Post Office Blue. An original edition

Yet another of the oldest TinyBuildings: the "blue" post office. Poor, pitiful thing is mildewed and rather unlovely. It is also a 'bastardized' TinyBuilding in that it is made from two packaging materials.

The sides are from the cardboard cover of machine-dispensed stamps. The top is from one of the Atlanta blue-printing companies: AAA Blueprinting. Probably an extra business card included in a roll of prints delivered to James' office.

I can almost smell the developing fluid. This was way before the gigantic 'xerox' machines that are used now...or, for that matter, the direct-from-the Cad machine plots...That fluid was a sweet-acidic taste on the back of your tongue. Goodness knows what it was doing to our brains.

At the time, it signified progress on a project: if you had a roll of prints, you were finally ready to deliver them to a client. Finally, after many days and nights of thinking and drawing and erasing and drawing and thinking....

I like the little 'blue' roof section- a little hat for the building; and, you can tell James composed this TinyBuilding so that the old-fashioned mailbox fit on one side of the structure, exactly. Then he must have sorted through the detritus on his very messy drawing board to find the AAA card for the roof. I'll bet he smiled to himself when he stuck the 'blue' on top...a little cap, and a reference to the USPS colorings.

c. 1976

Pink Castle. An original edition

This is another of James' vintage TinyBuildings. It must be over thirty years old. Looks pretty good, still...a little threadbare, but, so do you....

I think this tower is made from leftover architectural model-building board. The pink-ish color may have been meant to be brick or stucco. i don't know if James was testing a design for a client's house or just gluing scraps together. I also don't care; I just love this TinyBuilding for itself....that jaunty glued-on brown door is so assertive, I laugh out loud!

I wonder what the roof paper came from. Maybe its an insert paper from a candy box- like Godiva...those wax-coated sheets they lay on top of the candies to protect them from the box top. Hmmmm? something like that...a flicker of memory is trying to come forward...Hmmm?


c. 1976

Hearth Too. NYC

This is a second version of Hearth. The earlier one was much more simplistic; and this one catches the essence of the restaurant more richly than the 'beginner' version [I think it's the chimney that does it...]. I'm particularly proud of the way the flame image from the card continue across the roof and canopy. Oh, Joy!

Hearth is on the north western? edge of the East village [not sure exactly where the village starts and stops]. The wine list is excellent and the food is great. Rustic, but refined, if you know what I mean. This place means 'comfort food' to us, so we've trudged there in ankle-deep snow, on bitterly cold nights, for some good hospitality and warming food.

c. 2005

Wedding Chapel Three. Maryland

The third 'chapel' happens to be an attempt to replicate the actual building, in a vineyard, where the reception was held. It is a beautiful old stone farm building, with a loft space for parties and weddings and such.

This invitation was handmade by the couple, with loads of patience, creativity, and joy, it seems. They used small strips of colorful illustrations from magazines and other sources to create obi-wrapped bundles of paper. The colors they selected evoked the Tuscany-like place they had their ceremony; and were a great contrast with the naive austerity of the printed invitation.

Great imagination to meet a tight budget, and perfect materials for a tinybuilding.

c. 2007

Wedding Chapel Two. San Francisco

This is one of the *gift* chapels for family friends. This invitation is so beautiful-with yummy colors, patterns and textures. I wanted to use the embossed portion as the roof, so the main building turned out sorta large. I added the tiny, tiny outrigger building to soften the scale of the larger 'airplane hanger'; and to add a little tension into the equation.

Nice, huh?!

c. 2006

Wedding Chapel One. San Francisco

This year, a new sub-tradition of the Christmas tinybuildings came into being. My son and his wife asked me to make tinychapels from the wedding invitations of a couple of their friends-as surprise gifts.

They turned out so nice, and it was such a good idea that I backtracked and made them a wedding 'complex' from their invitation. [I should have thought of this myself, right after their 2005 wedding.]

This 'complex' of tinybuildings came about because I wanted to include all the salient facts about their wedding day- the names, date, location- and to attempt to capture the warm feelings and aesthetic tone of the day.

