Flowers at the cottage

 Although we've sold our cottage at Lakeside, this year the flowers have been doing beautifully.  So Bob took a photo, and because of the reflections in the porch window, we also have a photo of our neighbors.

It's lovely in Lakeside in September

Beautiful walk along the lakefront this morning about 7:30 a.m. I stopped to talk to a woman who's been coming to Lakeside for 71 years, which makes me who's been coming for only 46 years, a newcomer. I had just noticed the real estate sign in front of the lovely traditional 2-story cottage, cross gable with wrap around porch at 2nd and Poplar. It's a classic, well over 100 years old. I hope Lakeside doesn't allow it to be torn down. When my husband was on the design/review committee it would have been safe. But there's so much money now in Lakeside, it has a 2 or 3 tier system of rules, like most places. Money talks and it says, "I want my own way."

Also during my morning lakefront walk I met and woman and child at Perry Park and tennis courts with a Labradoodle black and white puppy. It had the curls of the poodle and the "I love everyone let me jump on you" friendliness of the Lab. I thought of the Greens, friends of our son Phil, who've just had the joy of a litter. Both sire and dam were Labradoodles.

Lots of building going on. Two new houses in the Elm and 2nd area, and the playground is gone, I suppose a donor has come up with something spectacular. Another home on the lakefront is getting an extreme make-over, the porch is gone, but it looks like it will be replaced.

2nd and Elm

2nd and Cherry

Lakefront

2nd and Lynn

The Story of Green Gables at Lakeside, by Janet Jennings

“What was the one of the biggest challenges you faced during 18 years of serving as House Chair of Green Gables?” I posed this question to Becky Johnson who is stepping down from this responsibility at the end of the 2020 Lakeside Chautauqua season. This was Becky’s answer: “…resolving the feral cat problem while trying to be sensitive to the cat lovers.”

This response is so typical of this gentle, tactful lady, who, along with Bret, is quick to show concern for other people. Friends know them as a loving, selfless couple who work tirelessly to make life happier or easier for others. The Johnsons have been far more than mere custodians of the 137-year-old house at 161 Walnut Avenue. They are first and foremost caretakers of people.

“Green Gables has been a place filled with women for over 90 years,” Becky wrote recently, “and I love thinking about the stories of friendships forged and relationships strengthened. I love Green Gables when it is full of women learning and sharing, and I love it when it is a quiet fall evening and we are putting it to bed for the winter.”

Becky took on the job of Green Gables House Chair in 2002, a couple of years after they had completed work on their own cottage on Jasmine. Since the Lakeside Women’s Club was organized in 1928, a member or committee has been appointed or elected to this task. Husbands sometimes pitch in to help as Bret has. It’s all volunteer. The House Chair is in charge of the interior of Green Gables. A few of her duties are opening and closing in spring and fall, hiring cleaners, purchasing supplies, readying bedrooms and bathrooms for renters, calling exterminators, plumbers, and handymen, making decor decisions, keeping the furnishings in good repair, working closely with the Resident Hostess, Librarian, and officers of the Club, the Lakeside administration and security. And those are just the basics.

What makes the job daunting is not only the age of the house, but, as Becky explains, “Making decisions on a public place is very different from working in your own home. I was conscious of trying to make Green Gables appealing to everyone who visited. Budgeting repairs at Green Gables is different as I tried to be a good steward of the Club’s funds.” Then, being Becky, she adds this positive note: “ I learned that regardless of the décor, women love being together in a
place where they can feel at home.”

Becky explained, “The general rule is that the Association is responsible for the exterior and the Club takes care of the inside. However, on big projects (HVAC, new foundation, updated kitchen, replacement of rotted joists, etc.) we partner with the Association to get the job done. In more recent years, we have been able to rely on Lakeside maintenance for smaller inside issues. Our relationship has evolved into a real partnership. Without them, the Club would be
at a real disadvantage.”

The Lakeside Association owns Green Gables and maintains the exterior as they do their other 46+ buildings. But the Lakeside Women’s Club, a separate non-profit, is not a tenant in the usual sense. The Association generously lets the Club use the house
because of an agreement worked out when Arthur Hoover was general manager of Lakeside. In 1928, Hoover persuaded the woman who owned the house situated at 161 Walnut, a prime piece of real estate, to sell to the Lakeside Association. It had been a boarding
house, but at that time was standing vacant, 45 years old, and in need of paint. Mr. Hoover then negotiated with Lakeside Trustees that the cottage would be used as the club house for a newly-formed Woman’s Club with his wife, Bessie Hoover, serving as founding president.

