For as long as I remember I have had a fascination with Victorian houses (the architecture that is. Most certainly
NOT the interiors).
I love all the styles but my heart especially goes out to the:
Queen Anne style - for the angles, the turrets and the porches
This fine example is in Yonkers, NY and still standing beautiful to this day!
the Gothic Revivals - for the elaborate millwork and the overall storybook style
and the Second Empire style
they are just so Addams Family don't you think?
My passion for these lovely Victorian homes goes hand in hand with my other passion: Halloween. Whenever I see a "normal" Victorian house I immediately transform it in my mind to be this haunted house. In my imagination I will add a fallen shutter or two, broken windows, cobwebs, lack of paint, lurking eyes, a shadow, some ghosts and if the garden is wild enough some tombstones.
I also like to search for the history of the houses I find and get as many pictures per house as possible. So for some houses I also have details of who lived there, what they added to the house or maybe had removed. Or maybe the house was burned down or demolished or even still standing today. Some houses changed hands many a times with as many name changes. Some houses have stayed within the same family to this day (amazing when you think of it).
Over the years I have bought many books about these styles, whenever I saw a magazine with a gorgeous photo of a Victorian home I just had to have it and my computer is packed with images I downloaded over the years of beautiful victorian homes. The ones in my computer I have categorized by continent (only America, Australia and Europe), by country, by state, by city / town / village and finally per neighbourhood and street.
I have many many favorites, just when I think that THAT is the most gorgeous house I have ever seen, another pops up even more stunning. Thousands of pictures I have now.
And yes, I was forewarned by some to burn them on a CD Rom - just in case my computer would crash (aaaaaghhh). This ofcourse is a nightmare scenario and I hope this will not happen to me. Some months ago I did however burn the images I had then on a CD Rom but since I have added so many more homes that I think I have to do some more burning.
Then I sanded the top of a lazy susan and gave it a background of warm yellow and orange. I then sketched the 5 houses with more or less the same distance between them.
Next in line was to add color to the houses. I never paint the houses the original color, I like to add a personal touch. And in my mind on this block (circle) the houses have these colors.
Then I added some roofs. Very essential item to have on a house. And I decided that they'd all have a low stone wall.
I then landscaped the gardens and forests behind the houses. Also the road and steps were added.
I then added a few more coats of paint to the houses and did some more layers of landscaping... added some rocks to the walls and gave it some real lawns and some trees that really stand out.
Some more detailing to the houses, and added some fences, some pumpkins, gravestones, bats and outside lights. And voila..... one painted Lazy Susan. I still need to give it a couple of protective coats of clear varnish but when that's done.... pass the ketchup please.
