The expression "old house soul" means that historic preservation isn't just about restoring an old house, but about understanding the life and history of it as an artifact. Old houses are alive: with stories, ghosts of the past, and the passion of those who loved them.
We've been corresponding with Don Manley of Old House Soul for some time now. He initially found the Concord Magazine through the article we published about moving houses some years ago, an article we get steady readership and email from.
Don has been working in the area of historic preservation for years -- first as a passionate amateur and owner of an antique farmhouse in Rhode Island he moved and restored, and then in apprenticeship and as an artist and film-maker.
Do visit his website, www.OldHouseSoul.com -- make sure you click on "view movie" and see the two video clips there. They are wonderful, evocative expressions of what we here in Concord still have in strong measure: old house soul.
In fact, we may have so much of it here that we may take it for granted. Watch the videos and love our town even more deeply for the historic treasures we are fortunate enough to still have. They're here because our visionary predecessors knew they needed to preserve them.
May the current generations have the wisdom to maintain that vision and preserve not only our old house soul, but the very soul of the local, regional, and national cultural legacy to which Concord lends so much.
The movie Old House Soul, a work-in-progress, will be screened on Thursday, May 7th (6pm - 7:30pm) at the Providence Public Library in the Barnard Room, 3rd fl, 150 Empire St. Providence, Rhode Island.
We've been corresponding with Don Manley of Old House Soul for some time now. He initially found the Concord Magazine through the article we published about moving houses some years ago, an article we get steady readership and email from. Don has been working in the area of historic preservation for years -- first as a passionate amateur and owner of an antique farmhouse in Rhode Island he moved and restored, and then in apprenticeship and as an artist and film-maker.
Do visit his website, www.OldHouseSoul.com -- make sure you click on "view movie" and see the two video clips there. They are wonderful, evocative expressions of what we here in Concord still have in strong measure: old house soul.
In fact, we may have so much of it here that we may take it for granted. Watch the videos and love our town even more deeply for the historic treasures we are fortunate enough to still have. They're here because our visionary predecessors knew they needed to preserve them.
May the current generations have the wisdom to maintain that vision and preserve not only our old house soul, but the very soul of the local, regional, and national cultural legacy to which Concord lends so much.
The movie Old House Soul, a work-in-progress, will be screened on Thursday, May 7th (6pm - 7:30pm) at the Providence Public Library in the Barnard Room, 3rd fl, 150 Empire St. Providence, Rhode Island.