Next, the Lakeside Association painted the outside, and Mrs. Hoover
donated some of her own furniture from the Hoover home across the street at 205 Park Row. Her wicker set still occupies the spot in front of the fireplace today. Perhaps this was the beginning of the tradition that the Association would maintain the exterior and the Women’s Club (it was called Woman’s Club then) would take care of the interior. Sounds shaky, but somehow this unique arrangement has worked for 92 years.

Green Gables is heavily used during the season. Somebody once told Becky that they thought Green Gables was a place where old ladies went to knit. Becky laughs, “It’s that and so much more!” She has a favorite memory from June, 2016. The Johnsons were glued to the upstairs TV along with Lois Weller, the former Resident Hostess. The Cleveland Cavaliers were playing Game 7 in the NBA finals. The Johnsons are from Bedford and Lois lives in Parma, and no major
Cleveland sports team had won a title since 1964, so of course they were excited. “When the Cavs won, how we cheered,” Becky remembers, “and you could hear people all around yelling!”

Lois Weller appreciates Becky and Bret very much. She is very aware of how much leadership, time, and effort this generous couple has contributed to Green Gables and the Lakeside Women’s Club. She knows firsthand of their dedication to family, church, schools in which they have taught, children and youth in Lakeside, and persons for whom they have caretaker responsibilities.

Another person who worked with Becky and Bret the entire 18 years was Betsy Kennedy, former librarian of Green Gables. “With the Johnsons, it’s always been a family affair,” she said in a recent phone conversation. Betsy can’t say enough about the kindness of Becky and Bret—carrying heavy boxes of books to and from storage, lugging in tables for the annual book sale—and they always responded quickly and cheerfully to any request.

From the beginning Bret did his part, and when daughter Grace, or “Miss Gracie” as Betsy and Lois fondly call her, came on the scene fourteen years ago, it became a trio. As Grace was growing up, Betsy said that if a house cleaner didn’t show up, it was sometimes Bret and Gracie who raced upstairs to clean, change the bed, and clean the
bathroom. Grace has always felt that Green Gables is her second home. Becky recalls one fall when she and Bret painted walls while baby Gracie slept in her bouncy seat on the floor.

During the season for many years, the evening before the Tuesday meeting, Bret could be found mopping the kitchen and downstairs bathroom floor on his hands and knees. His simple explanation
was, “I know how to wash floors, and I thought it would help Lois.”

Reflecting back, Becky wrote, “Green Gables is a unique place that has a sweet cadence to it. It’s a place where everyone is welcome. It is filled with tradition that makes it familiar to people, year after year.”

Thank you, Becky, for devoting eighteen years of your life to our grand old lady, Green Gables, and being a big part of what makes it such a welcoming place.

Lakeside, 2019 Week 10, RV video

https://youtu.be/H69oPSYABDA

This is a lovely video made by a couple who have an RV channel on YouTube.  They did a great story about Lakeside and were here during the Marilyn McCoo-Billy Davis Show.  Street scenes are less populated since most families have gone home for the school year.  More emphasis on the camp ground than most things I see—it’s not easy to get space there.  About 17 minutes.

Sprucing up at the Bruces

A new look for the porch. We bought our summer home in Lakeside, Ohio,  in 1988 (actual house with plaster walls, basement and fireplace built in 1944) and had planned to remove the mid-80s, not architecturally appropriate porch. However, over the years we learned how great it was, solar gain in the winter so we could use it off season, and tight enough for AC in the summer. The problem was, it faded and discolored over 30 years and was sort of white, grey and yellow. So Wednesday it was painted to match the trim. The guys did a great job, and had painted the house in the spring. In the fall, the deck will be repainted, because it will require sanding and prep that Lakeside doesn't allow during the season.

People often say

Why would you consider selling your Lakeside cottage when you enjoy it so much?

Here's some photographic evidence.

 

 

Lakeside cottages--late 20th early 21st century vernacular, pt. 2

21st Century
Early 21st century cottages at Lakeside Chautauqua, Ohio, a summer community on Lake Erie on the Marblehead peninsula. The first four are designed by Robert Bruce, Architect.