I think the beautiful blue bird on the invitation inspired a tinybuildings 'first'- the arched roofs. Aren't they beautiful?!!!

A nice result from the multiple-buildings format is that they occasionally rearrange the buildings in their place on a living room bookshelf. I hope when they are doing that, it causes them to re-imagine that happy and beautiful day in their lives...

Bluehill. New York

A-H-H-H-H! Bluehill at Stone Barns!!!! I cannot recommend this place heartily enough. It is just above New York City, along the Hudson River, just outside Tarrytown. Totally worth the drive out of the city. Some years back, Dan Barber, the chef at Bluehill Restaurant in the city cut a deal with David Rockefeller to turn his family estate into a working organic farm with a restaurant and educational center. and it is worth every penny of the tens of millions of dollars they spent in making it operable and beautiful. Its worth the trip just for the stonework, let alone the beautiful wood beams and wonderful lighting.

Then, there is the food. OMG!!!!! Elegant, imaginative, fresh, beautiful food! and a great wine list....


If you have been paying attention, you will remember this card was used to make the Virginia cabin, some posts back. I admitted in that posting, I believe, that I had borrowed the cardstock because it looked like stacked logs. Well, now you can see the *real* restaurants representation. I may have to make another one or two...I want to make the grouping of buildings around a stone courtyard which you walk through on the way from the valet parking point to the restaurant...you get a peek into several other structures...must go up there for one of the tours or classes....

c. 2004

Blowfish. San Francisco

Blowfish is [I guess it still "is"- I haven't been there in years...] a brash, 'happenin'' sushi place in San Francisco. Its decor is intended to be as*dangerous* as its name implies. I vaguely remember it as dark, with hot spots of lights, noisy maybe...but the noise may have been all visual...

The sushi was yummy. I don't know why we haven't gone back. Could be because there are always newer places to try in that oh-so-receptive city.

The shape of this tinybuilding is also trying to be *dangerous* and noisy. Sort of mysterious and dark inside-and-out. Maybe a sushi speakeasy.....I think this was the first unusual roofline i attempted. Somehow, a hip roof with gables just wasn't gonna say *dangerous*. This tinybuilding is about 1-1/2 inches tall.

c. 2002

Star Provisions. Atlanta

Star Provisions is the sister to Bacchanalia. They share space in the same old factory-type building in a newly 'up-and-coming' area of Atlanta.

This is an example of a tinybuilding where, to make the style of building I was after, I used a foreign material in addition to the shop's business card. The roof is made from a corrugated cardboard heat-sleeve from Starbuck's.

It happens that I made this tinybuilding after a trip to the Gulf Coast and a tour of one of the new developments- Rosemary Beach. The architectural style of the buildings there is sort of Norman French, with a smidge of Spanish influence.....a little bit of everything to please everyone. Somehow, when I sat down to make this house, the card colors and the star motif reminded me of Rosemary Beach. Can't say exactly why...

So, I just *needed* a Spanish tile roof. Hence the corrugated cardboard... And, of course, with the gridded design of the card, I just *had* to center a window in each square....*had to*...

I like this tinybuilding, It is charming, just like its namesake. It is about 1-1/2 inches square.

c. 2001

Bacchanalia. Atlanta

If I remember correctly, this is one of my early tinybuildings. At least, I hope so, because it is rather boring. It does have some degree of dignity about it- mainly due to the design of the business card- but, it's a little too elemental.....

Bacchanalia is a very respected and successful 'upper class' restaurant now located in Atlanta's West Village area. Originally, it was about a block from our family home in Buckhead. James and I used to go there for very special celebrations. As it became so successful, they relocated to have more room, and to upgrade the environs. My kids and I have been to the new site a couple times.

More recently, the owners/chef have opened several other restaurants around Atlanta; and a specialty food shop adjacent to Bacchanalia. The shop- Star Provisions- is the source of the next tinybuilding.

c. 2000

Citizen Cake. San Francisco

Hmmmmm. This was one of my earliest tinybuildings; and the cardstock, being coated, was very hard to work with. At least those are the excuses I'm using for such crude workmanship. But, it has some redeeming qualities: it's shiny, looks a little bit like the *real* restaurant, has some cute awnings, and the 'patisserie CAFE'' is nicely composed. Citizen Cake is about 1-1/2 inches tall. [and needs some repair...must go visit it.]

