Macro Monday – Fleur de Lis

My mother lives in the Cole Valley neighborhood in San Francisco where many of the buildings were built around the turn of the century. The architecture was exported from England during Queen Victoria’s reign to many cities throughout the United States. This frothy corinthian column from a house across the street from Boulange de Cole Valley reminds me of the Wedding Cake House of the same era in New Orleans

The elaborate ornamentation around this window elevates its importance:

The 

Here is a quintessential neighborhood house and details that hearken back to their Victorian and Edwardian roots…

… with bay windows …

and eaves adorned with dentil cornices egg-and-dart mouldings …

… and ionic columns flanking the stairway

Maintaining the delicate details of gingerbread mouldings is costly and time-consuming, thus many of these homes were stripped of their intricate decorations and covered with alternate, lower-maintenance materials like this house, directly next door:

Though I understand the practical need to simplify, I’m glad they left one detail:

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints on their first ever Super Bowl win!

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