fbpx

Our Blog

heads up, gear heads! our baby in Rod & Kulture.

my dad would be proud. remember this before and after project from an earlier post? It just made it’s debut in Rod & Kulture… telling the story about how we found her and David + my brother sam brought her back to life- and to the track. We havent received our issue in the mail yet, so look for the update with the full story. but for now, the spreads turned out pretty nice! buy the issue HERE

Read more →

Rescuing the cabin- filming the saga. EPISODE 1

The publisher of Found Free & Flea  (Random House / Clarkson potter) asked us to document the latest project: Rescuing the Sterlingworth Cabin… so…one sunny morning, david, bill, chuck and I decided to move it with only a pickuptruck, trailer, canvas strap and a prayer…. 5 hours later we had her moved to her new little perch at camp. here is the post on the origins of the cabin … kids: DONT TRY THIS AT HOME. stay tuned for the next phase- fixing it up….

Read more →

PUREWOW. some love for the Steppenwolf project…

LOUNGS ACT. STEPPENWOLFS NEW HANGOUT thanks: masters of transformation & willing accomplices: William Golden, Lauren McDonald 486 and allie armstrong for her awesome graphic design skills. Ogilvy for letting us all do this project. (and amalie for the nice write-up!) check out the story HERE  excerpt:  Ad executive and constant dreamer Tereasa Surratt is a master of transformation.  The Ogilvy & Mather creative director turned her flea market habit into a book and an old lakeside camp into asummer playground for her artistic friends. And her latest project, with Steppenwolf Theatre, converts a bare swath of concrete garage into a chic place to relax before or after a…

Read more →

new project: AIRSTREAM TRAILER RESURRECTION

we were all set to go pick her up. an early 60’s SHASTA trailer (the cheaper version of an airstream). we had already speced out the materials to restore the interior…  and the- the dude sold it out from underneath us. alas. i guess it means there is a better one out there that we were meant to adopt.  so– david is back on her daily treasure hunt to find that one that we will adopt and add to the Wanda family. anybody out there have one to sell cheap?  we are looking for one that needs to be gutted,…

Read more →

post 27store, harry weese, and discoveries that make us :)

this morning i logged onto my friend angela’s  (of post27 store) blog and found this great post: a beautiful building cantelevered out over a cliff– designed by mid century modern master HARRY WEESE. be still my heart. here are some other designs by WEESE: the flap copy from the new book on his works:  THE ARCHITECTURE OF HARRY WEESE This study tells the story of one of America’s most gifted architects of the postwar years.During a career that spanned half a century from the 1930s to the 1980s, Weese produced a large number of significant designs ranging from small but…

Read more →

VIDEO: how to move a cabin… (err… crapper )

it teeters precariously on a very unstable perch. it takes out trees, nearly blows off the trailer on the highway, almost squashes somebody- and gives us a serious case of anxiety. (check it out) THE STATS: Dimensions: 8×8 (@12ft tall) Weight: heavy enough to kill you if it fell on you. Birthdate: 1956 Birthplace: Camp Juniper Knoll (outside Elkhorn, Wisconsin) Job description: A four-seater outhouse Materials: tin roof, pine floors, wood siding Time it took to relocate: 4 hours Number of people it took: 4 men, a dog and one anxious female. Parents: Could this be the only known outhouse designed…

Read more →

holy christmas— look what we FOUND!!!!!!!

for YEARS we have been looking for antique photographs of Wandawega Lake Resort.  ran ads in papers. posted flyers. handed out postcards asking for leads. interviewed old folks. researched historical societies. libraries. old newspapers. nada. and then one day (5 minutes ago) one drops in our laps. ala ebay. if anybody reading this ever sees vintage anything with the name ‘wandawega’ i will give you a finger.  or at least case of beer if you prefer. 🙂 this photo shows the old hotel, back when we had a beach. and a boardwalk (yay!) based on the size of the cedars,…

Read more →

have a seat. take a stand.

and… more party shots from this years silent auction, where the wandawega chair (hearth chair) was an entry…. check out the whole story here nathaniel ross wrote up a great review on the party: (thanks, nathaniel! we loved your chair last year 🙂 “Before you throw away that wobbly old stool, or that faded easy chair with Aunt Maggie’s favorite pattern on it, consider giving it a second chance at life with a good sanding, some new screws, and dazzling new fabric! We recently visited Chicago Home + Garden‘s inspiring annual event, Chairs for Charity, where 15 top designers transformed the old into…

Read more →

LAUNCH OF THE LATEST PROJECT.

sometimes I get some really fun assignments at work. this one was an interior design project- and we just wrapped it. We needed to create an immersive brand experience, one that told the story of the heritage of the Steppenwolf theatre while at the same time asthetically embracing the ‘backstage’ garage theatre roots. PROJECT:   design a new lounge, reception, bar for Steppenwolf Garage Theatre. WHO & WHY: for 20-somethings to have a place to hang out- chill. before shows. CHALLENGE:‘Found Free & Flea’ style. with a teensy budget.make it entirely mobile (so that the space can open up and be…

Read more →

Wandawega hotel rules back in 1939

We stopped in a little antique shop in elkhorn and found a wisconsin hotel – summer rest hotel / tourist rooms and cabins directory for 1940. Wandawega Lake Resort was listed at the time as a hotel renting a dozen rooms.regulations were quite different back in 1939 (when this was published) these were some of my favorite rules: every rented tourist cabins and rooming house must have:* a slop jar* a chamber pot* washstand and washbowl other random laws:* indecent pictures or words are forbiden in toilet rooms* sprinkle floor with sawdust & water before sweeping to keep dust down*…

Read more →