Property of the Week: Anne Boleyn’s 14th Century French Home

Fancy living in your very own Rapunzel tower less than an hour’s drive from Paris? Our Rapunzel in this case was Anne Boleyn – the first of Henry VIII’s wives to be beheaded – who lived here in her formative years. It used to be much bigger mind you. The 14th century keep is all…

What it’s Really Like Finding a Priceless Artefact in a Thrift Store

We often have a romantic notion of what it might be like to walk into a thrift store and walk out with treasure. But in reality, what happens next can be a roller coaster ride that changes your life forever. In 2018, antiques dealer Laura Young discovered an ancient Roman bust in an Austin Goodwill…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 691)

1. Ron’s Place: England’s secret Outsider Art palace Behind the facade of this unassuming Victorian villa in the heart of Birkenhead, Merseyside, lies a hidden treasure trove of creativity and passion that was hidden for decades. This is Ron’s Place, a conventional flat transformed by Ron Gittins into a dazzling shrine of art, drawing from the wellsprings of ancient…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 690)

1. Rococo and Baroque Pools Prompts by @tomislavmarcijus & @marcijusaivision (Midjourney V6 + Magnific AI) 2. Loft Law: The Last of New York City’s Original Artist Lofts The new book by Joshua Charow is available here. 3. Antique Ribbon Swatches Browse this 19th century book in the Winterthur library archives and this one from the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition.…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 689)

1. Abkhazia, the Lost Paradise by Pierpaolo Mittica Abkhazia is a non-place. However, it was once considered a paradise. In the years of the Soviet Union, this strip of land spanning 200 kilometres by 100 and facing onto the Black Sea was the chosen holiday destination of the political elite, who could enjoy hospitality of…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 688)

1. Paris Waiters Race as Storied Contest Returns On Sunday, for the first time in over a decade, Paris revived a tradition: an annual race of cafe and restaurant waiters. About 200 men and women swerved, jostled and jogged 1.2 miles through the city streets, which were lined with cheering crowds. Contestants rushed through the…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 687)

1. Truth Windows A traditional feature of strawbale houses is the truth window – a small section of a wall that is left unplastered on the interior, and a frame is used to show the walls are actually made from straw bales for insulation. Truth windows often take on the role of an altar, bringing gratitude for the…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 686)

1. Mystery image of the day Having real trouble finding any information at all about this photograph that’s been uploaded onto the internet. Any leads would be appreciated! Found via Tumblr. 2. Something to watch on your Coffee Break: How Humanity Got Hooked on Coffee 3. Stay up all night in the Hidden Library of…

Portraits Found in the Attic: Black Women in the Gilded Age

There is a sizeable gap in the documentation of Black American history. So often, what we see of Black history is limited to slavery and the Civil War or the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights era. Record of African Americans during the Gilded Age – prospering African Americans – is noticeably lacking, forgotten in the…

13 Things I Found on the Internet (Vol. 685)

1. This must be the place Maydelle, Texas – interesting little backstory on this place here. 2. Hemingway and Dalì’s Venetian Vacation Home A corner of Holland in the Venetian Lagoon, the Casone di Valle Zappa was built between 1923 and 1928 in a thriving fishing, bird watching and hunting area. The charm of the…