Plenty of Green

June 16, 2010

Here's one of Astoria's delightful Craftsman style homes along with a tiny hillside garage so typical of this place. I love the Craftsman bungalows as much as the Victorians, and we have quite a few of them here. This one is on the Bond Street hill. (I had no idea until I looked it up that "bungalow" comes from "Bengali.")

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Where Houses Climb Hills

February 7, 2010

Eleventh Street between Harrison and Grand is not one of the steepest hills in Astoria, but even here you can clearly see some of the concessions made to keep any structure reasonably level in this enchanting and unusual town on a hill. Streets like this are one reason it's never dull walking around Astoria. Not only do you need to watch your footing, but there's always something to look at along the way.

The white-paneled rectangle is the door to one of Astoria's typical small cement garages. Here you have to navigate a sometimes-tilted driveway as well as the abrupt turn into the narrow space. My car bears a few scrapes from my underestimation of that little dip that happens when you back out without thinking about the slope. Sometimes these garages crack and leak from the soggy earth on top. I love looking at them, though.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.