New, Fancy Pants Architectural Photos from Jonathan Hillyer
Our architectural photographer Jonathan Hillyer just sent in the second batch of Wren’s Nest shots. These are slightly better than the first crop because I served as photographer’s assistant.
See those lights in the upstairs windows? See how they make all the difference? Yep, that was me.
One of the stupid things that Joel Chandler Harris did when he built this house was face it due north. The sun never really hits the front of the house, so it’s tough to get a truly spectacular daytime shot. That said, I think this one turned out splendid.
My contribution to this photo was neglecting to call the leaf guy to get the leaves off the roof before the shot was taken.
Also, now might be a good time to mention that all of these photos are copyright Jonathan Hillyer. Please be sure to credit him if you use ‘em.
Finally, here’s the last of our interior shots that I wasn’t able to post the first time around:
So with this post on the last day of 2009, I’m officially wrapping up our conservation project.
Thanks again to the readers who followed our progress, the donors who allowed us to continue operating the whole time, and the foundations who paid for it all. Happy New Year.
Leave a Reply
Amelia Trace Lerner
Program Director
Lain Shakespeare
Executive Director
7 Comments to New, Fancy Pants Architectural Photos from Jonathan Hillyer
Great job and documentation of this project and it could not have been done without the support of Gene Suber(former board member), Watson Foundation and others. please forgive me if I do not mention our long list of donors. They all deserve gold stars.Lain your great,great,great grandfather would be proud of you. Our next adventure is the “WREN’S NEST Visitors Center”. Whatever the mind can conceive it can achieve.
I noticed in the above pictures the cedar shingles are covered in moss. Have you looked into having this removed? Although it may look pretty, moss can significantly impact the longevity of a cedar shake roof. The moss retains moisture, causing the shingles to rot. If the shingles are rotten, they will no longer be able to repel water and the roof will leak. A leaky roof will surely do damage to the house, and all of the effort you put into the conservation project will be destroyed. A little preventative maintenance now might go a long way to preventing expensive repairs down the road.
Kirk, very good! Our next priorities are the roof and the HVAC system.
A cedar shake shingle roof will last between 20 – 25 years in a wetter climate like Atlanta’s. And since our roof was completed in 1988, it’s about time for a new one.
I’ve talked to a few architects about the moss, and I’ve heard varying opinions. Some like it, some say what you say.
Regardless, it’s about time. Now that our last project is wrapped up, it’s time to start a new one!
P.S. Oh! And we did have a $1,000 allowance in this project for our roof — we’ve patched a few of the more dire places to insure that leaking doesn’t become an immediate issue.
What direction did the original house face?
You could get more light on the house by cutting down all those pesky trees!
Just kidding. And thanks for answering the “what’s next” question already, as asking said question was my intention before reading the comments.
Joe, also next is an historic landscape plan.
Janet, good question! I think it faced north. That’s what I’ve always been told. However, when I took a few architects down underneath the house, they said it seemed like the original structure faced west.
I don’t know who to believe, but I’m sticking to “north” until I see some evidence to the contrary.
[...] The best part is that they’re basically scrolling through the Wren’s Nest Facebook picture page as they chat, meaning that Lain and I are now totally famous photographers. Well, along with Jonathan Hillyer. [...]