John Bagley house saved... sort of

[Detroitdave]

So I came across this article on curbed Detroit.
I've grateful they saved the 1889 John Bagley house, however when I saw what they did to the beautiful wood work I got a sinking feeling in my stomach.
To paint over that beautiful work work is a crime , there is a reason the original builders choose wood , to show off the beauty.
To paint over it in WHITE ? is a crime. You might as well used a brick wall , if you wanted a brick wall you could have save yourself the paint and buy a building with a brick wall.
NOW BEFORE EVERYONE SAY " It's their building they can do what they want" and " If you dislike it so much why don't buy your own and redo it", blah,blah ,blah .
This is only my opinion , and yes I know, opinions are like a..holes
This is only my opinion about the painting over that beautiful woodwork.
I'm just sadden they didn't see the beauty in it
Thank goodness it's only paint and can be removed.
http://detroit.curbed.com/2016/3/7/1...ion-motor-city

[Gistok]

Detroitdave,

While I agree and sympathize with you... at least it can one day be restored to its' original look [[nothing was ripped out).

What still irritates me was when they restored the Book-Cadillac Hotel back a few years ago... so much of it was a mess and had to be re-created.

However the most ornate plaster ceiling... that of the lobby... was still about 90 percent intact, with its' golden painted opulence. Did they restore it, or put another drop ceiling under it like the rehab from 50+ years ago? No, they ripped it all out, and it's gone forever... now replaced by a plain flat white ceiling....

It made it thru 50 years of neglect hidden under the drop ceiling and fluorescent lights... only to be ripped out and discarded about 8 years ago....

[EastsideAl]

That is a shame. I could understand it better if the woodwork had already been painted over before, but to paint that over is a shame, at least to me.

However, these things go in cycles. For much of the mid-20th century it was considered quite normal, even desirable, to paint over "all that dark old woodwork." in 19th and early 20th century homes. Certainly my grandmother always painted over hers. She always thought it looked "dark and gloomy."

Then, in more recent times, it has been fashionable to uncover the woodwork again. I once spent the better part of a summer in the 1990s removing paint from the doors and wainscoting in a circa 1890 house I owned.

But now I'm increasingly I'm seeing it painted over again in magazines and interior decor guides. A much lighter, mostly bright stark white, look really seems to be in these days. And that is sure what whoever painted this place looks like they're trying to follow. Unfortunately for that lovely wood.

[Detroitdave]

Mark my words in about 20 years people will be saying " what in the world were they thinking ?"

[RickBeall]

Marking words.