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Louisville's Fort Nelson Building is becoming a bourbon distillery. (Photo: Flickr user scraped knees)

Today I'm going light on intro and heavy on the links. With no shortage of content, I've assembled an all-regions-but-the-Eastern-Seaboard (no complaints now, y'all usually get all the love) round-up of preservation and place stories from across the country. Read on!

Sam Adams - no no, Boston friends, not that one. I'm talking about the mayor of Portland, Oregon - who says he'll help neighboring Oregon City save the historic home where the coin toss took place to name the city after Portland, Maine, rather than after Boston, Massachusetts.

Love old warehousey-type buildings? Then you'll dig the old Portland Greyhound bus garage. Portland Preservation writes: "Clearly the building has seen better days, and recognizing that not everything can be saved, we thought it might be interesting to shed a little light on the history of this building before it’s gone for good."

I almost just asked if there were any "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" fans out there then realized that you all don't really need pop culture bait. You're unabashedly here for the houses. Regardless, Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House in Los Angeles - as seen in "Buffy," "Blade Runner," "Twin Peaks," and other jewels of the silver and small screen - sold for $4.5 million to a buyer who plans a complete restoration. The home is one of only four "textile block" houses designed by the renowned architect.

Once the center of the Des Moines, Iowa financial district, the vacant art deco Des Moines Building is being renovated as apartments with ground floor retail. I'd call that a win for the city.

Not that MTV even plays music videos anymore... but Chicago's WBEZ public radio station noticed a couple videos that use the city as a backdrop.

Yay for Louisville! A new bourbon distillery is moving into a decades-vacant historic building downtown!

Boo for Louisville! Remember that developer who wanted to tear down Whiskey Row? Well, now he wants to raze a few buildings for a surface parking lot. Seriously?

Speaking of tear-downs (must we?), New Orleans is back at it's goal of razing 10,000 homes in the next three years. It's a complex process, for sure, but also good to remember that tearing down a house isn't exactly a fix-all remedy for neighborhood resurrection.

"While the facade easements tax incentive — like any other — can be abused, the actions of a few overreaching taxpayers and questionable promoters shouldn’t be used to condemn an important preservation tool." Good words from our very own Paul W. Edmondson, who speaks to the importance of conservation easements in his Washington Post editorial.

Now back to Washington state, where I'll leave you with this fantastic video PSA by the Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation. Happy Monday!

David Garber is a member of the Digital and New Media team at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He really does hope you click through and watch the music videos from Chicago as well.

David Garber

David Garber is the Coordinator of Blog Content & Outreach at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He is a native of Washington, DC, and loves the intersection of preservation, innovation, and sustainability.

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Harry Potter at the Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island. What?

It's true. The final Harry Potter movie came out at midnight last night/this morning. And please, no need to be embarassed if you were the one standing in line at the local cineplex (or historic main street theater ...he says hopefully). The taped glasses, the crooked wands, the cloaks, the lightning-scars-drawn-on-the-foreheads, the Gryffindor scarves, the Bertie Botts-branded Jelly Bellys. We all have our obsessions.

Speaking of all things spellbinding and whimsical...

The Wall Street Journal covered the unveiling of the fantastically-restored St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London. Not only was this building used as the exterior for the adjacent Kings Cross Station in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets film, but it has a very Harry Potter-esque staircase inside. (Seeing as we're the American National Trust for Historic Preservation, we typically only push stuff on this side of the pond. But with a story this great and Pottermania on the rise, the urge to publish was just. too. strong.)

Now if there was any building in Boston worthy of Harry Potter, its the Old Corner Bookstore on Diagon Alley the city's Old Newspaper Row. The cambrel-roofed brick building is the oldest commercial building in Boston, and will soon be home to the city's second Chipotle Mexican Grill.

The United States doesn't have much in the way of castles and moats, but the ornate mansions of historic Newport, Rhode Island come pretty close! A hearty congratulations to The Preservation Society of Newport County for winning the first place $25,000 prize in our This Place Matters Community Challenge!

