By Barbara Falconer Newhall
Can a house have a sense of humor? Charm, yes, of course. But a sense of humor? Houses are houses. They’re serviceable. They’re meant to be lived in. Some are works of art even. But can a house make you smile?
I never gave it thought until I visited Minneapolis-St. Paul last month and was treated to row upon row and neighborhood upon neighborhood of Tudor bungalows.
There were hundreds of these houses, thousands maybe, all built before World War II, yet each was unique. This one had a single square of brick inlaid over an upper story window like a beauty mark. That one had a chimney right next to the front door. Another had curvy half-timbering and herringbone brick work. Many had sandstone embellishments running up the chimneys. All had a sense of fun.
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Cool story. I didn’t realize you were paying so much attention to Twin Cities architectura when you visited!
Yeah. Thanks for driving me all over town!
Love these pics! Reminds me a bit of the Oak Park neighborhood of Chicago, especially with the alleyway access to the houses…fun to look at how creative the builders were!
Really. That’s what I keep thinking — how much creativity went into those facades. The masons must have had a blast putting them together. . . We had an alley behind our house in Detroit. It wasn’t kept as clean as the ones I saw in Minnesota. It was used strictly for picking up the garbage — and a lot of garbage was always lying around. Fun for us kids. We’d go garbage picking — which our moms didn’t like much.
I love these quirky houses! Thanks for the photos.
Great set of photos. I am drinvig from Washington State to Newport Beach later this summer via 395. The main purpose is to see as much of the history of the Aqueduct as possible. I have a number of days available to poke around the area. Are there any other do not miss places to see the project?
South Minneapolis has some beautiful neighborhoods and communities. Thanks for visiting!
I love walking in this neighborhood. Every house is a little different, a little surprise.