We haven't been to this restaurant in a long time. Don't know why exactly- probably because there are so many newer, better choices now. Food was good, maybe not great. Space was nice.

c. 2000

Cardboard. An original edition

Well, this must be the tinybuilding from the wrong-side-of-the-tracks. It is completely unadorned, with no advertising, no detail, almost no color...but, lots of personality and charm. I have no idea when James made this one.. Early in the history of tinybuildings I would certainly guess--maybe 1977?

In any case it is very endearing. So humble, with low expectations, but a jaunty little roof, a *real* door and a little stuck-on door and a very basic window. Don't you just want to hug it?! It seems to have some water damage. I hate to think we were so irresponsible as to leave it out in the rain. Perhaps Santa spilled the milk from his snack on it.

The more I think about it the more this tinybuilding reminds me of James--humble, charming, not much advertising, somewhat short and stubby...and you just want a hug.

c. 1977

Venetian. San Francisco

Prosecco. One of Italy's best inventions. This tinybuilding is made from the hangtag off a bottle of prosecco, a sparkling wine similar to champagne...but, Italian. Frankly, I can't remember the name of the Prosecco...starts with an *M*...Monetto, I think. Yummy.

I think Jane introduced us all to prosecco many years ago...and we all drink it now, especially for special celebrations, meals and get togethers. Actually, it doesn't take much to make us open a bottle.


This tinybuilding is about 1 inch tall, and very mysterious and graphic. The black-and-white cardstock just begged to be made into a modern building...It works, doesn't it? That cardstock must have known what it was talking about.

c. 2001

Fritti. Atlanta

Fritti is a pizza restaurant in one of the 'hippest' neighborhoods in Atlanta. [Showing my demographics, huh?] They have yummy fancified pizzas- my favorite is one with roasted lemon slices and arugula. Very refreshing. Fritti sits a few doors down from a more upscale sister restaurant- Sotto Sotto.

This restaurant didn't exist when my kids were still living in ATL, but we have gone there on many of their few returns to the old home. And I'm happy to say they like it as much as I do.

This cute little rendition of Fritti [love to say the name...] is about 3/4" tall and resides at some really good friends' home...on their mantle, I believe. I borrowed it to take a pic. I have been calling home all these wandering tinybuildings, for a visit and a photo session. It is really hard to let them leave again. Sort of like my kids coming to visit and eat lemon-sliced pizza.

c. 2003

Midnight Sun. An original edition

Talk about old memories! Anyone who was in Atlanta in the early Seventies remembers this restaurant and dinner theatre in Downtown Atlanta, in one of John Portman's developments. It was groundbreaking-ly sophisticated for Atlanta; an *import* from Scandinavia-one of Portman's sources of inspiration, apparently. The decor and furnishings were knock-offs of the likes of Aalto and the food was accompanied by bottles of aquavit encased in a flower-encrusted sleeve of ice. Talk about Kitsch, but it worked...

There was a sister restaurant in the complex...more casual lunch place...that served wonderful open-faced sandwiches. Can't remember the name of it, but I do remember the shrimp and butter sandwiches. OMG! Wish I had one now.

This tinybuilding was made by James from a matchbook. You can see at the base of the building the *close cover before striking* admonishment. It is about 1-1/2" tall.

c. 1980

Kodak. An original edition

Kodak. Who were they? What did they make? A blast-from-the-past, I must say. This tinybuilding is from long before digital cameras. This is from the days of rolls [literally] of film being wound over the sprockets of your Nikon or Leica. At least, you hoped they wound over the sprockets. Many a great shot was lost because it didn't quite happen.

This tinybuilding is one of James' early ones. It has collected, over years of disrespect and bad storage, a wonderful patina of scuffs and scratches. But, it perseveres, proudly carrying on the illustrious, almost forgotten name of Kodak.

