This building was originally designed and completed in 1900 by architect Wellington Tabor, and Gustav Stickley lived there between 1900 and 1905. A fire destroyed much of the interior of the building leading to Stickley redesigning and renovating the house. The interior that Stickley designed became the very first craftsman interior in the United States. While the outside of the house is still like the rest of the houses in the neighborhood, the inside is what sets it apart with dark wood panels on the walls and rustic furniture and interior elements. As for the outside, some elements were renovated by Stickley, making the house have a more comforting appeal.

            While Stickley’s design renovations have made the building in a sense more rustic and comfortable, this building gives me a very haunted feeling with the dark interior only adding a mysterious sense to the already old, decrepit building. Luckily, in recent years, the exterior has been renovated to be much livelier than it had been in the past with the interior remaining in the same to create a much more traditional craftsman building. With the new renovations, the building is much more comfortable with a sense of history and tradition surrounding it. While the original building really seemed haunted and not a very comfortable place to live to me, with the new renovations, the building has a new sense of beauty with a rustic, old-fashioned nature.

            In conclusion, the interior renovations that Stickley made to this house revolutionized American building practices at the turn of the 19^th century to more simplified building practices that create more comfortable living spaces. While some of the elements of the craftsman architectural style are too old-fashioned and rustic for my liking making them seem scary and dark to me, Stickley’s house also shows the comforting, peaceful nature that comes with simple styles of design.

Gustav Stickley House Foundation | Syracuse, NY

               This building, in Morris Plains, Morris County, was originally designed and built in 1908-1910 by Gustav Stickley to be a school, but later became his home and now stands as a museum. Stickley’s main goal in designing this building, along with his design of furniture and other buildings, was to simplify building practices and seeing beauty in more basic, yet unique, objects, going away from the poorly crafted mass-produced items. This building finds charm and peace in being designed as a log cabin structure with dark wood being used for the walls and floors with stone being used for other elements of the building, such as a fireplace. As the house was renovated in the years since, white paint was added along with other elements to brighten the building, but as it has been converted to a museum, workers have attempted to retain the original appearance of the building.

               While buildings having old, rustic elements along with being very dark usually gives me a very ominous feeling, the way that this building uses simple techniques in building is extremely comforting. The stone and dark wood along the walls and floors make the building feel as though it all flows together and really feels like a peaceful experience. Along with that, the curving of the logs used for the walls makes the building seem to come alive, in a comforting way, making you feel as though the house is connected with the trees and greenery outside.

               Overall, the simplicity of the design methods used in this building make it seem very peaceful, with each element seeming rustic and old-fashioned with a sense of care put into choosing each element of the structure. With many rustic designs, I get a feeling that they are dark and mysterious with so much history and things of the past that I would feel uncomfortable and scared. However, this building balances the simple, old-fashioned styles with the expansive land and trees surrounding it, that it feels very peaceful and relaxing, even if it may seem lonely at times.

Craftsman Farms in New Jersey (njskylands.com)

               With the Craftsman Homes that Gustav Stickley was responsible for creating, the common theme is creating a comforting environment full of warmth that gives a place of rest away from the stresses outside the home. This home in particular, Craftsman Home No. 104 was designed by Stickley in 1911 and is in the Latchstring area of Oradell, New Jersey. While the house has been renovated and modernized to keep up with current houses, the same goals of providing a quiet, peaceful space for a family are still present in the home today. With lots of trees, flowers, and greenery along the sides of the house, the building embraces its New Jersey environment, incorporating the woods into the house to make it even more serene. Further, the soft colors of the materials used for the walls and roof, along with numerous windows, help the home to feel even more therapeutic.

               Personally, while I really like this building and could imagine myself living in it, the rustic, old-fashioned sense of the building seems slightly dreary rather then peaceful in some pictures. On a sunny day, with a lot of light shining on the yard and trees, this house would be beautiful with outdoors being used for fresh air while the trees block out the hot sun. However, on a cold, rainy day, this house seems like it would be extremely dark and spooky, with the trees only giving off an ominous, lonesome feeling. I think the same things that make this house so appealing and comforting are what also can make it feel lonely and scary.

