I took this photo of an old house near Berkeley’s upscale 4th Street shopping area. There’s something about the image that I find so evocative.
Today is my sister Marcy’s birthday, and while I’m thinking about birth, eternity and old houses, I invite you to visit the Blue Lotus Project (click on Craftsman Home) where you can see the amazing rebirth and transformation of her home, a former fixer-upper (or tear-it-downer as I called it).
The house had been severely neglected for decades and everything was rotten and moldy. It was so awful that I thought it should have been torn down. But Marcy and her husband Tim had a vision of what it could be. After several years of hard work, it became the beautiful home they envisioned, and the place where our family meets for holiday gatherings and all of our rites of passage.
Tim is a contractor, fine woodworker, and master carpenter; Marcy is a brilliant interior designer and space planner; both are talented fine artists as well. They are co-partners of the Blue Lotus Project, a San Francisco Bay Area design/build company.
To see the amazing before and after pictures of the rebirth, click on “Craftsman Home” on their Blue Lotus Project website. There are more of Marcy’s interior designs on the Marcy Voyevod Design website and her her paintings are here.
I know sisterhood isn’t eternal, and I am so grateful for every moment we have together in this life!
Happy Birthday Li’l Sister!
Jana Bouc, Artist 
9 replies on “Eternal (& Happy Birthday Sis)”
Oh my! I just spent a long while going through Marcy’s portfolio—what a talented couple she and Tim are! I hope Kate sees the photos of their Craftsman bungalow. It looks like the same kind of heroic restoration that she and Joseph are doing on his house. Happy birthday to Marcy and congratulations to both of you for having such an excellent, gifted, and inspiring sister!
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What an interesting photo! Old houses and buildings are intriguing and I love the strange textures of old wood and paint. Gosh, what a marvellous renovation job has been done on the house. Excellent.
w.
Guys in orange jackets are down our back yard today, measuring and excavating in the emptied block next door to put in water pipes etc. The old fence gets knocked down, put up, knocked down, put up etc. etc.
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What a beautiful and sympathetic renovation. It takes a lot of imagination to see the inner beauty of such a rundown house. All those period windows are gems. Now I’m tempted to go back and look at the rest of the portfolio. No wonder I never get any work done!
Congratulations and happy birthday to your sister. It’s a comfort to know that the relationships we have with our siblings are the longest of our lives!
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I loved the before & after photos of their home – & am looking at other projects now. Thank-you for sharing.
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There was a homeless man in Sydney who suddenly was ‘born again’ and spent the next forty years writing the word ‘eternity’ in public places around the city – see here http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/stace.htm – it’s true. Now I must go and look at your sister’s house.
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Oh, Jana, thanks for giving me a heads up on the house restoration, your sis did an INCREDIBLE job (and happy birthday to her, a bit late). I know exactly what she was dealing with, Laura’s right!
Here’s our year-long heroic rescue attempt…bring in the IVs, painkillers, and brain surgeons! http://flickr.com/photos/9506220@N08/sets/72157602083833556/
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very nice web site. My English is not so good, so I do not understandt it well, but it seems very good. Thanks
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[…] but tearing down. Stay with the slideshow to see their transformation. I found this link through Jana’s Journal and Sketchblog, one of the blogs I follow on a regular basis. This is an art blog, certainly not a […]
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I adored their transformation, and I am a huge fan of your blog. Thanks for inspiring me today!
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