.
Hope you have a great night and I cant wait to read the new book! (*)
Hi Alina. I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil a few years back and wanted to go to Savannah so badly afterwards. Antebellum is divine – but really, I like all eras of architecture that have a “style” if you know what I mean. It’s the stuff that’s just like cookie cutter shoe boxes that drives me nuts.
I like classical style. Is that a style? Very traditional. I like Art Deco. I like to look at it, not live with it.
I know what you mean about living with Art Deco. We went to an exhibition at the national gallery in Melbourne last year and some of the Art Deco stuff is beautiful or even extraordinary to look at – but dusting it? Matching carpet to it? Letting your nephews and nieces play chasey around it? Not so much.
Hey Sarah. I love Art Deco, as well, and love so much of it you can find around NYC… they actually have some Art Deco tours there, I think…
But my personal favorite is the American Craftsman movement (closely related to Art Deco, though Art Deco is far more ornate and industrial vs A&C relationship with nature and openness), but of course growing up here in Syracuse, Stickley is a huge influence and we have many, A&C designed homes here (mine is not, being a 1950s Cape, but I would love to own one someday), as well as Wright and Maher.
I think what I love about the TV show Numb3rs, as much as the story and the handsome FBI agents, is the fan-tab-ulous FLW house they live in on the show…I would spend a genie wish for a house like that — good article on it here: http://articles.latimes.com/2005/feb/17/home/hm-numbers17). Love the wood, glass, the closeness to nature and handmade decor, well-designed woods, stoneware, etc.
I think the actual house is in LA and part of a famous houses tour… I love a lot of the British A&C as well, the William Morris wall papers, etc, but FLW more so.
When we were in Chicago, the architecture was incredible — terrific to walk the neighborhoods in old town there, some really beautiful and uniquely built old homes — but the stained glass museum, with a lot of A&C glass, was my favorite.
One of the things I love best when we go on vacations is looking at houses and buildings, and the architectural designs – love the Federalist styles in New England, shotgun houses in Key West, etc and here in CNY, a real mish-mash, but very heavily A&C inspired.
One of my favorite topics, and often finds it’s way into books.
Sam
Sam I totally agree with you about Numb3rs! Not only are the guys HOT, but the house is amazing! I love it!
Alina, I know I am often distracted by the house… until the guys are in it — can there be a better combination? LOL
Although I was inaccurate in calling it an FLW house, which it isn’t but it is FLW inspired…
It boggles my mind to think of what the cost of all of that furniture is… beautiful…
Sam
We don’t have A & C down here in Australia, strictly speaking. We pretty much went Victorian to Art Deco and “Between the wars” I think they call it. There’s a little bit of Art Nouveau, but I think A & C is very American, yes? Where does Frank Lloyd Wright fit into all of this? Because I LOVE his houses. And his furniture. Sigh. I love looking at architecture in the places we visit, too. One of my favorite things to do in Florence or Paris or Rome was just to walk around and notice the little, beautiful details.
Hey Sarah
Loving this discussion…
Arts and Crafts was started in England with William Morris and picked up here by craftsman like Stickley, Maher and FLW, and led into and overlaps with the emergence of Art Deco and Art Nouveau. Wikipedia actually has a decent summary here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_Movement — I have a few books on the subject, which is so fascinating to read about.
Yes, ditto on FLW. I have a Stickley desk, a small one, and we are looking at a Stickley china cabinet, but someday… I actually don’t like all of their pieces — the dining set we got elsewhere is more Craftsman style, to me, than what I saw at the Stickley showroom
If you ever come here, there are several very nice FLW houses and places to visit within driving range of Syracuse (one an overnight stay).
What I love particularly is the emphasis on nature and handmade crafts, which is how we have tried to pick up on the design aspects – we don’t live in a A&C house, but we design with as much A&C aesthetic as we can. Though I suppose our home, while it’s not in that “Style” does reflect the philosophy — the people who built it built it themselves, and they did work a lot with the large yard, nature, the gardens, etc and small spaces, lower ceilings, and hand-crafted items.
Anyway, I am off on a babble now. Glad you like our Art Deco centerpiece here in the city — I can’t believe the person on that blog said they wanted to move here because of that building, LOL. Syracuse has a lot of nice things about it, but I wouldn’t move anywhere because of one building, LOL.
Sam
Thought you might enjoy seeing one of our local Art Deco masterpieces here in Syr:
http://artdecobuildings.blogspot.com/2009/07/niagara-mohawk-power-corporation.html
Sam
Oh, wow!!! That’s freaking awesome. It’s like a transformer building. And I mean that it a good way. I will be forwarding this to my sister in law who loves US architecture. Thanks!
I am not really into modern, I love looking into the past… give me something to explore, to wonder what the walls held within…
Actually skipped the chocolate yesterday!
How good are you, skipping the chocolate! We went to my SIL’s place, about an hour’s drive away, and she cooked us this gorgeous meal and I was so stuffed that it felt like Christmas day. She even found Easter themed crackers, if you can believe that. Anyway, I was so full the only thing I had for dinner was my Humpty Dumpty egg. Don’t know if you guys have these in the US – it’s basically just a normal egg, with candy coated chocolate inside (like m and ms, but we call them Smarties down here). The foil on the outside makes the egg look like humpty dumpty sitting on the wall. It’s been my favorite egg for a long time and it’s a tradition in my partner’s family for us all to exchange them. I did feel sick after scoffing most of it, though. Ah, Easter….
Hi Sarah!
First, Oooo…Paul McGann, he was in the Hornblower movies and some BBC period pieces I love, like ‘Our Mutual Friend’, I am envious!
