Radically Retired

Category: Architecture

  • No Final Verdict

    No Final Verdict

    A couple of weeks ago, we drove past this once regal, but now old and dilapidated house in Edinburg, Texas.

    When I took the photo into Google Lens … Ai assist (which is wrong over 50% of the time), identified it as “The Closner House”, built by John Closner, an early developer and political figure in the area.

    The house is located on Closner Rd, which is likely where ai got things twisted.

    I then Googled the Closner house and added -ai to my search (this brings up a few more reputable sources before the ai assist answers), and the image that came up looked like an entirely different house.

    Further research took me to a Facebook page where people were asking about the house in my feature photo.

    Some said it was the Stephens house while others corrected that to Stevens, but attributed different occupations to the different spellings of the surname. Some said it was the Closner house (likely after an ai-assisted Google search). This was corrected by others in the group who said that the Closner house built by John Closner was at a different location.

    The jury is definitely out on this one, so I guess I’ll just leave it to imagination of what this house was like in its heyday.

  • 2016 – Archaic Openings

    2016 – Archaic Openings

    After a full day at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, we spent the next day touring Mission San Xavier del Bac, AKA “The White Dove of the Desert”, just 10 miles south of downtown Tucson.

    On this visit, I was preoccupied with photographing doors, windows, gates, and arches … any and all openings at both the mission school and this historic church, completed in 1797.

  • Easter Eggish

    Easter Eggish

    I’d often heard about the excellent meat offerings at the Ukrainian Co-op in our capital city, Regina, Saskatchewan.

    When I Googled the address, the images that came up were all the incentive I needed to convince hubs to take me there to get some photos.

    All sides of this building are covered with colourful and historical murals.

    My feature photo shows where we parked our truck on arrival. We soon discovered that this was an exit, so we had to walk around to the opposite side to locate the entrance.

    The walk was worth it.

    If you’ve ever seen a hand painted Ukrainian easter egg, you’ll know how I chose the title for this post.

    From Google Images
  • A Lesson in Distance

    A Lesson in Distance

    In the mid to late 1980’s, artistic murals on building walls here in my province, were a new concept.

    In 1989, the town administration of Duck Lake, Saskatchewan had heard of another Canadian town – Chemainus, British Columbia (where a murals project had become quite famous) so a delegation traveled to B.C. to explore the feasibility.

    The resulting Duck Lake historical murals definitely boosted tourism.

    Now, these massive art displays are found on building walls in cities and towns across our entire province.

    I snapped my feature photo in our capital city – Regina, Sask. Sadly, I was too close to catch the ladybug that was on the far right of this colourful mural. I always forget to switch to the .5 (extra wide) lens on my phone in such situations.

    Hopefully, lesson learned this time.

  • The New Build

    The New Build

    Last week, I was happy to return to (brisk) walking the developed trails that follow the outskirts of our prairie city.

    As I was walking along one of these trails, I looked up to the side and saw this big new build. I can’t begin to guess the square footage of this three and a half story house that looks over a trail by the river.

    I couldn’t help thinking, “I wonder if they’re installing an elevator.”

    Is my age showing?