Posts Tagged ‘Wren’s Nest’

Holiday Offerings from Atlanta Historic Homes over at Inside Access

---

The Atlanta Journal-Constitutions’s intrepid “fun stuff” reporter Jamie Gumbrecht has rounded up profiles of historic homes in Atlanta just in time for the holidays.

• Bulloch Hall
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Birth Home
• Margaret Mitchell House
• Swan House
• Rhodes Hall
• The Wren’s Nest

Fret not: Gumbrecht doesn’t fail to mention our neighbor the Herndon Home — it’s just that its had trouble keeping its doors open lately.

Note: while the our staff is excited about media coverage of house museums, the Wren’s Nest itself only begrudgingly shared the spotlight:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Birth Home Photo: AJC file photo

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Features Wren’s Nest Conservation Project

---

Today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran an article on our conservation project here at the Wren’s Nest.  We graced the cover of the Living Section and got a few lines on the front page too.

Online, ajc.com has a Wren’s Nest photo gallery.  Here’s one of the 17 pictures by Kent D. Johnson for the AJC –

This is probably when I was saying, “If you tell people that I only own one suit, I’ll have to get another one.”

After you check out the article and the photo album, come back here and tell me what you think.  I’ll wait, don’t worry.

Wren’s Nest Conservation Update – Painting the House Part 3 and the Copper Pipe Dilemma

---

We’re just about finished painting the Wren’s Nest.  The painters are detailing the porch and should be done within a day or two.

The monsoon season that Atlanta has seen this spring slowed our roll a little.

Like the yellow, the trim color is a little bit different than before –

Some of the color difference is due to weathering, but some of it is also due to our historical paint analysis, completed after the house was last painted.

The paint job has made a tremendous difference.  Here’s what one back corner used to look like –

And here’s the same area now –

If you’re using your eyes, you might notice that we now have copper drain pipes.  If you’re using your brains, you might wonder if this is a risky proposition.

I’m here to tell you — it is!  Depending on the price of copper, theft can be a serious issue.

Before, we’d had a mix of copper and galvanized piping.  We decided to install the copper pipes after much deliberation.

If the copper gets stolen, it’ll be my fault.  We’ll replace ‘em with galvanized metal, and chalk it up to stupidity, idealism, or mismanagement.  All of the above is another option, but it’s one that I’m more comfortable with than not trying at all.

Here are some rather leading questions you may have –

1. Say, isn’t copper historically accurate?
2. I could understand installing copper in a swanky neighborhood like Buckhead, but in West End?
3. Isn’t this proposition a little bit like the moral dilemma Alexander Hamilton faced when dueling with Aaron Burr?

And here are my answers –

1. You betcha.
2. I don’t think that criminals discriminate; we probably shouldn’t either.
3. Maybe a little bit, yes.*  At least at the 1:40 mark.

Anyway, copper?  What copper?  Nothing to see here.  Just new paint.

* The Wren’s Nest does not condone binge drinking, not even for the sake of history or telling a good story.  Well, maybe this one time.

Flat Stanley Loves The Wren’s Nest, I’m Just Saying

---

Have you met Flat Stanley?

Years ago Stanley had the misfortune of being flattened by a bulletin board.  He’s made the best of his situation for decades and traveled around the world by envelope.

As someone who has had the pleasure of buying a lot of plane tickets lately, I have to say, I’m a tad envious.

Really, the Flat Stanley Project is a teaching tool for young students to learn about correspondence (and awesome places like The Wren’s Nest and a cauldron full of boiled peanuts).  Last week, Lain and I each received a Flat Stanley and a delightful hand-written letter from two first grade students in Illinois.

As you may have guessed, we have taken our responsibilities very seriously.  The four of us have been all over the place, having a grand old time — even suburbia.

Well, that was probably the least grand part.

Are  you looking for a good place to visit with your Flat Stanley?  Might I suggest The Wren’s Nest?  I assure you, should you arrive at our Spring Break (Woo!) Storytelling Extravaganza this week with Stanley in tow, he will be treated like a (paper) king.