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1938. Pender County, North Carolina. "Sloop Point at Hampstead. House over 200 years old. Now occupied by Miss Nellis McMillan." 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size.
What a stunning example of vernacular architecture. Amazingly it still stands today.
Nobody had a protractor. Boom! Innovation.
Someone didn't have a mitre saw. I like it!
the "build ugly" movement. And in a lot of places they succeeded wildly.
That railing would not help at all to keep you from tumbling over the side.
It's great to see unusual architecture, at least compared to modern times, but it still looks incongruent.
This was built on the day the carpenter forgot to bring his miter box.
Thanks Shorpy for my giving me a new word today, "spondles." I guess I need to go back to carpentry 101.
I can't seem to find spondles in an online dictionary or on Wikipedia though.
[Try "spindles." - Dave]
A rare example of M.C. Escher's short career in carpentry.
It looks like they took a porch railing and cut it to fit the stairs. Makes me dizzy just looking at it. The fractured newel post doesn't encourage sliding down the banister, does it?
I have seen a similar railing design in Art Deco buildings; wonderful and really simple. Almost perfect!
Her style is so distinctive.
Is that linoleum over the old floor boards? Say that ain't so.
You can go dizzy looking at the railing. However, which way is more structurally sound - this or the way we normally have it?
Would the spondles lossen up easier this way since there is less resistance? Just curious.
[We all know what curiosity about lossened spondles leads to. -Dave]
... but it sure looks a lot easier to build.
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