               Overall, the incorporation of many trees, flowers, and other greenery all around the building serves the purpose of providing people used to the compactness of New York City a place to get fresh air, relax, and relieve stress. The rustic, old-fashioned nature of the interior of the building also gives off a very comforting, homely appeal, but, to me, it also seems like the set of every horror movie ever. It really is a beautiful house that transports you to a much more comforting time, but, for the $850, 000 asking price, I would rather not feel like I am in a house surrounded by ghosts.

Craftsman Home No. 104 (craftsmanhomes.org)

               This building is an original house designed and built by Gustav Stickley in 1909 in Maplewood, New Jersey. Stickley was most recognized for his revolutionary ideas surrounding the craftsmanship of furniture, interior rooms and furnishings, and finally homes. This home encompasses the rustic bungalow and hand-craftsmanship that he attempted to modernize at the time. The wood exterior, stone pathways, and large glass windows help to incorporate the surrounding forestry environment into the rustic building, fitting as the home was originally meant as a vacation home to avoid the New York City heat. Further the turquoise color of the building, today, helps to encapsulate the surroundings, suppressing the building into the woods and maintaining its quiet, separated appeal.

               This home reminds me of my house in Argyle, Texas, as my house is surrounded by tall trees and woods with a dark, rustic feeling about it. As the building has been modernized, with a listing price now of $1,399,000, the building has, in my opinion, survived the test of time and is a very beautiful home. As is similar with my house, this building now would serve the purpose of providing a possible retirement home or single-family home for people looking for solitude and quiet away from New York City while still having access to the metropolitan area. While the rustic nature of the building and old-fashioned sense may be comforting and homely to many, I would prefer a more modern, sleek home for that expensive of a price.

               Overall, I do not think that there is any denying the beauty and serenity of this home through both its use of traditional hand-craftsmanship and incorporation of the nice environment. The use of wood throughout the interior spaces with rustic furniture would likely transport you to another time if you were living there. Everything about the building seems so quiet and peaceful, being the perfect place to relax and retire. However, that is probably exactly why this house would not be my preference.

27 Sagamore Rd, Maplewood, NJ – An Original Gustav Stickley Home (thegosselingroup.com)

For my school’s eight grade field trip, we went to the Perot Museum in downtown Dallas. At the time, I was skeptical about the field trip, as spending the whole day at a science museum was not my definition of fun. However, when we got there, I did not really care at all about the actual science stuff that we were supposed to be doing, but instead just walked around the building, both the inside and around a courtyard outside the building. I had visited downtown Dallas many times before, and had seen this building many times before, but I had always seen it as a big gray box until seeing it up close. I became amazed first at the uniqueness of the architecture but then how the building also kept its main purpose as a museum at hand.

The first thing that I saw in my trip to the Perot Museum, that I guess I had missed in the past, was the escalator that cuts through the side of the building and allows you to look out into the city of Dallas. The architect knew the building was going to be a science museum, so numerous windows would not be ideal for visitors and the exhibits within the building. Therefore, windows could only be placed on places where there would not be any artifacts or exhibits, one of those places being the stairwells. This was incredibly impressive to me at the time as to how the building worked around the fact that its purpose was to be a museum and was still made into a unique, impressive design. In my opinion, without these unique inputs into the building with the staircase and the placement of the windows, it would look like a prison and would not be inviting to the kids that make up a large portion of the visitors.

In conclusion, this building influenced me in positive way, as it got me thinking about the unique ways that designers and architects must work around the general purposes behind the buildings that they are creating. Further, it gave me a greater appreciation for the unique ideas that designers are forced to come up with in trying to solve problems that they may have never seen before. In total, while the Perot Museum likely did not serve its purpose to me in teaching me about science, it did influence me positively in thinking and appreciating many buildings and the work that designers perform.

As a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan, the opening of AT&T Stadium in Arlington in 2009 was very exciting for me, and I was looking forward to watching the Cowboys win a Superbowl from the stands. My first time going to the stadium was not until about five years ago, though, because tickets, parking food, and everything else associated with that stadium is extremely expensive. Further, I am not a fan of the stadium being in Arlington with very little surrounding it, as I am much more of a fan of stadiums located close, or directly within, a downtown area. Lastly, while the stadium has been associated with numerous Oklahoma wins, it has also been the host of numerous disappointing Cowboys’ seasons. Due to these reasons, AT&T Stadium has influenced me in a negative way, but that will still not stop me from claiming it is still the best stadium in the NFL.

