FIXER UPPER - FOR KIDS!!

With paint colors on the brain during our recent house remodel, I gleefully discovered a fun (new to me), vintage book: The House of Four Seasons, by the very talented mid-century modern author/artist Roger Duvoisin.

This colorfully illustrated book fits in perfectly with the current HGTV craze, and especially the hit show FIXER UPPER.  It's almost as if The House of Four Seasons gives us a quick glimpse into the elements that make Chip and Joanna Gaines' show such a success: family, creativity, anticipation, hard work, and oftentimes, compromise.

By the way, if you haven't read The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines, I highly recommend it.  I think it's the rare couple that complement each other's gifts and strengths so completely as this duo does.  But they don't rely on their talent alone.  They've trusted God, and put family first the whole way through their journey.  They've renovated broken houses into beautiful, functional family homes very intentionally - both for their own family and others - and it's lovely that they are so willing to let us in on how they do it!

Back to today's picture book...
Father, Mother, Billy, and Suzy - a very 1950's era family - take a drive in the country and see a house in shambles with a "For Sale" sign out front (and an owl in the attic window).

They buy the house, but each has a different idea of what colors they should paint the exterior.  The four family members each base their choice of colors on one of the four seasons.  This is where illustrator Duvoisin's gift for color palettes (like designer Joanna Gaines') shines, as he splashes the pages with everyone's visions of their dream home paint job.

The family goes off to their little neighborhood hardware store (remember those, before all the Big Box Do-It-Yourself Stores came into vogue?)  

But, oh dear, the store's owner only sells the primary colors!  

What's a fixer upper family to do??  

Not to worry: with a few tricks, Father comes to the rescue, explaining to his family how color works.  And your little readers, along with the family, get in on the secret.

You'll have to get the book and see how Father helps them come to a decision about what color to paint their house (you may or may not agree with Father's logic, but who cares?)  I'm sure to most kids it makes perfect sense!

In the end, even the old owl finds a happy home!

I've decided to post some before-and-after photos of the exterior of our happy little house...now we just have to do our landscaping and put up some shutters!  In my next post I'll reveal our new library!!!!

Don't miss out on another fun picture book that features a house and the four seasons - The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton.  It's probably in the Top 10 of my own favorite childhood picture books!

Angels Flight and Lost Victorian Mansions - All in Downtown L.A.

I never knew Los Angeles had a funicular until my recent visit (see yesterday's post about L.A.'s fabulous "Last Bookstore").  Observing this little cable railway known as "Angels Flight" - practically engulfed by the surrounding skyscrapers - I was reminded of Virginia Lee Burton's nostalgic books The Little House and Maybelle the Cable Car.  Both books deal with city growth and urban development.

We started at the lower entrance to the Angel's Flight funicular on Hill Street.

And just like Maybelle, Angels Flight has a story of its own...In 1901 a funicular railway was built to carry passengers down from hilltop homes to the burgeoning downtown area. The funicular ran between Hill St. and Olive Street, a distance of some 300 feet. The railway was dubbed Angels Flight (no apostrophe) and was billed as the world’s shortest railway with a fare of five cents each way. 

It operated uninterrupted until 1969 when it was dismantled and the cars put into storage. In 1996 the railway was rebuilt a block away using the same cars and much of the original structure. However in its new life it serves more as a tourist attractions than a functional part of the City.

Looking up toward California Plaza

Inside the funicular, beginning our ascent.

At the top - anyone going down?

Arriving at the little railway station at the top of the track in an area called "California Plaza", we paid our 50 cents and asked the kind man in the ticket booth, "What used to be here at the top of the hill before the modern skyscrapers, museums, condominiums, and hotels that we see now?"

The little station/ticket booth/information center at the top
of the incline, where you arrive at what is now California Plaza

He told us, "This is part of an area known as Bunker Hill.  By the late 1890's it had become a very wealthy and prestigious neighborhood, full of Victorian homes and luxurious hotels.  People loved the view...

But after World War I, with increasing urban development, wealthy families began relocating to areas like Pasadena. Bunker Hill became pretty seedy, especially after the Great Depression. Many of the old homes were subdivided to accommodate renters...

From Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House

After World War II, the freeways pushed even more people out, finally causing the downtown area to become empty of residents...

During redevelopment in the 1950's and '60's, the abandoned houses were eventually torn down or moved to other neighborhoods."

He finished his little history lesson by saying, "Go home and google 'Bunker Hill Victorian homes' on the internet so you can see how it once looked."

So I did.  And I was sad that at least some of the original areas of Bunker Hill couldn't have somehow been saved in the redevelopment!  All that's left is the funicular.  Look at what's been lost...

Bradbury Mansion, 1890 (Hill Street)

Bunker Hill 1900

And gained...

Bunker Hill today

Interesting side note:  In the 1940's and '50's, Los Angeles - especially Bunker Hill - became the perfect backdrop for Film Noir movies.  This intriguing photo montage video,  from the website American Film Noir, gives you a tour of how Bunker Hill looked back then.  Go here to see vintage photos of Angels Flight from Film Noir.

There is a blog post, "The Lost Victorian Mansions of Downtown LA" with lots of images of the Bunker Hill neighborhood before it was demolished in the late 1950's and '60's -  here.

This website has an amazing progression of photos of the original site of Angels Flight, beginning with how the street looked in 1898 and ending in 2003!

Does your city have any hidden (or lost) treasures?  Get out and explore - on foot, or from your computer!