The Heart Of Old South: The Industrial Revolution

As The Crows Fly

If you are like me, when you think of The Industrial Revolution, words such as elegant, fanciful, romantic and decorative don't immediately pop into your head. Yet the Industrial Revolution provided new technologies which allowed builders to use mass-produced pre-cut architectural trim to produce houses which are certainly elegant, fanciful, romantic and decorative. The age of the machine produced some of the most elaborate and feminine homes found in Old South London. Turned porch supports, gable details, gingerbread trim and all sorts of decorative woodwork details were made possible and affordable by machine made woodworking which was then transported by railway. The growth of the rail system allowed mass produced items to be easily transported. The talented local builders were then able to use their skill and imagination to combine these items with bay windows, turrets, porches, brackets, stained glass windows and transoms and other decorative items in surprising and pleasing ways to produce enchantingly unique homes. These features appear, not only on large stately homes, but also on smaller working class homes and cottages. Wonderful!
This is my whimsical interpretation of Old South, As The Crows Fly......rooftops,decorative gables, gingerbread and fish scale trim, windows of all sorts, an Old Ontario Cottage, trees in three seasons, towers, one lovely porch pergola, steeples and, of course, the ubiquitous crows.