The Widow’s Walk is mainly found on Northern American Victorian-era architecture, though there are examples in other countries. It is called the Widow’s Walk because it is supposedly a place from where wives could keep an eye out for their husbands’ ships. However, since their are many examples of this architectural feature on inland houses without a glimpse of the sea, this is most likely a fabrication.

The Gothic flavour of this myth has all the earmarks of the Victorian obsession with sentimentality:  the patience of the faithful wife; the possibility of lost love; the implied promise of the husband’s return; the gloomy yet poetic name. It was also another excuse to add gingerbread and fretwork to ornament the house; which I suspect was the real reason behind the design and construction of the Widow’s Walk. The classic Widow’s Walk is an ornately fenced rooftop platform often with a enclosed cupola, painted in contrasting colours to the rest of the house…

      Around 1800 the first stove that was made to cook on was developed by Benjamin Thompson, it was called the Rumford Stove. (Up to 1800, stoves were mostly used for heating, not for cooking.) One fire was used to heat several pots, which hung in the fire through various holes on top of the stove. This stove however was too large for domestic use.
     In 1834 the Oberlin Stove was patented in the US, it was the same technique but made smaller for domestic use. In the following 30 years 90,000 units were sold. During this time, the stoves still worked on wood or coal; while gas was available but it wasn’t used until late in the 19th century.
     Towards the end of the 19th century, more and more houses got water and sewer pipes, and also gas pipes (used for light.) These pipes were later used…

by

Bruce Rosenbaum, ModVic LLC

It was not until the Summer of 2008 I first heard the word ‘ Steampunk’. A friend had known about the movement and aesthetic and told me we were Steampunking. The description seemed quite odd to me. I understood the ‘steam’ referenced the steam that generated power for the machines and factories of the Victorian and Industrial Age. It was the word ‘punk’ that gave me pause. It brought to mind the more mischievous days of my youth in Marblehead, Massachusetts, but punk is a designation I thought I had outgrown a long time ago.

My wife, Melanie and I started our home restoration business, ModVic, short for Modern Victorian, in June of 2007. Our vision was to combine the best of the Victorian and Industrial ages by incorporating modern technologies and systems of today’s conveniences with Victorian elegance and design. The idea was…