Month: March 2014

When it comes to wooden architecture, window frames are the certainly the very first thing to remember. Doors usually are not even mentioned, though some of them are real masterpieces. In the town of Borisoglebks, Voronezh Oblast, the houses facades look straight at the street and not at the porch. And this wooden beauty is here for everyone to admire

Wooden houses turned black with time are rather rare to see. Most of extremely black ones are kept in museums. Yet there is no rule without exception.

These rather somber window frames were noticed at a habitable house in the town of Gus Khrustalny (Vladimir Oblast). From the outside their shutters  are almost black, whereas from inside they saved natural wooden color.

What is more, this type of shutters seems rather unique, as they cover only lower part of the window. Which may mean they protect from hooligans but not from sunshine or cold

We together! (I mean with this beautiful blue log house from Yaroslavl city:) wish you have a good time this Friday evening, have a good weekend!
Continue reading “Wish you a good Friday evening!”

Today, I offer you a card from my very first set. It appeared three years ago, and, among others , included some photos made in the town of Engels , the progenitor of the whole collection. I remember when I presented the layout for the first card, more than one person wrote me back and called it hideous, but only one person suggested how to improve it. :)  And yes, it turned out to be 100 times better!

This photo offers a clue to distinguish earlier window frames from the later ones. I would not say it works for all the frames, but in some cases it is quite reliable. A closer look proves this frame (from the town of Michurinsk, Tambov Oblast) is not attached to the window itself. Which means if the owners will decide to replace it with the plastic one, they will have no problem: the dimensions of the frame and the window are different, and the frame will just stay in its place.

The reason is that the frame was probably made in 1960s when the functionality not already pursued, as it was the rule in earlier periods. That is, it only has an aesthetic value, and does not cover the hole between the frame and the logs. Whereas older frames make a single structure with their windows

In a dictionary of Russian national talks, you can find a word “Belendryasy” that describe all wooden decoration on house.

PS That Belendrysy on photo is in Uhnov city, near to Kaluga

Sometimes very beautiful but rather expectable window frames offer a surprise they have in stock!

This blue house with columns (it has a fairy-tale look and to be shown in full later) stands in the town of  Vyazniki, Vladimir Oblast. When I was photographing it, a woman went out of its yard and offered me to buy a flat there. I learnt that the house had three parts and the central one (I think with these very windows) was on sale. She, in turn, was surprised to learn the houses may be shoot not only for sale. :)

Among other things, window frames of Russia are extremely valuable as even an amateur can learn  various styles of wooden carving. This window frame from Tomsk is a rare example of so-called contour frame. It is a first step from a drawing to a relief surface, as a shallow groove around the contour is its  main element. And the contour itself is not just waves and frills, but rather realistic image of plants that could had been painted.

This carving style is rather old, which means it had been made in the XIX (or even the XVIII) century. Or is it a later stylization made a by a real artist?

It took a long time to decide how to comment this half of a wooden house at the photo.
But today I suddenly realize I don’t have to think about it, cause art nouveau is so unusual that half of a house is a pure art nouveau

Today for you is a small window ingrown in ground in Engels city, Saratov region.
This nalichnik has a lot of layers of an old paint and one an interesting lock system.
Wooden rhombs with nail in the bottom part of a window frame wasn’t widespread method to lock windows.