If you love old houses you might like....

For folks who are as enraptured as I am with houses as I am, here is a place to archive house related content. I'll add to this as I get more suggestions and discover more content with houses as a main character!

READ

The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah M. Broom

Winner of the 2019 National Book Award in Nonfiction

A brilliant, haunting and unforgettable memoir from a stunning new talent about the inexorable pull of home and family, set in a shotgun house in New Orleans East.

Red House: Being a Mostly Accurate Account of New England's Oldest Continuously Lived-In House by Sarah Messer

Sarah Messer explores America’s fascination with history, family, and Great Houses. Her Massachusetts childhood home had sheltered the Hatch family for 325 years when her parents bought it in 1965. The will of the house’s original owner, Walter Hatch—which stipulated Red House was to be passed down, "never to be sold or mortgaged from my children and grandchildren forever"—still hung in the living room. In Red House, Messer explores the strange and enriching consequences of growing up with another family’s birthright. Answering the riddle of when shelter becomes first a home and then an identity, Messer has created a classic exploration of heritage, community, and the role architecture plays in our national identity.

LISTEN

This American Life: House on Loon Lake

The true story of an abandoned house, discovered by a young boy in the 1970's and the mysterious family who disappeared without a trace.

WATCH

Grey Gardens (1975)

Meet a mother and daughter, high society dropouts, reclusive cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, managing to thrive together amid the decay and disorder of their East Hampton, NY mansion, making for an eerily ramshackle echo of the American Camelot. Big and Little Edie are the mavins of eccentricity.

Grey Gardens (2009)

Jessica Lange and Drew Berrymore star as Big and Little Eddie. This dramatic version is a wonderful compliment to the original documentary. The house, Grey Gardens, is a main character which is depicted in full 1930/1940's glory and then ages to a ramshackle, condemned condition.

Locke & Key (2020-2022)

An easy watch, the magic of Locke & Key takes place in the walls of Keyhouse Manner. A fantasy drama begins when Nina Locke moves her three children into the home, which has been in late husband Rendall's family for generations. Once there, the Locke kids discover special keys hideen throughout various nooks and crannies in the house that allow them unlock supernatural abilities that lead to fun and danger.

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O.U.R. Streetcar: The Trolley that Ran Through Renaissance

1911 Tulsa Postcard Courtesy of Tulsa Historical Society. Used with Permission. Tulsa’s transportation system has evolved from horse-drawn wagons and buggies to streetcars, jitneys, automobiles, electric bicycles, and scooters. (“Jitney” was slang for a five cent piece. Small buses that carried people for 5 cents a ride became known as jitneys.) From 1905 through 1935 an electric double rail trolley system wound through the city carrying hundreds of Tulsans to work, shopping, recreation and back home again. This is a short history of the Tulsa streetcar system, including one line that ran through present day Renaissance. Before the introduction of the trolley in 1905, horse-drawn vehicles were the primary mode of transportation. Tulsa's horses were well accustomed to the unpaved, dusty, and sometimes mud-filled roads. Hitching posts in front of homes and businesses were common at the time. In November 1905, Tulsa Mayor C. L. Reeder...

Grocery stores in the neighborhood

As information is gathered on the small local grocers that dotted our neighborhood this post will be updated over time. These are the known groceries over time in and near the neighborhood. The ad below from 1928 helped me identify some of the neighborhood groceries, including the flat roofed store fronts that are still standing in the neighborhood on Atlanta Avenue and Delaware Place. Tulsa World 1928 1137 S Atlanta Avenue: Graham Market Owned by Harrison "Harry" Canfield Graham was a Tulsa grocery operator for 18 years. In 1930, Graham and his wife, Cora, and four of their six children lived in the neighborhood at 1336 S. Gary Place. Their home was a craftsman bungalow with a stately red brick front porch. Following his death in 1938 he was interred at Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa. Cora lived until 1975. She was 99 years old. Tulsa Tribune December 1938 Tulsa Tribune 1934 ad that mentions Graham Market Google Maps ...

Unlocking the History of a Home: 1439 S Gary Avenue

The owners of 1439 S Gary Avenue were contacted out of the blue by a man who collected keys. Somehow, he cam into possession of three very old keys clearly labeled 1439 S. Gary Ave and decided to return them to the home. Although the locks that originally fit the keys have been upgraded (One does still exist but is no longer an exterior door) the return of the original keys unlocked a curiosity for this home’s history. The charming petite brick Tudor cottage was built in about 1929 and the first owners of the home were the Sell family. The 1930 US Census listed the family as follows: Merle and Loraine Sell were both 35 with three young children, John (8), Helen (4) and June (2). The 2 bedroom/1 bath home was valued at $6,000. Mr. Sell seems to been in sales. Seriously. 😊 From cigars to cars. He was also a Veteran of the first World War had been hospitalized at at the VA Hospital in Muskoge...

The Renaissance Neighborhood History Project

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