You can see how James had a different approach to conceiving and making his tinybuildings. He sometimes pasted pieces on instead of cutting out; he used *alien* materials like the door made from an index card. His imagination was free and glorious--not restricted by banal things like placement of windows and doors. From this boxy, slapped together thing he could envision a piece of architecture. I'm still envious....

c. 1977

Mas. New York City

Mas [French farmhouse] is a restaurant in the West Village with wonderful ambiance. It has been designed to portray its namesake with admirable restraint. No kitsch. No hype. Small space beautifully used. Has just enough dark wood, reminiscent of barn beams, to make the point; but doesn't hit you over the head with 'rustic'. A New York interpretation of a farmhouse- maybe wearing Prada, as *they* say.

The food is wonderful. We have had several family celebrations here, and are happy every time we return.

This tinybuilding is [I've said this several times before, I know...] one of my favorites. I love that the blades of grass encouraged the random openings in the facade. Think of them as worn out barn siding...holes in the side of the structure where the cows can peek in or out. Where the chickens can escape. Where the kids can sneak away to play instead of milking those cows.

But, on the other side of the tinybuilding is * the truth*. This is a farmhouse, with orderly windows; but, what? no door?! hahaha. This is the only tinybuilding without a door. Love it!!!

The Mas farmhouse/barn is about 1-1/2" tall. It is as wonderful as it is mainly due to the exquisite business card it is made from. Beautiful paper and printing and unusual, almost square size/proportion. Really conducive to a special no-door tinybuilding. Hooray!

c. 2006

Cafe Lettus. San Francisco

This is a restaurant that personifies *everyday* San Francisco at its most down-to-earth [pun intended]. It serves food made with organic, locally grown ingredients, with an emphasis on freshness. This is the kind of restaurant you wish were in *your* neighborhood when you are craving a really good salad, and can't think of anyplace that can fill that need.

The graphics of the card are very well suited to the place. Slightly too 'corporate', but still refreshing. [heehee] I did not try to make a tinybuilding that would match the actual place, but did consider the layout of the card in forming the facades and roof. I like the window pattern and the cute little roof over the front door. Maybe this is a tall farmhouse on an organic farm somewhere in California....tall [ about 1-1/4 inch] and skinny, for the farmer and his wife in that painting...

c. 2006

Whitman's. An original edition

This is one of the very earliest tinybuildings, made by James a long, long time ago. Must have been in 1975 or so. No way of knowing, really.

This little structure is about 1-1/4 inches tall.

As I've mentioned, these tinybuildings were originally made as part of a Christmas *village* and for tree decorations. One of our family traditions was to put small boxes of Whitman's candy in the kids' stockings. So, that box would have been handy when James first hit on the idea of making miniature houses and stores and small-town buildings. This is exactly how the whole concept of the tinybuildings is supposed to work.

When I hold this one in my hand, I can conjure up many Christmases when we were all together, with piles of wrapping paper, kids in pjs so excited they couldn't sit still, cats hiding under the trash, too many presents for just two kids, special breakfasts of Dutch baby pancakes- joy all around.

I love that this one is worn and shows its age. Don't we all?!

I've tried to replicate these earliest Whitman buildings, but, sadly these candy boxes are now made of flimsy, slick, photo-printed paper....not at all a rewarding process.

So, this may be the very most favorite. I wish it were still in my collection; but I know it has a good, appreciative home where it lives now.

c. 1975

Prune. New York City

This is one of the best restaurants in NYC, in the USA....Tiny place in the East Village, owned by a woman chef whose childhood nickname was Prune. Excellent food, very vibrant, comfortable atmosphere. Always crowded and hectic, but somehow you don't mind people jostling your elbow getting to their table or gazing at the food on your plate while they look over the menu.

The restaurant is in the ground floor of one of the ubiquitous apartment buildings that border all the sidewalks in Manhattan. I don't know it there is really a skylight on the back side of the roof, but it seemed like there oughta be. Maybe because Prune somehow makes you think of a Parisian bistro/brasserie...might be the tall skinny windows and the old mirrors and woodwork inside.

They have a great Sunday brunch; and the roasted fish on the dinner menu is melt-in-your-mouth good. Always interesting side dishes.

c. 2005