WOOD TRANSOM DOORS

ANDERSON SOUTH CAROLINA

Anderson, South Carolina is a beautiful upstate city with one of those rare gems of small-town America; a Carnegie Library.

Andrew Carnegie donated a slew of these opulent structures to lucky communities throughout the country in the later years of his life, and their architecture is varied and rich.

What caught my eye about this particular building was the front doors. They seemed overly tall for the building....

But upon closer examination, I saw the transom doors, separate entities of their larger twins below. I didn't get a chance to see them from the inside, so I have no idea if there are actual glass transoms behind them.

 

They are the only wood transom doors I've ever seen.

 

 

BAY WINDOWS, CENTRAL AVENUE HISTORIC DISTRICT, HOT SPRINGS ARKANSAS

 

One of my pet peeves in the preservation business is seeing boarded-up windows that seem to scream "NOBODY CARES HOW THIS BULDING LOOKS!"

I can't tell you how many second story windows above active storefronts have been outfitted thusly when all it takes is a little imagination to disguise the fact that the second story is empty. Unpainted cinder block looks even worse.

                                     Cinder-blocked windows, Morrilton Arkansas

 

 

This set of beautiful bay windows can be seen across the street from the Arlington Hotel on Central Avenue in Hot Springs. They look perfectly functional until you see that the glass has been painted to hide the empty interior. Where window sashes are entirely missing, plywood can be installed and painted with one color representing the wood sash and another, usually gray or black, as the glass.

I am, of course, only guessing that the upstairs is empty. Many of the upper stories along this street are empty lofts, but who knows what folks might be doing up there?



STRANGE DORMER AND CHIMNEY

2200 BLOCK OF LOUISIANA STREET, LITTLE ROCK

 

The question is "WHY?"

Did the dormer come first, then they decided to put a much-needed extra chimney in the very place the dormer was built?

Or did the chimney come first and when they added a dormer in front, they decided it looked lopsided and built one around the chimney to help balance the house.

Either way, I doubt anyone can see much out that window.