The Foley House (2002) is a “healthy house” for which light gauge metal was used for the floors, walls, and roof framing instead of chemically treated wood.  The design, although modern, is reminiscent of stick-built Victorian styles of 100 years before.  The wrap around porch has multiple skylights with clerestory windows along the great room for maximum natural light.

This 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, story and a half for Wes and Sue Kunze (2004) is my favorite Lakeside cottage—it’s small, fits the lot and neighborhood perfectly, has a pleasant open floor plan, and a delightful porch. This is a summer home.

This style roof is called a clipped gable, and the owners, the Blossers, specifically requested that in the design.  This story and a half home on Fifth St. E. and Elm Ave. has  1763 sq. ft., with four bedrooms plus a loft—it accommodates many people and has a lovely wrap around porch partially screened. Originally the owners used it as a rental, and only in the summer.
 
This 2007 photo of the Gurney house on 7th and Walnut faces a park and was designed for a steep lot and has a full basement with 2,063 sq. ft. living space and an open porch.  It is a year around residence.  After 5 years the owners were allowed to add a garage to the east (this is a coverage rule) , so the very large tree was removed. There are now 4  trees shading the house, and mature flowering shrubs so it would be difficult to see this much of the house  today.  

Facing Perry Park on 2nd St. with a wonderful view of Lake Erie, this home was new in 2015, and replaced a smaller brick traditional style home. Part of the large porch is screened, and part open, plus an open porch/deck on the second floor.  For many years a 3rd story was discouraged by the Lakeside Design Review Board, but so many of the newest homes have them, that  is apparently not the case today.  It almost dwarfs the beautiful stick Victorian next to it.

One of the first of the big ones going up with a 3rd story, this home facing Elm is reminiscent of Victorian styles. I think it was built around 2003.

This bungalow style was popular in the early 20th century, so this has followed that design of a gable roof with shed dormer with windows in threes and large pillars on the porch. The owners were adding a garage (5 year coverage rule) when I walked by in the summer of 2015, which probably means this was built around 2010. It’s a summer home.

This neat ranch style with a porch facing Oak Avenue instead of the side gives the perfect impression of many of the 1920s and 1930s summer homes, but with all the modern conveniences like indoor plumbing and central air and heat. Was built about five years ago.

This three story lake front “cottage” replaced a very handsome Dutch Colonial which had a large tree fall on it during a storm (see next photo) I’m not fond of this look, but it is the direction the newer cottages are going. Up. Big. Wide.
.
The early 20th century Dutch Colonial which was on the lot of the above cottage.

This one replaced a large 4 unit cottage we stayed in around 1976.  It has a similar style (see photo below) and size of the hip roof cottage it replaced and I believe it went up around 2013 probably first used in 2014.  Now a single family. Good view of the lake and the “most beautiful mile in Ohio.”

We rented this, north west unit above, as it appears covered for the winter weather. Right on the lakefront, so that can get very severe.  Site of Phil’s first fish catch.

This cottage on 2nd St. was new within the last 10 years, but has an interesting history.  It replaced an A-frame with a large deck overlooking Perry Park, a style not typical in this  area, however, that cottage had replaced a garage converted to a cottage about 100 years ago, which burned in a fire set by “rum runners” on the lake leaving 3 lots open.  I chatted with one of the owners (of a family) who lives in Arizona.

This home on South Oak above 7th was built during the past year, and I just noticed it on my walks this summer.  It has a low gable roof, with very clean lines and very little trim.  It reminds me more of a Florida home, but fits nicely in the newer neighborhood which has been created since 1999.

The owner of this cottage on the last lot on Oak told me it was built in 1999, so I’m grouping it with 21st century.  Although the story and a half style is a fooler, it has 5 bedrooms.  The current owners added a connecting area to the garage which they use for laundry and storage.

I think I noticed this cottage on Oak about a year ago, and actually don’t know if it is a complete makeover of an older building, or if it is completely new. It has gables to the front and side, with a shed dormer and open porch.  However, there is nothing left if the older structure is in there somewhere. I’ve never seen anyone there I could ask, but if I find out differently, I’ll revise this entry to correct it. Update: Aug. 3, 2016.  I finally saw someone on the porch, so I stopped and asked.  There had been a house on this lot and they did incorporate a few walls so that it was easier to get it approved.  It is one floor; no stairs to what looks like a second floor with a shed dormer.

