This American House

[...] the name of the blog completely. And so, Mr. and Mr. Blandings is now … THIS AMERICAN HOUSE. In addition to better representing the subject of the blog, our American System-Built [...]

[...] After a week of travel, things are about to finally get back to normal at This American House. Over the past week we’ve flown to New York, seen a musical production of Heathers, [...]

[...] conduct the traditional Irish Catholic Christmas Mass. We don’t have windowsills at This American House but we do back at our condo in the city. I came across a big bag of electric candle lights at [...]

[...] lot, no fence surrounding it or guard protecting it. Does this mean that we can pick up This American House and move it back to the city? Um, yeah, probably not. More about the Irving House move: You [...]

[...] I call an artful mess. I used the big cable reel that had been left in the backyard by the previous owners as a table in the middle of the carriage house. I think the previous owners of the house had [...]

[...] .” Woot! Twenty five years of asparagus! Thanks for leaving this behind, previous owners of the house! Goodbye weeds! The book goes on to say, “It is important to keep [...]

[...] of This American House but also meet them and hear their stories! There have been five previous owners of our house in the past 97 years. First there were Delbert and Grace. They built the house [...]

[...] or shrubs. Instead we made use of almost every existing plant that had been placed by the previous owners, moving them around and creating some order, and also removed the stone edging. So, you know, [...]

[...] a dream! Unfortunately for our purposes, the IQ isn’t very sensible. MORE INFORMATION ON THE SCION IQ FROM AROUND THE WEB: Scion IQ Review at US News & World Report First Test: 2012 Scion IQ at [...]

[...] car. Follow along as we go on the great compact car search of 2014. Last time, we drove the Scion IQ. This time it’s the Toyota Prius C. When I bought a used 2007 Prius a year and a half ago, I [...]

[...] , the Mirage also makes an appearance on Forbes’ list of 15 New Cars to Avoid (as does the Scion IQ, another car that we tested). MORE INFORMATION: Mitsubishi Mirage US News & World Report [...]

[...] that models had been created of all of the Wright homes in Iowa, including our American System Built home. We did not, however, know that the models still existed. And we certainly had no idea [...]

[...] being the town’s lone commercial street. Delbert Meier, the man who would build our American System Built home, already had his law practice in town in 1914.  He and his family were living in a [...]

[...] seeing the fireplace in all its mantel-less glory. Now THIS is how the fireplace in an American System Built home should look. In fact, when were in New York we were able to look at the original plans [...]

[...] Back in 1917, when Delbert and Grace Meier had their American System Built home constructed, they built what would have then been called a coach house. This is [...]

[...] fresh flowers around the house. Back in the city I’m used to buying flower bundles at the grocery store and trying to stretch them out in lots of little vases to the fill the house. Here at the [...]

[...] lucky to be near a small town with a bakery, a movie theater, an antique mall and a grocery store. As far as we’re concerned, that’s all you really need in life! Image: This American [...]

[...] ’ve run out of milk on the way because the house is currently parked in the parking lot of a grocery store! After a developer purchased the house and expressed intent to demolish it and build a new [...]

[...] on what would become our house. Driving into town today, you would find one bank, a grocery store/gas station, a pharmacy, a fabric store, a newspaper, a flooring store, numerous hair salons, [...]

[...] If you ever find yourself on IA 13 in Northeast Iowa, you really must take a detour through Strawberry Point. This charming little town with a [...]

[...] tenants never came. It seems that no one wanted an office in a small farming community in Northeast Iowa. So, as Becky said with a smile, “This is our plan B.” A few years after opening up as an [...]

[...] They all provided soundtracks while we explored the beautiful rolling hills and back roads of Northeast Iowa. And it was heaven. Oh sure, the urban kid in me might have had a few forlorn moments [...]

[...] covered in orange lichen, a color that I’ve only seen since coming to this region of Northeast Iowa. We’ll continue exploring pioneer cemeteries in our travels and hope to bring our [...]

[...] they had been gathered and preserved by Mrs. Wright upon her husband’s death in 1959, to the Avery Library. More importantly, we learned that there was a big file on Wright’s American System-Built [...]

[...] wall in the living room. We got confirmation from the house plans that we dug up at the Avery Library that the art glass windows are indeed original to the house. We has initially assumed [...]

[...] we’ve flown to New York, seen a musical production of Heathers, researched our house at the Avery Library at Columbia University, attended a gallery show and then a memorial for an artist friend who [...]

[...] family moved into their newly constructed American System-Built House. At the time, Delbert Meier was a 37-year-old attorney; his wife, Grace, was 38. Daughter Esther was 12, and her [...]

[...] Street, which was still unpaved in 1914 despite being the town’s lone commercial street. Delbert Meier, the man who would build our American System Built home, already had his law practice in town [...]

[...] -ins that might have been in the living room. I say might have because we don’t know whether Delbert Meier actually chose to have the built-ins constructed when he had his model M202 built in 1917. [...]

[...] the stucco. As we delved deeper into researching the house, and as we learned more about ASB homes and their famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, I started agreeing with The Mister’s [...]

[...] enter the mass manufactured housing market, would not prove as successful. Only a handful of his ASB Homes were constructed before the scheme fell apart due to World War I materials shortages, and [...]

[...] really becoming quite crestfallen. While we had uncovered a lot of interesting details about ASB homes, there wasn’t one single document devoted to our Model M202 house. Then, in the final few [...]