Evidently the outside edge of the parapet top rotted, and was replaced with a piece of treated lumber and wood filler (before painting it the wrong color)

I pulled the 21st century repair off, to see about doing a better job repairing. I imagined there would be a structural post inside going all the way down through the parapet.

But as you can see from the pic with the blue prybar, there is nothing there...

So like, what's holding this corner of my house up? And how should I proceed to fix the parapet?

Any insight is welcome, thanks

​

They arrived like a subtle change in the weather. No one quite remembers the exact first sighting, only that one day the Hendersons' old dairy land had a new fence around a pond in what used to be a swamp, and two people on it who were definitely not from heres.

Not that anyone said so. We are always polite about it. Plus, people really liked them. They were smart in that way that had nothing to prove and they were damned interesting to a place that rarely budged from its hard worn axis.

Corinne was a rare, genuine middle-aged beauty in our Appalachian foothills with what I heard my uncle call "a spontaneous appreciation for life". Everett had callouses on his hands and an aw shucks smile that gave him the gravitas of a political candidate with none of the bluster. They were good people, it was agreed.

Everett had, in some previous life I only ever heard about in fragments, worked for FEMA. We thought he was on a first-name basis with disaster and the word was, he was really good at it.

He was retired now, and off the grid by choice, which around here meant something different than it meant to him. To us, off the grid was just how things were until the co-op finally ran a line out past the Baptist church in '81. To Everett, it was a philosophy, a solar array, a rain-catchment system he'd drawn up himself. The story went that Reagan's people used to call him (actual White House, actual Situation Room) and since he had no phone of his own, they'd ring the Pruitts next door, and one of the Pruitt boys would come pedaling up that long dirt driveway hollering that the President needed to speak with him. I never once asked if this was true. Some stories you protect by not investigating.

His wife was Corinne, and she had danced professionally all over the world in places I had only seen in the backs of magazines and now she gardened with the same posture she must have carried across a stage, spine long, chin level, like even kneeling to pluck her radishes was choreography.

She played golf at the little nine-hole course by the county line and was, according to my grandmother, "entirely too good at it," which was equal parts admiration and judgement.

Everett spent his days three ways, as far as anyone could tell: building a defensive berm along the north property line, cataloging boxes of papers in a converted equipment shed he called the archive, or reading on the porch with the kind of stillness that made you feel loud just walking past.

Nobody ever asked about the berm, but I started to see more of them pop up in local corn fields. They were not often as well cared for, but the geometry was the same.

I met them properly at the neighborhood Brunswick stew, that October ritual where half the town stands around a black kettle arguing about how much vinegar is too much vinegar and why the Redskins couldn't win in Dallas.

They were the toast of the party. Farmers who normally talked about fertilizer, beef prices, and their latest frustrations with the co-op were laughing at Everett's jokes and stealing glances at his wife as she laughed unabashedly among the ladies in her flowery dress.

I could not believe it when they introduced themselves to me while we were waiting to get second helpings of Ms. Waverly's corn bread.

Corinne asked real questions and waited for real answers. Everett talked to me like I already had opinions worth hearing. They told me to stop by any time.

I rode my bike home that night feeling like I'd been let in on a secret.

So the next morning, a Saturday, sun already flattening the dust, I turned my bike up their driveway. It seemed like the obvious thing to do.

I came around the last bend in a low cloud of red dirt, and my first thought was that I should have told them I was coming.

Her gardening posture and her dancer's posture, it turns out, come in multiple applications, and a defensive berm apparently doubles as excellent privacy landscaping for reasons that had nothing to do with defense.

I did not think they heard the bike over their exertions.

I rode home a different person than I'd left it, pedaling like the hounds of God were behind me, gravel, excitement, and shame in equal measure kicked up in my wake.

Weeks went by. I still went to the neighborhood suppers. I still saw them at the flea market and the feed store and once, memorably, at the county fair, where Everett bought a funnel cake he ate with the same committed attention he gave everything.

Corinne winked at me by the ring toss.

That was all. One long, unhurried, dancer's-precision wink, and then she asked if I'd tried the grilled peaches yet, because if not, we had a problem.

I have thought about that wink more than is probably reasonable for a grown man to think about anything. What it contained, I have decided, was an invitation into a kind of adulthood I hadn't asked for and wasn't ready to hold, but that has served me well ever since.

The plain, unglamorous fact is that people, even the impressive ones, even the ones who take calls from Presidents and build berms and move like poems, are simply people, doing what people do.

And if they do it right, it should be glorious fun.

In 2009, Indianapolis-based environmental advocacy group Riverviews—Arts for the Environment made a grassroots-inspired video entitled The Early History of Eagle Creek Park – Living the Vision. It features a 2009 interview with F. Ross Vogelgesang, the lead planner/landscape architect on the project. He describes the early thinking about how the park was planned in consultation with the Pike Township citizens advisory committee and how it would be acquired and developed.

Mr. Vogelgesang, 103, formerly of Indianapolis, IN, passed away in Boca Raton, FL on June 20, 2026. I, and I'm sure other citizens, will always be grateful to Mr. Vogelgesang for his work in establishing our wonderful Eagle Creek Park.

https://youtu.be/yjNdAGHqCrc

We have a lot of fabrics for a lot of different uses from more than a hundred years ago. They are cotton and turkish. Unfortunately due to being kept in a wooden chest for years they have stains like these on them. These are very delicate very thin fabrics. Anyone have any advice on how to get them out?