Going to my first game at the stadium a few years ago was very difficult, being that the tickets were $250 dollars apiece for nosebleeds, and it was not like it was a good match-up or anything that might drive up ticket prices. Then, parking is an additional $50 just for you to have to still walk a mile to the stadium, and we could not Uber from our house because of the distance and cost of an Uber that far. Inside the stadium, food is way overpriced, and the views from the seats were not worth the price tag. Really, I think most people just end up watching the game on the massive big screen over the field, which it would have saved them a lot of money to just watch the game from home.

I think that the architecture of the building is unique and interesting with the huge silver dome being visible from miles away on the freeway, but it is only visible from that far away because there is nothing else in the vicinity. Arlington is a neat city and all, but surrounding the stadium, all that exists is parking lots, both the old and new Rangers’ stadiums, and Six Flags Over Texas just down the street. Personally, I think certain elements of the stadium would be a lot better if it were located closer to downtown Dallas. Also, with the Cowboys success rate in this stadium being minimal, it only brings bad memories in association with the building. Luckily, they will win the Superbowl this year, so the stadium will have a new, good memory behind it.

When I was in middle school, my family went on vacation to St. Louis, Missouri, mostly to see a Cardinals game check out the city for a few days. While we were there, I randomly became obsessed with the Gateway Arch. This building affected me in a positive way by giving me a greater interest in architecture and, more specifically, how an arch that large could have been constructed without collapsing. Seeing this building and learning about how it was built likely sparked my interest in engineering and construction.

Also, while in St. Louis, I was impressed as to how the arch stood out so prominently in the skyline of the city, signifying the importance of its message. That message, and the purpose of the building in general, is what I really took an interest in, because I felt it must have been significant enough to require a monument of that size. The idea that it was constructed to signify the westward expansion of the United States and to show the growth and prosperity of the nation had me thinking about how a lot of architecture and monuments have been used to portray events and accomplishments of the past. Further, when I went to the top of the arch, you could pretty much see the entire city of St. Louis and could figure out exactly how the city grew around one central point. It felt like looking into the past, looking over the river that Lewis and Clark explored and into the city that exploded as a trading outpost on the Mississippi River.

I have always enjoyed history and learning about the past, so this building influenced me positively by immersing me within the city’s long and unique history. Further, the engineering feat that it must have been to accomplish this monument so long ago inspired me to take an interest in construction and engineering and is part of the reason that I am majoring in construction science right now.

When I moved from southern California to Flower Mound, Texas, Downing Middle School was one of the first buildings in which I interacted and spent a great deal of time. While many of the memories that I made within the walls of this building were positive, the architectural design of the building influenced me in negative way.

I came to Texas not knowing anybody, let alone having any friends, so this building influenced me in many ways. During my two and a half years at this school, I made countless memories and am still friends with some of the people I met there to this day. From playing football out on the field to eating lunch with my friends to going to classes that did not have too much stress, I associate my time spent in this school with my own adolescence and childhood.

However, not all the memories of this building were positive, and the overall architecture of the building washed away many of the good memories and replaced them with a boiling hatred for the place. First, when I first moved to Texas, I was missing my life in California and all my friends there, making it difficult to adjust to the new life and make new friends. Next, some of my teachers were terrible; they hated their jobs and did not want to be there, making it impossible for me to get acclimated to the new setting. Finally, the building was not the ugliest architecture that I have ever seen, but it had certain elements that were bound to give some people depression. The outside was shaped exactly like all the other middle schools in the area, making it look extremely basic, and the color of the bricks used on the building made it look depressing, especially when all the grass turned brown in the winter. Also, the inside was extremely cramped and small with a bunch of little kids pushing and shoving their ways through the hall. This was a huge difference from the school I had moved from, where we would walk outside in the fresh air from one class to another.

In conclusion, Downing Middle School influenced me in a positive way in that it is the place where I made a lot of formative memories and met some very close friends. However, in many instances, it negatively influenced me due to it being hard to make friends, teachers that did not want to be there, and the design of the building being depressing. Overall, to this day, I really do not like the building, but I have learned to appreciate it for some of the memories and friends that it has brought me.