I took a few pictures today of some hand carved panels inside the Watkins Mansion in Winona, Minnesota. The Great Hall of the mansion was the “woodcarving room” for about three years, while the home was being constructed.
Watkins decor was inspired by nature. One picture shows criminal routing of coax cable.
The last pic is of the exterior. The roof is 350,000 pounds of slate attached with copper screws to 1/4″ thick solid copper underlayment.
Natural light, taller ceilings, and more functional spaces transform this midcentuary-modern home.
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The person who routed that coax ought to be horsewhipped! Gorgeous carvings, wonderful to have such beautiful handwork in a modern residence, albeit a very large residence.
I believe the "ID this Bird" would be the legend of the Pelican. A link to the Wiki article on the subject: Wikipedia article. The relevant description is down a couple of paragraphs from the top.
Thanks for the Pelican link...that definately explains the origin of the wood carving.IIRC the woodcarvers were brought over from Germany to work on that house (late 1800's).
You're most welcome. Technically I would still call that modern. The actual house almost looks like something much earlier than that. Some of those oooooold manses you see occasionally in documentaries or some movie or other. It takes money to build something that looks instantly old!
Here is the entrance to the Great Hall in this house (once the woodcarving room):
Also a link to some of the history and stories about the constuction:
http://www.watkins-fhs.org/MISC/joseph_ray_watkins.htm