Keep the pictures coming!

Nice picture of neat old buildings and neat old cars. Is that a dead possum in the road?

Pretty serious modifications to the buildings that remain.

I notice in the old pictures there are almost never any trees down the side of the road, but they are common in the new pictures.

There's a chance the turret on the building on the right is still there under the stupid medernized "Riverfront" sign.

Well,... maybe, but I really don't think so Rich. I've always liked those old "turn of the century" turrets, but I think after a hundred years or more, they start to sag and deteriorate, and because the unique rounded construction would be so labor intensive to rebuild, they just kinda' replace/repair with the much cheaper standard dimensional lumber construction. A real shame tho' because I don't know what I find more appealing,.... the outward "turn of the century" styling, or the really neat and sort of "cozy" place to sit and enjoy a cuppa' coffee with a 90 degree view up and down two different streets.

Actually, I don't think it's just the added expense of rebuilding those old turrets,....I really wonder if maybe it's just too difficult to find craftsmen that can still do that kind of work! At any rate, it really is a shame,......harold

Sigh - You're probably right Harold. I didn't look closely at the construction. One of these on a building built in 1900 in Pocatello, Id., at the nw corner of Main & Center was masonry, covered up for years, was revealed and restored in the 1990s.

I can hope . . .

I built my turret as an 8' x 8' square, backset into the building for a 2'
cantilever over the 45º beveled corner door on the ground floor. This
allows 30" side windows to each side, with a 6' outward facing window
set on the 45. From the interior, the space will be something of an alcove.
From the exterior, it is a projecting turret that will carry all the way out the
roof and be capped with a pointy "hat", of which design I am as yet undecided
on. With the overall design being Queen Anne, I can lean more squared
for an Italianate look, or go bonkers with something as crazy as a boat
hulled onion dome. All the windows were framed to fit salvaged 1880's
stained glass units. It will be a wonderful place to just sit and watch the
neighborhood go by.

Burger - I'm tying to remember what all of those thousands and thousands of farmers storage silos looked like. Seems like most of them had the same basic style of top. Domed, weren't they? Wonder if maybe there was a company that made metal "tops" for such silos? What I'm getting at here is that maybe there is some time-proven design that is cheap, durable and long lasting and that might still be available nowadays,....??? Might me some sort of easy answer that would make that part of your project cheap and easy. And as for appearance? Who's gonna' see it up that high anyway, right? Just a thought,....harold

P.S. Wife and I really like your stained glass "collection". Isn't there some salvage outing in the twin cities that specializes in salvage of wrought iron, old windows, and all sorts of decorative antique architectural items? Actually, I know there is,.... I just can't think of the name of it. Oops,....sorry,.....I'm just "rambling now,....enough!

The detail work is where all the fun is, Harold. Why would I go
with an "easy" prefab dome when I could do something like this ?





Imagine either of these with the original stained glass in place !

n

WOW! I wouldn't even want to try to paint something like that let alone build it! Looks like old San Francisco!

Well, building IS my chosen profession. Might as well go large on my own
place, right ? Besides, it really complements the old T truck !

The window sashes and glass in turrets like the one in the old picture is curved. Replacing those windows with something energy efficient, while maintaining the look, can be done but it is highly specialized custom work and very expensive.

This is where updating gets stupid. Some things you leave alone and enjoy
them for what they are ... kinda like owning a Model T. Just enjoy it for the
character and worry about modern updates and efficiency in other venues.

San Francisco is pretty temperate, so high energy efficiency is less of an
issue that it would be in say, ... Spokane or Yankton. But you are correct.
Building semi-arched windows, or even just the trim for them, would be a
labor intensive mission. I would not hesitate to take it on, but would do it
one window hole at a time. As for energy efficiency, well made wood frame
storm windows work very well and are period correct. I would never consider
putting mags and a small block Chevy in/on my Model T. Why would anyone
give a moment's consideration to defacing the historic character of a home
like these with modern windows ?

There are companies that do restoration of antique windows with modern glass, and ones that create new reproductions. Both can be very nice looking and energy efficient, but are costly. You can even do it with glass that looks just like the old wavy glass. (There are other glass reproductions that are less expensive, but don't look nearly as correct.) I used to own a custom decorative glass business. We did some lead work for a builder who was converting a beautiful old camp building into a (very) high end LEED-certified home. The windows use a lot of the old hardware and looked fantastic, but met the LEED standards. Of course, this was a spend-whatever-it-takes project.