I took a little break this weekend to visit friends who live along the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. I was hoping for slightly more spring-like weather but it is still early. Even so, these magnificent crocuses greeted me when I arrived at their house.
And the morning I left, the trees at the motel had burst into bloom.
On the way home, I had lunch with another friend in Yakima, one who loves to show me the city's assets, and so I got a little tour after our meal. Yakima admittedly gets a bad rap, but it has a thriving art scene and some interesting architecture in its downtown core. My friend particularly wanted to show me The Larson Building. Who'd a thunk one would find an art deco building of such magnificence in the high desert farm and ranch country of central Washington? The detail and marble floors of the entrance and lobby rival those of the Plummer Building in Rochester, Mn that I was so awed by.
Of course, I did not have my camera with me, but I have hunted down some info on the internet for those who might be interested. And I hope to get back to take some reference pictures of my own.
For historical info on A. E. Larson and detailed descriptions of the building that he constructed in 1931, see here.
For pictures of the building and information about the revitalization effort of the downtown core, see here.
Ok, those pictures are really going to frustrate you, so for a couple of great pics of the lobby and additional information about the building, see here.
For a close-up of the entryway from outside, go here.
And finally, for a close-up of the upper part of the building's detail, go here.
2 comments:
Beautiful crocuses!!
Thanks for posting, always cheer me up when I enter my blog and see all the novelties in the blogosphere!!
Enjoyed your post, I miss the crocuses, we have some that come up around our fir trees but the deer love to eat them so often times, we never even see them before they are eaten. Your draw of inspiration from the Art Deco building in Yakima is pretty interesting... when I was growing up in Boise, there were lots of interesting buildings, many of them were torn down during Urban Renewal. I really love great architecture but I don't get to see it often... around here, an old building is any building 100 years old... in the UK that's considered 'new construction'. Thank Goodness for the variety of life!!!
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