Little Journeys

Fitzgerald and Friends

  One of the serendipitous discoveries I made thirty-some years ago, when I was writing my first book on the 1913 Grove Park Inn, was that author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his schizophrenic wife Zelda had stayed at the Arts and Crafts resort…

12 Tips for DIY Roof Building

  As you may recall from an earlier column, once I had completed the excavation and preparation of the new planting beds in front of our house, I turned the plant selection over to Leigh Ann and got out of her way. I turned my attention…

Summer Routes and Family Roots

  Growing up on the Illinois prairie with countless other Johnsons and numerous Olsons, Petersons, Andersons, and Swansons, I was familiar with the tragic story of Bishop Hill, a religious commune established in 1846 on 700 acres of land…

Furniture Finds and Topsoil Troubles

  If you ever experience one of those uncomfortable lulls in a party conversation, just bring up either of these two topics and everyone will start talking: flying incidents and moving experiences.   When I moved from Iowa to Durham,…

Leigh Ann’s Arts and Crafts Garden

  As you may recall from a recent column, when summer arrived Leigh Ann and I turned our attention from our lower level remodeling project to replacing a large section of unnecessary asphalt in front of our house with a flagstone pathway…

A Roycroft Cover-Up

  I always look forward to the opportunity to inspect examples of Arts and Crafts antiques when they show up in nearby antiques shop or auctions, for I firmly believe I can learn something from every piece I study.   Such was the…

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