The rationale of heritage restorations or reconstruction is often questioned,
but when described by the architects at Lovell-Chen Pty Ltd, it makes perfect sense.
Memories Mean Everything in Heritage Restoration
Category: Travels
Where is the Love? Right Here!
Heritage is a serious business, so it’s sometimes easy to forget why I first fell in love with older homes and landscapes. This door reminds me!
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The Magic of Doors
On a visit to Louisiana, I first noticed how much the right door adds to the look of a building, especially a house. A door can connect strangers or attract new customers, newly repainted it will convince a wavering home buyer, sometimes it provi
des hints of the amazing adventures within. Yet, as friend who also works within the heritage 
community noted, so often it’s the last or forgotten part of a renovation. How unfortunate! (The pictures are a few favourites from a poster, Doors of New Orleans.) 
A Visit to Where Heritage Preservation Is Normal
It’s easy to forget how young Vancouver is, until you visit eastern Canada, where they’ve been building homes and businesses since the 1500’s. Even outlying areas, like the Quebec’s Eastern Townships, have structures built in the mid 1800’s that are still in daily use. Historical plaques in front on many tell the ownersh
ip story, and point out interesting features. I’m not sure if these plaques make visitors and locals appreciate heritage more, 
however with so many well-loved vintage buildings, they seem to be the norm, not the exception, in most communities. Nor are older homes being demolished on a regular basis. I’m still pondering this different perspective, and how we can encourage it here in Vancouver.
The Cat and Missoula
Last fall I traveled to Missoula, Montana.
One of the things that impressed me about the downtown core was the many beautiful older buildings that have been lovingly preserved and are now proudly occupied by local businesses. There are some fantastic restaurants, with local servers knowledgeable about their buildings, and a sense of genuine pride in being a resident of Missoula.
There were also some whimsical modern sculptures, that fit right in!
The View From Elsewhere
One of the reasons I love traveling is to see how others build – both individual buildings, and how they are 
grouped together.
A few years ago I visited Sydney Australia, and this view caught my attention: old and new co-existing in the downtown core of the city. There are a few examples of this in Vancouver, for example the Hotel Georgia, I wish there were more.