Love the shots you posted, I love Art Deco as well, also love those big, sprawling Victorian homes with lots of stained glass windows.
Stained glass is a recurring theme here, isn’t it? We have some beautiful Victorian homes down here in Australia. Very Australian stained glass, too – the traditional patters, but influenced by native flora. We’re house hunting at the moment and I keep looking out of town (actually, it’s Daylesford, where my book is set!) at the beautiful old Victorian farmhouses that are available out there. But I think it’s just too far away from the shoe shops and cafe lattes for us….
Hhmm….I love looking at buildings and architecture, but I don’t know 2 beans about what type any of it is!! I don’t tend to care for things that are ‘modern’, but other than that, I have no idea. The pictures you posted, Sarah, are lovely! I like things with multiple ‘layers’. As in, you look first and see the big round window, but if you look closer, you might see that the wood trim all the way around it is etched. Things like that!
We didn’t get any Easter candy this year.
We were going to an egg hunt yesterday and I’m used to the kids getting plastic eggs full of candy. I thought it would be plenty. Imagine my surprise when the town egg hunt had real, hard boiled eggs!! Way cool! But it meant we got no candy, LOL! Maybe I’ll check the store in the next day or so for discounts. 
Oh, yes, post Easter discounts are awesome. We ducked into the shops yesterday and everything was 50% off. And it will be better than that, I’m sure, as the days pass. I have a friend who worked in a chocolate factory and she tole me part of her job was unwrapping unsold eggs so they could be melted and turned into something else. And like you, I love the little details, too. Craftsmanship and caring about aesthetics – they’re the things that get me going.
Hi Sarah,
I’m a big fan of Tudor style homes. I actually like the gothic and baroque styles. You can’t go wrong the flying buttresses.
I know what a flying buttress is (even though it sounds a little rude, very Blaze-y!). Notre Dame has flying buttresses, I think. They’re a big part of Gothic, aren’t they, because not much Gothic was done on a minor scale. We don’t get much Tudor down here, for obvious reasons, and the last time it was popular as a style was the 70s and those houses are a little goofy because they didn’t replicate the look very faithfully. But real Tudor is gorgeous.
I absolutely love the modern look. I’m a big fan of the industrial warehouse look to big city apartments. And of course I have to have my stainless steel. The black and white motif is also gorgeous with bright splashes of color.
Hi Joder, for many many years my fantasy has been to live in a very cool industrial warehouse conversion. Or maybe an old church that’s been converted. I love the mix of industrial and domestic finishes. We’ve kind of missed the craze down here in Melbourne a bit – they started doing conversions about 15 years ago and now they’re all so expensive I’d need to write 30 books a year to afford one. I keep this file on my computer of house ideas, and one of my favorite bathrooms is a very simple one with white tiles interspersed with vertical rows of bright pink, aqua, jade green and black tiles. It sounds very garish, but it’s super clean and fun looking – great for a family bathroom or a modern house.
I’m with Cathy, I have no clue what different styles there are except modern. I don’t particularly like modern. There is a house a few streets from me that absolutely love. It has a gazebo, a barn, a green house, and a willow tree. The house reminds of a nice country cottage. If I had a dream home that would be it.
I did get my M&Ms for Easter, so I was a happy camper.
Oh, this sounds like my dream house, too! We almost bought a house like this when we were living in NZ – with the bonus of a gorgeous pool in the backyard. Sigh. And there’s nothing wrong with M &Ms. Yum!
Hi, Sarah! I don’t really know much about architectural styles, but tend to prefer the cleaner lines rather than the more intricate/stylized designs. I think when we were shopping for furniture, I tended to prefer something between country and Mission-style… My husband tends to like the modern look, but I’ve got so much stuff that it really doesn’t work as a style in our home. Maybe some day, when we get better decluttered! Happy Easter to you, too! Not much candy here, sadly–perhaps it’s time to hit some of those post-Easter sales
Eggs are 50% off after Easter!! I say go nuts, Fedora. In terms of architectural styles I am no genius, either. I don’t really know the names of half the stuff I like. I tend to rely on interiors magazine, then I just point at what I like and go “Ugg. Me likey this one.” And hope that there’s someone around who knows more than I do…
As if I need encouragement to acquire chocolate (or books!)
And yep, that’s me, too–”Hey, that looks pretty good! And that! Oh wait–maybe those don’t go together…” 
My feeble interior skills are about to be tested to the limit – as of this morning, we just bought a house! Yahooooo! We have 60 days to pack and get our **** together, then we are moving down to a fabulous 2/3rds of an acre plot of land on the peninsula, five mins from the beach, with a house that needs some serious updating. But the land…the land is glorious. I’m gonna grow me some vegetables. And do some laps of the pool… And chill out a little!
WAAAHHOOOOO!!! Huge congrats, Sarah!! Oh my! That sounds soooo wonderful! Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the moment! You have two whole months to make the transition! Yay for you and Chris, and welcome to home ownership!
There’s something creepy and beautiful about gothic architecture. Grace Cathedral in my hometown of San Francisco is pretty darn amazing-looking. I do like some modern structures and buildings, too.
Just had a peek at Grace. It’s very Notre Dame, isn’t it? But that’s the thing with Gothic. And I agree, there something creepy and beautiful and also majestic about those buildings. Definitely makes you think of lurking hunch backs and damsels in distress.
love tall buldings love the effiel tower
still like columns and shutters
Hey Kim. The Eiffel Tower is awesome. My man took some great shots of it last time we were over, shooting straight up one of the supports. Very arty farty!