Brookfield, WI

I love you Wisconsin.  You never disappoint.  Great food.  Nice people.  Excellent beer.  Lovely towns.  And bad mansards abound!  This is a Methodist church in Brookfield, WI.  Pretty sure this is a mansard?  Are there any Methodist architects who could confirm?  

KÖLN Mansard

Richard emailed me this winner mansard from Cologne, Germany.  He mentioned mansards in Germany are hard to find and I think he is right.  When I visited in 2011, I found very few mansards.  When my husband returned in 2012, he could find no mansards.  You'd think with all the post war construction, there would be more bad mansards. But no.  As long as we're talking about Cologne, I am sharing a picture of my grandfather outside of the Cologne Cathedral right after World War 2, probably early 1946.  Somehow it stood even though the surrounding areas were destroyed.  He would have been on leave during occupation duty in Germany.  Thank you Richard.  I appreciate that you were able to find me some material in Cologne!  

  

Fishtown district in Leland, MI

Continuing with the vacation theme.  Julie and her family recently traveled up to Michigan.  I might add that she left the morning after she most graciously opened her home to 25 guests for a girl scout party celebrating the end of 9 years of scouting.

Julie's astute architect eye spotted this mansard melee in the historic Fishtown district of Leland, MI.  Thanks Julie!

Up next!  Mansards from Europe.

this mansard is no butte of any joke

The theme for bad mansard this summer is vacation pictures.  My neighbor Kent sent me this beaut from Butte, Montana.  Kent loaded his family up in the family van and road tripped to Oregon in what could have been one of the longest road trips ever attempted from Soulard.  He was nice enough to send me this picture of the Hotel Finley.  Up next:  mansards from the European motherland.

Saddest shovel in St. Louis

As seen in the doorway of the Union Trust building at 705 Olive (7th street entrance).  It's supposedly going to be renovated into a boutique hotel.  Yay!  It's a neat building

I worked in that building from 2009-2011.  I had an enormous office with a chandelier and lumpy couch.  My boss had a bar in his office.  Good times.

Hopefully this shovel gets some work soon. It's been sitting there about 2 yearss.