The annual Misericordia Artist in All event was held on May 14 at Northern Trust Co. in Chicago.AttendeesMore than 800 people were in attendance and helped raise over $300,000 for Misericordia Home Heart of Mercy in Chicago.Misericordia Siblings (SIBS) signature event featured various pieces of

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

ANTIOCH25007 W 3rd St., William D Morrill to Lauren Kivikko, $92,000, July 626051 W Spring Grove Road, Wayne Hummer Trust Co Na Ttee to Thomas G Rohrbeck Margaret Korbel, $520,000, July 638847 N Lakeview Ave., Cody Tyler to Randall A Nazette Sally L Nazette, $161,000, July 140315 N Lake Shore

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

Finalists in "The Farm: Images from the Heartland" farm art competition will display their artwork at the Lake County Discovery Museum from Aug. 21 to Nov. 14. An artist reception will be held from 1-4 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Discovery Museum, located at the Lakewood Forest Preserve, Wauconda. At that

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

If the words "block party" conjure up images of warm Jell-O, loud neighbors and a smattering of lawn chairs, you're in for a surprise. Nowadays, neighborhoods are putting together street-wide festivals complete with DJs, outdoor movies, bake-offs and talent contests. Interested in organizing an

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

With the start of school just around the corner, school superintendents and other administrators are hard at work to make sure the school year starts off right.Despite the misconception that like students, superintendents get the summers off from school, the district's top administrators have a

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

Marathons have become increasingly popular in recent years, yet, many who participate in these events are inexperienced athletes who do not properly care for their bodies while training.The most common injuries that I see in marathon runners are calf strains, iliotibial band syndrome, which leads

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

Kaleo Lee, who was raised in Buffalo Grove, where he still lives, learned the music and traditions of Hawaii from his parents who were both born there. He is passing on that cultural heritage to his four daughters, and they are sharing it with appreciative audiences as Makani.Lee and his daughters,

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

Big Ed is watching.Watching me. Probably watching you.And Big Ed is not pleased with me. He made that clear in the letter he sent me.Big Ed (aka ComEd) took me to task in the letter. Big Ed thinks I use too much electricity. Thanks to the spying device -- he calls it a Smart Meter -- installed in

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

There's still time to tell The Fixer about your most annoying customers, whether they're loud cell-phone talkers; haughty, picky people; or even petty thieves.So, all you cashiers, waitresses, bartenders, clerks, customer service reps and small business owners, please let us know who or what irks

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

Family Cemetery from farm4.static.flickr.com

I read an article today about how the tombstone of a woman who died in 1872 was discovered in a yard in Lagrange, Indiana. Of course the obvious question was, if the headstone was in the yard, where were the woman’s remains? After some research the homeowners were assured the woman was actually buried in a cemetery about three miles away; however, the “evidence” didn’t sound reasonable to me. They still have no idea how the stone ended up in their yard, other than perhaps someone installed a new stone in the cemetery and buried the old stone in the yard.

While this episode seemed to be a big deal in Lagrange (especially to the people who owned the yard), I don’t think it would have raised too many eyebrows where I live. I pass so many little family cemeteries that I seldom even notice them anymore, although one caused me to do a double take the other day when I saw it had been newly used. In most cases there is a large old house nearby that probably dates to well before the Civil War and it either is or was a part of a large farm.

I imagine that generations of the same family lived in the old house and as they died they joined their ancestors in the family cemetery. In most cases the cemeteries are very small, well-tended, and have a wrought iron fence around them. There are others where the house is long gone, and all that is left are a few tilted tombstones out in the middle of a field.

Old Houses and Old Family Cemeteries

I used to think that the family cemetery near the family home was a tradition limited to Virginia and perhaps parts of New England, but now I realize it’s a little more widespread than that. A quick search turned up the Rush family cemetery in Pennsylvania, the Duvall family cemetery in Kentucky, and the Ellicott family cemetery in Maryland. I’m sure there are thousands more, but I still don’t know if it was as common west of the Mississippi as it is here.

I guess in most cases the family thought their old house and farm would remain in the family for many generations to come; in some cases that happened, but I suppose in more cases it didn’t. Without getting into religious beliefs, it’s interesting to contemplate that in some instances the old house has continued on as a sort of memorial to the family’s history and the headstones are tilted or gone, but in other instances the home itself is gone and all that remains of the family’s history are a few nearly-illegible headstones.