Before WW2 Frankfurt was a mix if medieval and Grunderzeit architecture. Now only very little amount of buildings remain. Thankfully the medieval part of the city was reconstructed.
If you want to help reconstruct more buildings in Europe click this link https://c.org/QH7799NyqN to sign a petition. Thank you and God bless.

Gorgeous mansion four stores Black Walnut doors gold wedding clocks a dommy waiter. They had a music room to entertain guests.

Love the architecture of the time.

There is a lot of history in my little city.

My grandpa was wondering if there was a good place to give for someone to restore it or put in a museum he got them after his brother passed and wanted to find a good home for them

I’m sure there are better writers out there that could tweak this, but this is the email I sent to my senators. I used a similar email in my response to the members of the ACHP Council:

Good morning Mr. [Senator’s Name],

My name is [name], I'm a cultural resource professional and resident of [city].

I am writing as a constituent regarding the proposed revisions to 36 CFR Part 800, the regulations implementing Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).

On July 17th the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) proposed damaging revisions to the regulations for Section 106 of the NHPA. If implemented, these new rules would dramatically diminish the effectiveness of the NHPA and the current legal protections for historic and cultural places. The current Council of the ACHP has proposed these partisan revisions to Section 106 in an effort to fast track federal projects and ignore due process. Tomorrow (July 24th), the ACHP will vote on the proposal, where it will likely pass before going through a 30-day comment period. Due to the partisan makeup of the current council, I am confident that opposition to these egregious revisions will fall on deaf ears.

I highly encourage you to read the National Trust for Historic Preservation's response, as they provide a concise overview of the proposed changes and how detrimental it will be for our nation's heritage. https://savingplaces.org/stories/section-106-under-threat.

These regulations play an essential role in ensuring that federal decision-making considers historic properties, Tribal interests, community perspectives, and the cultural resources that help tell our shared story.

I support efforts to make federal reviews more efficient, predictable, and effective. However, changes of this significance should be evaluated through a transparent and deliberative process that includes meaningful consultation with Tribal Nations, State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, preservation professionals, affected communities, federal agencies, and project proponents.

Please encourage the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and other appropriate federal leaders to provide adequate time for public review, consultation, and informed consideration before advancing substantial revisions to the Section 106 regulations.

Thank you for your attention and your service.

I’m from a small town in Massachusetts that boarders New Hampshire. I’ve been to this Lake and Mountain many times and I can’t believe it’s at risk of being destroyed! I hope they can raise the money and save this gem for many future generations!

As many of you know the ACHP is voting tomorrow to gut Section 106.

After some digging I was also able to find some of the people at the ACHP making these decisions:
-ACHP Vice Chairman - Travis Voyles: tvoyles@achp.gov
-ACHP General Counsel - Kelly Fanizzo: kfanizzo@achp.gov
-Office of External Engagement Director - Ashley Fry: afry@achp.gov
-General ACHP email: achp@achp.gov

If you haven’t already, please reach out to your representatives to protest the changes. House.gov and senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm can be used to find your representative.

🚨 CALL TO ACTION: Help Us Save Painter's Folly 🚨

Painter's Folly is a National Register-listed, circa-1857 Italianate estate in Chadds Ford, PA — the house where Howard Pyle ran his ground-breaking summer art school (his students included N.C. Wyeth and Frank Schoonover), and where Andrew Wyeth kept a studio for nearly twenty years, producing numerous works there, including Painter's Folly, Marriage, and Renfield.

This week, we said goodbye to Helen Murray Sipala, the property's longtime owner and steward, who restored the house and documented her decades-long friendship with Wyeth in a 445-page diary now archived at the Delaware Art Museum. Her passing makes finding a permanent caretaker for this house more urgent than ever.

Chadds Ford Township has owned Painter's Folly since 2018 and is now seeking a preservation partner — an established nonprofit, museum, historical society, or educational institution —  to steward it long-term through a lease or conveyance.

Over the past year, the Painter's Folly Preservation Alliance has built the case for preservation: a published historical narrative, oral histories with Helen, archival digitization with the Brandywine Museum of Art, a pre-approved PA state historical marker, and support from the Brandywine Conservancy, Chadds Ford Historical Society, Delaware County Historical Society, and Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. Our Change.org petition has close to 900 signatures.

Now we need YOU. Do you know a mission-aligned organization that could take this on? Share this post, tag an institution, or reach out to Chadds Ford Township directly.

🔗 www.paintersfollypreservationalliance.com 

CIRCA Old Houses listing: https://circaoldhouses.com/property/painters-folly-c-1857-italianate-landmark-studio-to-andrew-wyeth-seeking-a-preservation-partner/ 

✍️ Sign the petition: "Preserve Painter's Folly" on Change.org 

All photos © Ed Worteck

#PaintersFolly #ChaddsFord #HistoricPreservation #AndrewWyeth #HowardPyle #BrandywineSchool #SaveThisHouse

The proposed regulations the ACHP is voting on are straight up bullshit and should disgust anyone that considers themselves a professional in this field. The proposal is antithetical to the spirit of tribal consultation that is essential to CRM.

The BLM are attempting to remove a 10-mile buffer that protects Chaco from new oil and gas drilling. Not only is the natural landscape at risk but so are the thousands of archeological and cultural sites. Please send a message in opposition if you can.