kuglen.com

Joan is on her way to Wheeling, among other places, and she and Dick are taking a slow drive across the country, stopping in places that I am calling “destinations,” places like Denver, Kansas City, to see the KC Greenes, and Wheeling.  They have a lease on a Sonata, but there is only 5000 miles on the car, so they decided to mosey across the country and put some miles on the car.  I asked them to send me pictures and keep me up-to-date, so here is a picture of Mom (I call her mom, you can call her Aunt Joan, Joanie, or anything else you like) in a place called Fort Cove, in Cove Creek, UT.

MOM – if you are reading this, I now have an assignment for you and Dick once you get to Wheeling.  I know you have plans to spend your time there visiting with Eddie, Ellen, Carl, and the rest of the Carenbauers, but I want you to go to 629 1/2 Market Street in the North Wheeling Historic District BECAUSE (and this is pretty exciting to all the KUGLENS out there…) George Carenbauer sent me a link  to a document about Samuel Kuglen ca. 1885.

We want to see pictures!

Here’s the link, and the piece of info is on page 18 - http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/ohio/88002693.pdf

BUT

Here’s what it says:

“629 ½ Market Street, circa 1885 – Samuel Kuglen, who built 629 ½ , was a noted businessman in Wheeling. He was a builder of boilers for steamboats among other products manufactured by the firm of Duffield & Kuglen. The house is Greek Revival in style, with much of the original fabric remaining. There is a wide frieze at the cornice with sodillions and dentils, a gable dormer with closed pediment, and fluted columns at the windows. The pediment is filled with a sunburst design. Lintels and sills are stone and the building is brick with a stone foundation. All windows have operable shutters.”

George - you are da bomb!

I don’t know about you, but I want to see if I can figure out what a sodillion looks like, along with dentils, dormers and lintels.  I teach English, as you know, and you have to use and see the words at least 8 times before they begin to become a part of your vocabulary.  I know what a gable is because I visited The House of the Seven Gables while I was in New England!  (What would I have seen if Hawthorne had written a book called The House of the Seven Sodillions?)  Who knew architecture had such specific vocabulary?