The Mushroom Factor

Got a place that matters to you? Want to show others?

May is Preservation Month and the National Trust for Historic Preservation has an interesting theme for this year’s campaign—This Place Matters. According to their site, the campaign “is designed to help people share the place that matter to them, wherever these places happen to be. By simply printing a sign and taking a picture, you can tell the story about a place that matters to you.”

To date, 60 people or organizations have posted pictures of places that matter and brief explanations of why. Others have gone even further and posted YouTube videos. From public buildings, to homes, to bridges, this is an interesting collection of what people are doing to preserve places that matter to our heritage and our history.

So, do you have a place that matters to you? Post it on This Place Matters!

The July issue of Wood Magazine has an interesting article that holds credence to the level of craftsmanship we find in many things today, whether it’s our houses or the furniture we put in them. The article, written by Bob Wilson and Megan Stotmeister, is entitled “Crafting Keepsake Furniture in a Throwaway World.”

The gist of the article is an answer to the question “Is it worth it to spend hours in the workshop handcrafting your own furniture when you can find instant gratification with trendy, relatively low-cost furniture from a store?”

One of my children answers this question from the same viewpoint that many Wood Magazine readers did. She says handcrafted furniture has spoiled her. She looks at furniture her friends have purchased from well-reputed, expensive companies and finds it no where near the quality of pieces made by her brothers, father and grandfather.

Once again, my child is right (such is the case with parenthood).

In today’s throwaway world, as the article says, furniture is massed produced with staples, fiberboard and melamine. Even the so-called “finer” furniture from expensive stores is often constructed with lesser-quality woods and poor joinery. “Disposable furniture” is a term the article uses to describe this furniture and the reality that within five to seven years it will need to be replaced.

Compare that to a piece made by a hobbiest or professional artisan who spends days, weeks, even months choosing the right wood, carefully cutting and joining parts, and finishing with multiple layers of a durable coating. This piece shows pride in workmanship. It’s a labor of love. And not only has the artisan created something that will last during his or her lifetime, it will also become a treasured heirloom to those following.

Now that we have a child living in Washington D.C., we enjoy regular visits to what is probably our nation’s most fascinating city. We’ve hit the monuments, the museums and, oh, the restaurants! Thankfully, D.C. is a walking town and we’re able to work off what usually is some majorly excessive, good eating. (Note-to-self: function rather than fashionable form is a necessity in the clothing and shoe department.)

So, while we’re doing all this walking, my favorite thing to see is the architecture. As a lover of old houses, I find the rowhouse especially intriguing, partly because of its historical representation and partly because its not a common style here in the Midwest.

When I accompanied my daughter on her housing hunt a few years ago, I had the opportunity to see the interiors of several rowhouses. Like most old houses, they had architectural elements you just don’t find in newly-built homes and apartments—parquet floors, beautiful woodwork and bow-front windows. And like many old houses, these particular buildings needed lots of work and money!

According to the National Association to Restore Pride in America’s Capitol (NARPAC), rowhouses were built “en masse during the city’s temporary population explosion prior to World War II.” Also known as brownstones or townhouses (though technically there’s a difference), these multi-story structures were built as a series of side-by-side houses joined by a common wall. They varied in architectural style and prestige according to the neighborhood and era in which they were built.

The demographics of today’s rowhouse dweller has changed from years ago. The rowhouses themselves have also changed. The houses originally were built as single-family units for an average family of father, mother and 3-4 children. Today many of the rowhouses have been converted to condos and apartments and, according to NARPAC, the average occupants are singles, single parents, empty-nesters or elderly.

And so, with May being Historic Preservation Month, it’s important to applaud groups such as NARPAC, Mi Casa and other historic preservation organizations. These organizations recognize the value of places that matter, including rowhouses. They work to preserve their historical integrity and bring urban revitalization to many Washington D.C. neighborhoods.

Kudos, from an appreciative visitor to your town!

I’m a fair person. I strive to do the journalistic thing of covering both sides of the story, even though as a blogger I’m not legally required to do so. I do this because I consider myself a caring and ethical person.

So today I’m following up on yesterday’s post regarding Wisconsin Management Company and their lease with Jordan Gonnering, the UW-Madison student who found his fiancé murdered in the apartment they shared. Previous news reports stated the property management company had not determined it would release Gonnering from the remaining 16 months of his lease.

Today Wisconsin Management Company did the right thing. According to owner Russ Endres, the company announced it has decided “to release all parties from any lease obligations.”

This was a caring and ethical thing to do, and for this I applaud Wisconsin Management Company.

Every once in a while something happens within a community that causes outrage, fear and unrest. Such is the case here in Wisconsin with last week’s murder of Brittany Zimmerman, a 21-yr-old medical microbiology and immunology major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was found by her fiancé in the apartment they shared near downtown Madison.

In a city that prides itself for its down-to-earth, humanistic and relatively crime-free living, this event has caused a compassioned uproar that continues to spread from one concern to another. Residents and college students question whether police are doing enough to protect the public. Homeless panhandlers now bring suspicion and debate. And now, as of this weekend, the community’s ire has spread to the matter of housing.

Rightfully so.

Yesterday’s news reported that Zimmerman’s fiancé, Jordan Gonnering, (who, by the way, was ruled out as a suspect in the case) may have to continue renting the apartment where he discovered her slain body. Gonnering, a 22-year-old UW-Madison student, may be bound to the 16 months he has remaining on his lease with Wisconsin Management Company, in spite of his wishes to live elsewhere.

Russ Endres, owner of Wisconsin Management Company, gave no definite answer to the media, yet said his company:

“must treat its thousands of renters fairly and equally. It also ‘has an obligation … to the owners of the property. ‘ He confirmed he has contacted the property owners, Janet and Carl Van Rooy, of Indianapolis, about the situation, but he wouldn ‘t say if the Van Rooys were willing to waive the lease.

Carl Van Rooy, who is a partner in Wisconsin Management Co., also is chief executive officer of Van Rooy Properties, which manages apartments in Indiana, Florida and Missouri and rents commercial space in Indianapolis. Van Rooy refused to comment Friday.”

—Wisconsin State Journal, Sunday, April 13, 2008

I’m amazed that Wisconsin Management Company could even entertain ideas of not waiving Gonnering’s lease. As a parent of four children, all of whom attended University of Wisconsin schools and rented area properties, I’m well aware of the racket landlords have going in college communities. Wisconsin Management, with its out-of-state owners and large volume of properties, easily meets the classic slum-lord criteria.

If you’re considering renting an apartment soon or are parents of college-age children looking to rent, please take time to research Wisconsin Management Company, which manages rental property throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. Also check out Van Rooy Properties, which leases out property in Indiana, Missouri and Florida. Be aware of recent events and the possible moral ethics of these two companies.

If you have opinions on the matter of releasing Gonnering from his lease, please email Kevin Senke, vice president of Wisconsin Management Company, or call (608) 258-2080.