Just the way a historic home can make the personality of a historic person come to life, so can the instrument of a long-gone musician. On June 12, 2014, the Boone County Historic Society is hosting a night of music with some selections played on the famous Chickering Grand piano, the piano made famous by…
Category: Historical Homes
Historic homes + facts = amazing stories
I love historic homes because inside of them — inside every home — is a story. No need to add color, make anything up, each house offers a tale worth telling. The aptly named “Fairy-tale” house at 121 West Blvd., North is no exception. But until last year, the story got one big fact wrong….
Skyscrapers, preservation and development
Can preservationists learn to love skyscrapers? Sure. Because it’s not the height, the location or how old a build is that matters — it’s quality and how the building will serve people. In this article in the New York Times, “Sure, Build it in My Backyard,” the website of Nikolai Fedak is highlighted. The name…
See history yourself and save a historic road
On Sunday, May 2 p.m., a public forum on a stretch of the historic road, the Boone’s Lick, will take place. The meeting will be in the Midway Locust Grove United Methodist Church at 2600 N. Locust Grove Church Road. So why plan on attending this event and what does it have to do with…
Gawkers: Opportunity knocks
‘Tis the season — for home and garden tours. Each day, my inbox is flooded with releases about historic homes, via my Goggle alerts. Now, it’s filled with announcements for tours and it gives me an opportunity to bemoan Columbia’s lack of annual historic home tours. Sure, we have the Kitchens in Bloom, a tour…
Four surprising ways to peek inside historic homes
Getting a look inside a historic home can be a challenge. Few of us are willing to knock on someone’s door and ask for a quick tour. But these four ways can give you a genteel way to see inside historic homes. But these are only four ways to look inside a historic home. How…
This is why you get lost in Columbia, Missouri
Bet you didn’t know that Chapel Hill Road used to be West Boulevard South. Which now makes sense of the fact that the rest of West Boulevard often has addresses such as 121 West Boulevard North. This street name tidbit came out at the April 1, 2014 event honoring the 2014 Most Notable Properties named…
What’s an LP and why should we clean it?
When I was in high school in the 1970s, the newest music technology was an LP, short for long-playing record. It was a big improvement on the 45 rpm (revolutions per minute) record that only played for a few minutes and then had to be replaced with another record if you wanted to listen to…
This gives power to the people
If you own a historic home — or just an old house like I do — and you are all thumbs like I am, here’s your chance to get help for you and your house. The City of Columbia just received a grant to put on workshops that will help homeowners learn the ins and…
Do you think Columbia is an architectural wasteland?
William Bernoudy – student of Frank Lloyd Wright. Eero Saarinen – architect of the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Boller Brothers and an Paris opera. These are just a few of the names and reasons cited to dispel the idea that Columbia, Missouri is an architectural wasteland. In case you missed this article by Morgan McCarty in…