I came across this cottage-like building on a walk through Lincoln Park recently and ventured over for a closer look. Turns out this modest cottage packs a punch: not only was it built in 1888, it was designed by Joseph Lyman Silsbee. Silsbee designed a wealth of buildings in Chicago and beyond but… Read More Spotted: Joseph Lyman Silsbee in Lincoln Park
Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve is located in the steep and rolling hills of southern Oregon, on a dead-end highway 20 miles east of the town of Cave Junction. The cave itself, reportedly discovered in 1874 by Elijah Davidson, is the namesake and highlight of the park. However, due to the long history of… Read More Oregon Caves: More Than A Cave
The Vista House (1918), a rest stop and a memorial to the Oregon pioneers, opened just two years after the associated Columbia River Highway was completed. It sits atop Crown Point and offers stunning views to both the east and west along the Columbia River Gorge. Today, it is set apart from and above the busy interstate,… Read More Views of Oregon’s Vista House
One of my favorite trips this summer was a trip I made to Orcas Island, one of the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound. We aimed for Moran State Park, sure to find good beaches, trails, and campgrounds. We did, but we also found something else: a historic mansion tucked along the coast, known… Read More Extravagant Art in Improbable Places
Labor Day may be best known these days as the last breath of summer, that last three-day weekend before we dive into fall, made for last beach trips and barbecues. However, the holiday that gives us this three-day weekend was created with another intent: to recognize the labor movement and the achievements of the American… Read More National Park Feature: Pullman National Monument
I’ve never met a National Park I didn’t like, but I admit it, I have a favorite: Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock, Vermont. To celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service (that’s today!), I thought I’d share a little bit about the park at the top of my list. Here, five reasons it’s my… Read More NPS Centennial: Meet My Favorite National Park
Novelty architecture arose with the coming of car culture. An early and iconic form of this kitsch architecture is a building shaped like an item, known as a “Duck,” after the iconic Big Duck in New York, built in 1931 (term coined by the authors of Learning from Las Vegas in 1977). Novelty architecture comes in a range… Read More Novelty Architecture: Hat N Boots
I largely enjoy the Pacific Northwest climate but I am a desert girl at heart. And when there has been one too many rainy days and a desert escape isn’t in the cards? This weekend I headed to the cacti and succulents room at the Volunteer Park Conservatory to soak in some summer feelings. And I… Read More How to Find A Desert in the Rain
Fort Lawton is located on a point of land that juts out into Puget Sound just 5 miles north of downtown Seattle. The location was selected for a fort in 1896 by the Secretary of War. Fort Lawton has seen a lot of activity through its history–during World War II it was the second largest… Read More Views of a Former Fort
Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “space is the breath of art.” Broader than just a piece of art or a building, this might be considered in terms of a city, that conglomeration of buildings, roads, and park lands. Parks are essential. They are not only the breath the city, but are art in their own… Read More Defining a City by its Parks