This is typical of many of the 21st and late 20th new build vernacular cottages.  Lots of gables, double deck porch, shingle trim, with a nod to Victorian, but still with all modern conveniences.

This eclectic style on South Oak Avenue is reminiscent of some 20s-30s bungalow cottages that had gable roofs with shed dormers on the side or front; it has a nice enclosed porch but with part of it open.  80 years ago, that meant it was remodeled to accommodate some of our fierce storms, but today they are designed to have some protected and some open areas.

Lakeside cottages—late 20th early 21st vernacular, pt. 1

Our first summer at Lakeside was 1974.  Things were pretty primitive by today’s standards, or even standards of the 70s, but there was an upswing.  There were a few cottages being remodeled, as Americans began to look for vacations spots closer to home to compensate for higher fuel costs.  Still, for many years we brought a fan with us, and a small vacuum cleaner—two items most cottage rentals didn’t have. In 1973 51% of new houses in the U.S. didn’t have air conditioning--by 2014 it was 9%. 19% of  1973 new builds had 2.5 baths, but by 2014 it was 30% with  an additional 30% having 3 bathrooms (not even on the radar in 1973). 64% had 3 bedrooms  and 23% 4 bedrooms 40 years ago, compared to 44% and 46% today.  So you can see we’re getting cooler, cleaner, and more separated even as families get smaller.  Mean square footage of a newly constructed home in America is almost 2,600 square feet. And so it also goes in Lakeside.  The new builds are BIG, granite counter tops in kitchens, multiple bathrooms, and AC.
https://www.census.gov/construction/chars/completed.html

20th century

This is on Oak, near 7th.  Not sure of the age, sign on the house says established 1988, and now for sale, nice side yard.

Not sure of the date, but this was a popular modular home of the 20th century. Also on Oak Avenue. Most of Oak south on the last street was developed from 1999 on.

Clipped low gable with lots of porch and screened areas.

Gable roof with dormers, nice porch. Steep hilly construction site.

A three dormer gable, modular home on Oak. Parsonage for the United Methodist Church.

Another modular home, probably year around.

Lakeside Cottages, post WWII

There was not a lot of building going on during WWII—anywhere—but we think our cottage was built around 1944 and we’ve heard it was the first FHA loan in the county. Small, compact, low gable roof, almost no ornamentation.  Architectural styles changed; people didn’t want what was popular early in the century.

This is a small ranch you could see in any community, very popular in the late 40s and 50s.  Nice porch on the side that possibly was added later.

This has a nice “Tudor” peak, and actually could be the 1930s with upgrades.  I haven’t checked the archives for the date. There were package homes of this style earlier in the 20th century. I think a porch was enclosed and new windows added in the 1980s.

The porch is newer with some details added to the roof, but this appears to be a basic hip 1950s ranch, and I’m guessing if I went inside there would be blond  birch wood trim. Shallow roof pitch.

Log houses were popular in the 50s and 60s.  We rent this cute place in the 1970s.  Originally a 2 bedroom, a third was added, and a passage to the garage was enclosed.

It’s not clear whether this began as a 2 story with an addition, a one story with an addition, or if it always looked this way, but I remember it from the 1970s.

I remember seeing homes like this in the 1950s, and this one has been remodeled with an added porch/sunroom.

A view of the above house from the front.  It’s a classic 50s modern, in my opinion. Horizontally parallel to the street.

These camp cabins are “rustic” style, post WWII. Near the camp ground south of 7th street.

Basic L-ranch, large window in living room, small in bedrooms.  Now used as “artists’ home’ for people working at the Rhein center.

After WWII, whole neighborhoods of these were built for young families and their boomer babies.  There are only a few at Lakeside. This one is now for sale: 3 bedrooms, 1 car garage, added rear multipurpose room, 1700 sq. ft., never a rental, $259,000.

Log and stone gable lodge type.

Contemporary slant roof, several shed roofs shapes.  Large windows.

A-frame, possibly with side addition. These were popular in leisure and vacation areas 50 years ago.

This is on the lakefront, 2 bedroom, great view of the lake, large fireplace.  Now has a carport for protection of golf cart and bikes.   In the 1970s, I thought it looked out of place with the more traditional cottage styles, but now with tear downs and rebuilds and remodeling in that area, it looks sweet and modest.  Now a rental.

Along with the A-Frame these extreme gambrel (barn roof) styles were popular in the 50s.  The porch/deck appears to be a later addition.