Beauty in the Ordinary

This is not about being brilliant, or extraordinary, it's not about wanting to be famous, or making headlines, or trying to impress...this about sharing a 'gift' each day with the world...to lift the spirit of people when they read this blog, to show them the beauty in the ordinary.
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." Raold Dahl

Thursday, October 28, 2010

ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS

Once again Razmataz
has thrown down the photographic gauntlet with the challenge of capturing
Architectural Elements

I don't profess to know anything about this, so
forgive me if I have it wrong.  
I did have a lovely time, out with my camera taking photographs willy-nilly though!

Niagara-on-the-Lake is the original capital of Upper Canada and, as such
has a very influential Historical Society (sometimes affectionately known by locals as the Hysterical Society).  We have a lot of protected buildings and a lot of building restrictions.  Let me take you on a tour of my little town and some of it's buildings.

This house is the old Lord Mayor's Residence (and my next door neighbour),


it's going through a total renovation at the moment, inside and out.



Across the road is a building, on a huge piece of property that has been sitting like this


for a couple of years now.  Rumour has it that the builder/developer got into a brouhaha with the local council over a portion of the house he took down without permission
and they pulled the plug on further work.  It's a shame, because this is one of the first properties you see when you drive into town. 

The Prince of Wales Hotel is one of the big features here,


It has some pretty outdoor lighting and glass porticos




and lovely detailing over the windows.


A portion of the rooms are made up of little houses next to the main building.



Trisha Romance, a local artist has her gallery here in town.


We have three theatres...here are two of them:

The Royal George


and The Courthouse


The Old Apothecary is now a museum


We have some beautiful big houses


and some equally beautiful small ones.



The day V. arrived last year to visit with me, four stores burned down in town
(not that it was her fault!)
This is the rendering of what they intend to build 



in this space.


There's a beautiful restoration going on which, rumour has it,
(again!) is being conducted by a famous Toronto TV news 
broadcaster.







It was a little difficult to get a good shot of the house for all 
the construction trucks and port-o-lets!

There is one house in town I don't get,



V. and I were so fascinated by the big chimney-looking thing, that we stopped in
one day and asked the owner/builder what it was.
We speculated on a chimney for a stone pizza oven, or a kiln


but he said it was just an Architectural Element!



(At least it has some interesting-looking doors.)

Thanks Chania, once again, for hosting.

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21 comments:

  1. Well I just Loved looking at this post we have nothing like these buildings here especially in our small town.What lovely grand buildngs they are,thank you so much for sharing that I am going to looka at thm all again! Carole xx

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  2. Thanks for the lovely tour J.
    I just love your little town, and I love having stayed there with you, and have walked those streets with you.
    The last house still makes me chuckle, I beginning to think the architectural translation for 'Architectural Element' is 'oops I made a mistake in the drawings and have to somehow fix it now'

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  3. I am with Victoria, I think they got the drawings wrong! Or the wrong house. The scale is just so off on that.

    I do love Niagara on the Lake. I haven't been in a couple of years. I really should make a point to get down ther soon. It's only a hours from here. Thank you for the tour.

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  4. Your town is lovely and I especially like the hotel. You took some great images.

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  5. ...if you put your thumb over the chimney doohickey it really looks kinda cute. playful even....just sayin'....

    Also love the courthouse and the small house with the red trees framing the doorway. Your town looks lovely.

    xxx

    z

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  6. I thought I was a happy person, Jacqueline, but no. You've made me aware that for all of these years I've been lacking an Architectural Element on the roof of my house.

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  7. I reckon it's a rocket-launcher. What a great town Niagara o.t.l. must be, J. Can it - like Bath - be a bit museum-like sometimes, though?

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  8. Mise...I'm sure that owner/builder could drop by yours and design one (just like his) for you.
    Rocket Launcher....now why didn't we think of that! When we first moved here Tom, I was afraid it would all begin to feel Disney-esque, but one year on and that has yet to happen. I think it's because of all the 'eccentrics' we have in town!

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  9. Carole...thanks for the lovely words...you should come and see NOTL for real, just minutes from the US border.
    Olive...that hotel is wonderful, a tad expensive at the height of season, but they do do a magnificent Martini in the bar.
    Victoria/Chania...heck of a price to pay for the pride of mis-reading some drawings and then standing by the outcome. I think I would have sucked it up and owned up to the mistake. Imagine defending that to the neighbours for the next 20 years! Chania if ever you decided to visit here, please let me know...we could do lunch girl! And V. it's always too long between visits.

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  10. These images are great! What a lovely town with lovely architectural elements.

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  11. What a charming town NOTL is. I remember going there when I was younger and growing up in the area. It is great to see how they have managed to retain the charm and history. Thanks for the tour. xox

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  12. Oh! I love the Trisha Romance place best! Look at that dome!! Sooooo cool! Thanks for sharing!

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  13. DB. some walk you had this morning...and that weather!
    Jo Annie...nice to see you here...I think you are way overdue a visit to NOTL don't you?
    E. Charlotte...just heard today that Ms. Romance and her hubby have huge plans to build a 100-room hotel + conference centre + artist retreat on a 14 acre property on the edge of town next to their home! There's a public meeting Nov 6 to reveal the plans. You can bet hubby and I are going to be there. This would be enormous for our little berg!

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  14. I think Trisha Romance is perfectly named! It was wonderful to take this tour of your town. You must feel somedays like you have stepped back in time. Just lovely. Ann P.S. And that chimney thing is too funny! I would have guessed a large open-air central fireplace.

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  15. That's the weird part Ann...V. and I looked inside the room...no fireplace of any description. I'm beginning to agree with Chania and V., somebody made a boo-boo.

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  16. What a beautiful place to live! Any kind of renovation and preservation is a subject near and dear to my heart.

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  17. What gorgeous photos!! Beautiful architecture in such a beautiful setting with the incredible leaves!! Thanks for the lovely visit!

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  18. Great photos! I love getting a peek into the towns where folks live. Thanks! Kit

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  19. I'm glad that you stopped and asked about the 'chimney,' too. I'm appalled that it's just an architectural element...quite strange indeed. Your hometown is delightful. I think that you should create one of the hardback books that some of the photo websites offer...It would be great on your coffee table. Thank you for stopping by my post. Come visit any time. Cherry Kay

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  20. Jacqueline...these are amazing choices! I haven't been able to comment here for some reason but all seems to be fixed now, blogger woes! Anyway, I love the buildings and all of the details, you certainly live in an architecturally beautiful place. xo J~

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