Like Hogwarts, America prides itself on its diversity. "...For preservation to be relevant to most Americans in the 21st century it will have to take on more than aesthetics and architectural objects and also incorporate the political and cultural life of non-whites and other minorities." Agreed. The Architect's Newspaper shows what California is doing to make this progress happen.

"As preservationists we understand that Charleston is diverse, complex and inextricably linked to its maritime past. We do not involve ourselves in this issue because we seek to be frivolous nags. We are involved because we love our city." Read Preservation Society of Charleston executive director Evan R. Thompson's terrific op-ed in The Post and Courier.

Historic preservation is all about balancing old with new in a culturally and aesthetically sensitive way. Unless you're a complete purist (or like me when I lived in an old house, prioritized the kitchen and bathroom renovations before moving on to the central AC), most of us flip on the air conditioning to battle sweltering summer days. Read The Atlantic's "Keepin' it Cool: How the Air Conditioner Made Modern America," then Preservation in Pink's post on the potential for window AC units to mess with the look of historic houses.

Building on the legacy of Philip Johnson and David Whitney, who brought people from diverse backgrounds together to shape the cultural dialogue of the 20th Century, The Glass House is hosting "Glass House Conversations." Chime in to the current convo by answering the question "What would you do, if you could pursue your interests without compromise?"

Alright friends, have a great weekend. Oh, and Wingardium Leviosa! (I just made you fly. You can thank me later.)

David Garber is a member of the Digital and New Media team at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He's read all the Potter books but has yet to see the final movie. Keyword yet.

David Garber

David Garber is the Coordinator of Blog Content & Outreach at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He is a native of Washington, DC, and loves the intersection of preservation, innovation, and sustainability.

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Aren't these signs the best? See below for more neon sign photos from Landmarks Illinois.

Today's round-up is coming to you from a gas station-turned-coffee-shop called Buzz Cafe in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood. (Who has the stats on how many Capitol Hills there are across the country??) The gas pump area has been turned into a java drive-thru and behind the rolled-up garage doors is a fantastic little wifi'd room full of chatting, typing, and newspaper-reading neighbors. *Adaptive use swoon.*

Landmarks Illinois has put together a wonderful photo set of roadside signs. Are we doing enough enough to preserve these remnants of businesses past and present? Is it important to preserve signs if the business no longer exist?

The Palmetto Trust made this great video about a happy-ending story outside of Columbia, South Carolina. After discovering the falling-apart Laurelwood mansion three years ago, The Palmetto Trust did some stabilization work and sold the home to a young Englishman who plans a full restoration.

Back in 2006, Wildwood, New Jersey's doo-wop motels were listed on the National Trust's 11 Most Endangered list. Now, 5 years later, wife and husband team Melinda and Bob Williams have published a book, “Wildwood’s Neon Nights & Motel Memories" featuring the seaside town's famous signs and stays.

Baltimore Heritage recently revealed their 2011 historic preservation award recipients, and the Baron and Company Cigar building won one of the top honors. Read about the recent restoration of this industrial jewel with an awesome painted sign announcing exactly what it was.

A real sign of the times? BBC has created what just might be the world's first historic preservation reality show: Restoration Home. The show follows six homeowners facing the often daunting challenge of modernizing historic homes, many of which have interesting stories to tell.

The Santa Fe Railyard Park and Plaza has received the silver medal Rudy Bruner Award for urban excellence. The 12-acre park is a historically-gritty-meets-modern public space that is pedestrian friendly and a great example of community-led preservation.

There's always room in here for a Good News Detroit story. The New York Times highlights the less-told story of young people moving into downtown Detroit, showing parallels to how New York neighborhoods like TriBeCa and Williamsburg have evolved over the years.

Alright friends. Happy Thursday!

David Garber is a a Colorado Native ... oh, and a member of the Digital and New Media team at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

David Garber

David Garber is the Coordinator of Blog Content & Outreach at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He is a native of Washington, DC, and loves the intersection of preservation, innovation, and sustainability.

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