Green construction and renovation practices continue to gain in popularity as people become more aware of the environmental impact of building and decorating materials used in homes. The popular mantra of “reduce, reuse, recycle” is making an impact and products such as countertops made of recycled glass are great examples of green choices for kitchen renovation. It’s hip to be green.

Bottle House, 1905. All photos courtesy of the the Central Nevada Historical Society in Tonopah, Nevada, home of the "Best Museum in Rural Nevada, 2010"

But back in the early 1900s,  “green” was the color of bottles. Beer and liquor came in bottles. Miners drank beer and liquor. Miners mined silver. Nevada had silver–but in rural, undeveloped parts of the state. Everything you needed had to be shipped and hauled to the middle of nowhere at considerable expense, which made building a house a little bit tricky. A lot of the early houses here were built from nearby stone quarries, but rock was still an expense and some people regarded it as unnecessary. After all, the bottles were already paid for. It was hip to be resourceful.

Barrel House, 1905

In 1902, one of the earliest bottle houses was built in Tonopah, Nevada. What happened to this bottle house? It was destroyed in the 1950s. Local business owner Bob Perchetti recalled going with his dad and brother in the 1950s to take the house apart because it was being bulldozed. Why? It was falling down and someone wanted to build a house there.

Another bottle house in Tonopah, less popular and without four walls of bottles, was coming apart and was also tore down. These early examples of the ultimately green construction are important historic old houses, but weren’t recognized as such at the time.

Oil Can House, 1905

In fact, because of the potential value of the bottles, the remaining historic bottle houses are prone to theft. Don’t throw stones in glass houses? Don’t use them for target practice, either. The ghost town location of the Tom Kelly Bottle House in Rhyolite–one of the best preserved examples of a bottle house in Nevada– makes it a target for both, according to Sue Rigby, an archaeologist for the Nevada Bureau of Land Management. When historic buildings are on BLM land, it’s up to the BLM to preserve them.

The Tom Kelly house is particularly well-preserved, said Rigby, because it was lived in before the BLM became involved. The BLM restored the exterior of the house in 2005. The bottles were collapsed under the eaves, and bottles in the wall had been broken. Bottle were cut out or smaller bottles were placed inside larger, broken bottles. The replacement bottles actually came from dismantled bottle houses in Tonopah, courtesy of the Central Nevada Historical Society. The wood shingle roof was completely replaced. All the restorations done by the BLM must be reviewed by the Nevada State Historical Preservation Office, so all the work done is original as it can possible be, without being original.

In addition to bottles, wooden barrels, oil cans, and more were used as construction materials for homes–people used what was available. The lesson behind these early green houses is a good one. Aside from the point that unique old houses only exist when people act to preserve them, reusing any materials that are already on-hand is a smart first step.

TOH general contractor shows how to handle fragile clapboards to make a seamless exterior repair

A natural-looking broken-stone patio provides a gathering place in an organic landscape

If you have a kid who loves helping out in the garden but you're always brushing the dirt off their knees, a raised bed may be the perfect addition to your landscape

How to make a sturdy display table, with instructions for parents and kids

How to make handy storage for games and gizmos, with instructions for parents and kids

How to make your own backyard sports equipment, with easy instructions for parents and kids

Find out what to do this week and beyond.Classes/Meetings/SeminarsBe a more mindful parent by joining the Brilliant Parenting Discussion Group at 7 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of the month at Water's Edge Waldorf School, 150 W. Bonner Road, Wauconda. The group will discuss a variety of topics of

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

Who: Motivational Speaker and Prevention Specialist Tom BozWhat: Provide Prevention presentations Free to schools through the Pepsi Refresh Grant Program including Drugs and alcohol, bullying and keeping kids safe. Tom utilizes magic to demonstrate, decision making, the power to say "No" and how to

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

'GET LOW'A rich and satisfying story with surprising depths, "Get Low" is one of those small films with a soul that's good enough to redeem at least three and a half, maybe four, brain-dead Hollywood formula jobs. Especially because it features a prime, good-as-they-come performance from the great

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)