Tag Archives: architecture

Swan Song from Paris: La Fenêtre

Posted on November 4, 2017 by smallhousepress

  At 8:00 a.m., November 3, 2007, red-eyed and flight-addled, Noel and I were huddling with our roller bags around cafe cremes across rue Cler from our favorite Greek-French café from the previous trip—Ulysse en Gaulle—which had yet to open. … Continue reading →

Posted in Miniatures, shops | Tagged , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Au Petit: aka Artisan’s Cottage/Golden Lane, or, how we managed to stay married all these years

Posted on September 24, 2017 by smallhousepress

Eons ago–in the early 1980’s–a miniatures columnist wrote that Noel and I looked “slim in our jeans,” a term which still makes us laugh. We, indeed, lived in jeans, in our studio, building mini houses as fast as we could … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Miniatures | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Recipe for a Rooftop Artist’s Studio

Posted on March 12, 2017 by smallhousepress

To make an artist’s studio, start in 1960 when you are 14. Into a large bowl pour one trip to New York City to see your art student/coffee house waitress older sister. Sprinkle in one bitter espresso brewed in her … Continue reading →

Posted in Miniatures | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

An Ode to the Odd: The Castine Gallery

Posted on September 5, 2016 by smallhousepress

On almost any day in June of 1994, at about 8:00 a.m., if you were to head to downtown Castine from the Maine Maritime Academy–home to the IGMA’s annual Guild School mini camp—you might cut across Deadman’s Alley, turn down … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Miniatures | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Breeze, Pt. II: The Question of Awnings

Posted on August 29, 2015 by smallhousepress

In Sunday’s funnies, a man encircled by boisterous children confesses to his wife, “I thought I knew all the answers, but they keep thinking up new questions,” which reminded me of one of our workshop students. “Why doesn’t my work … Continue reading →

Posted in Miniatures, Teaching | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Wave Coursing: Faces of the Moon Pt. IV

Posted on May 2, 2015 by smallhousepress

At 4:03 a.m. on Jan. 7, 1994 the Northridge earthquake shook southern California awake, including the future owners of the Faces of the Moon project. Paula Jones was about to slap President Clinton with a lawsuit, and movies–for us Forrest … Continue reading →

Posted in Houses, Miniatures | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

The Midnight Factor: Faces of the Moon Part II

Posted on April 6, 2014 by smallhousepress

It was early 1992, or thereabouts, when we began to cut wood for Faces of the Moon. For background entertainment we had the end of the Bush-Quayle era (marked by a widely-televised diplomatic dinner where Bush vomited and passed out … Continue reading →

Posted in basements | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Maine Idyll, # 48, 1991: The Outers and Unders

Posted on December 1, 2013 by smallhousepress

            To unwind from the 1990 Guild School workshop in Castine, ME, we took the slow, winding route down the Maine coast. Just north of Freeport, where Route 1 prepares to enter the Maine Turnpike, … Continue reading →

Posted in Miniatures, Teaching | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Frosty II: Putting It All Together

Posted on September 4, 2013 by smallhousepress

The customer for Frosty was an avid fan we could never say no to. She liked our work so much she built a room over her swimming pool (the same pool we and our dog swam in on previous deliveries) … Continue reading →

Posted in Houses, Memoir, Miniatures | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Frosty Malt Shop: Part I

Posted on August 14, 2013 by smallhousepress

Started soon after the Greene & Greene was delivered in 1989, the Frosty Malt Shop was completed in late 1990. The months while Noel and I built counter stools and neon signage in miniature, the newly launched Hubble Space Telescope … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Miniatures | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments