Peter Behrens's Blog, page 457
August 7, 2014
First Baptist Church, Sedgwick, Maine Benjamin Deane, architect. 1837.
It's on the National Register of Historic Buildings, but it needs help. The architect, Benj. Deane, did a number of notable buildings in Downeast Maine, including the Washington County Courthouse, at Machias. The Sedgwick Baptist congregation was established in 1805. Some disputatious members hived off in the 1840s, as Baptists tend to do, and started a new congregation, and a new town, across the Benjamin River--Brooklin, Maine.
1956 Ford Ranch Wagon. North Windham, Maine
For all I know, Jeff Whitney might be willing to sell this wagon. You can try. 207 892 9825.
August 6, 2014
1941 Ford Super Deluxe & the Dance Hall at Antelope Lake
from Alex Emond, our man in south Saskatchewan:
"The Ford was out at Antelope Lake [Saskatchewan], looking good by the old Dance Hall. The wheels are a little out of character, but I love the lines. The Dance Hall is a gorgeous structure, built 1916. The interior has never had any paint, varnish, wax, lemon oil ... nada, nothing and 98 years later it looks amazing . The glow!
"Incidentally, I saw these Antelope within a half mile of the lake. Truth in advertising. And the Tarzan Swing (below) is a 5-second sprint from the front door of the dance hall." -AE
August 4, 2014
Two schooners on Eggemoggin Reach
One of the best things about sailing Penobscot Bay and the Reach is spotting the schooner fleet. One afternoon last week I caught Lewis R. French and Heritage on the Reach, following the breeze toward Jericho Bay.
August 2, 2014
American Houses: the original Cape Cod cottage. Sedgwick, Maine
This is about as close to an original Cape as you'll see. It's in Sedgwick, Maine. These were for a long time the standard house in rural and coastal Maine. Usually they were the 'starter' house that was added onto as years went by and families expanded. The classic configuration in Maine is Big house-little house-backhouse-barn, as in this example, just up the road. It's usually a 'summer kitchen' that connects the house to the barn.
But this Cape has none of that: perhaps there was a barn attached at one time, but it's gone now. Not even a shed dormer popped into the roof. Evertime I pass this house it strikes me with it simple and organized beauty. It has something of the Shaker aesthetic. In Maine in the first half of the nineteenth century there would have been thousands of examples; in fact there still are, though rarely withou the add-ons.
August 1, 2014
1939 Plymouth. Summer Cars, "Karin", Karl May & Llano Estacado:
I'm fond of these. There's one in my just-finished novel--
--about two refugees from Nazi Germany, and Karl May's llano estacado. The novel (Karin) will be out next year.
