I visited Ohio over the Presidents’ Day weekend, which was surprisingly fitting: did you know that eight presidents were from Ohio? My first presidential run-in was a comically small plaque at a gas station commemorating Rutherford B. Hayes’ birthplace (don’t worry, I hear they do have something better in the works). Not having been to Columbus… Read More American City, German Village (Columbus, Ohio)
“Music is liquid architecture; architecture is frozen music.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe During the polar vortex, the Chicago River froze solid. Needless to say, I did not take my hands out of my pockets on those -20-degree days! But I found myself on the river walk a day later and ended up walking a… Read More The Chicago River: Frozen Music
Happy Valentine’s Day week! I had fun joining Landmarks Illinois this weekend heart-bombing the Harley Clarke Mansion in Evanston, Illinois. Thanks in part to the hard work of Save Harley Clarke (now Friends of Harley Clarke), this beautiful lake-front mansion will go on to serve a new life. An adaptive reuse plan for the building… Read More Heart Bomb 2019: Harley Clarke Mansion
You may have noticed things are looking a little different around the site. I’ve been making a few improvements, most of which will be in the background. Things will continue to run as usual, but you can now update your links! My blog has been migrated to susietrexler.com (don’t worry, the old address will continue… Read More Under Construction: Website & Historic Sites
Most people don’t go to a natural history museum to see art, particularly if there is a world-class art museum just blocks away. Despite my attachment to the humanities, I come from a family of scientists, and I am an equal-opportunity museum goer. I am always game for a trip to the Field Museum. But… Read More The Art Behind the Science: Artists of the Field Museum
Just a mile from downtown Austin, Texas, in the heart of the 358-acre Zilker Park, is a half-mile-long swimming hole known as Barton Springs. The Springs have been popular for hundreds of years, serving first as a camping location for Native American tribes and later a site for a temporary mission established by the Spanish… Read More Barton Springs: Where Nature Meets City
Elisabet Ney (1833-1907) was no stranger to castles, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that when she built a house in Austin, it was a castle. Ney, a German-American sculptor, began her career in Germany where she sculpted the likes of Otto von Bismarck, King George V of Hanover, and Ludwig II of Bavaria… Read More A German Castle in Austin, Texas
Above: the ‘Sconset bluff walk As 2018 draws to a close, I’ve been looking back at everything that happened this year. I left my job at the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust (loved it there!) for a position as a historic preservation urban planner that I love even more. I also got married (in a historic… Read More Best of 2018
Happy Holidays! In honor of the season, I’m sharing some photographs from the Gold Coast neighborhood in Chicago. It’s one of my favorite neighborhoods for exploring architecture. It is home not just to the National Historic Landmark Charnley-Persky House (above), but the entire Astor Street Historic District. The Gold Coast sits between Lincoln Park and Streeterville,… Read More December Decor in the Gold Coast
In Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, just down the street from a historic wood alley, is a rare example of design from another time period: the Art Moderne style Fisher Studio Houses. The building, built in 1936, is an example of pre-World War II modernism and is compromised of 12 residential unites on a interior courtyard.… Read More Art Moderne on State Street
Susie Trexler 