Most communities, with deeply historical character, are usually in constant motion to preserve, refurbish and enhance. Our own Lake County proudly cares for and promotes its heritage.
One only has to decide to walk our central areas, and our towns steeped in early American history, to see the beauty – and the responsibility – that our area entails!
And, we like to share. We promote our area as a tourist destination. While the maintenance of this lovely region is up to all of us, tourism generally places first focus on central areas, town centers and major features – historic buildings, intriguing museums the retail core — and in our case, our Clear Lake, our wineries, our mountains.
As with many beautiful characteristics, external attraction must carry its promise inside – be it retail, professional, medical-dental, religious, corporate or community facility! While the exterior architecture of precious buildings attracts and intrigues, it also lures an observer to enter and see what the promise presents. The Interior design responsibility carries with it a mandate for accurate, historical (years, decades or centuries) continuity – outside to inside.
As a community grows, maintains, refurbishes and newly develops, its Exterior presentation invites; its Interior presentation captures and fulfills. As we promote our Lake County as a destination, that promotion carries with it a responsibility to prepare for, welcome, intrigue, satisfy and inspire our visitors! We want them to linger, enjoy and return!
Time, as we all know, is flat out schizo! It can be our community friend, giving us seasonal changes that attract different visitors; it can reek havoc on our historical treasures; it creates maintenance pressures; it cooperates with mother nature in her cruelest moments – testing us with long durations of flood, fire and temperature extremes. Time will tell! And the story it tells can help or hurt.
The very element of wear and weather on our historic structures is actually a part of the “charm!” Part of our preservation challenge, is discovering that fine line between refurbish or restore or leave-it-alone! Ageing and deterioration are such close relatives that it takes specialized professionals, who know where those lines must be drawn, and are educated and experienced in addressing appropriate modifications and solutions.
It is a little like finding the right rocking chair for the grandma you love! Older things (like Grandma) have special needs. The bones and bodies of old treasures can easily be harmed if not handled with care. In communities blessed with wonderful past era’s treasures, startling surprises can occur when refurbishing and restoring. Opening old walls can reveal secrets, hidden space, and other things bound for archives.
Many communities, grounded in a wonderful collection of historic treasures, pay strict attention to the challenge of new construction, in order to harmonize while expanding. This lays an additional layer of consideration on the shoulders of the Interior design team in such a scenario. Making a contemporary Interior harmonize with an exterior that is harmonizing with history, invites extraordinary creativity!
Because Community buildings strive for universal appeal, it’s also important to participate in the decisions that drive the Interior design projects for those buildings! In a way, such structures belong to all of us, and all voices can be heard by virtue of one of those structures that houses local government procedures. Each community has specialists for the care of the community –departments for water, electricity, refuse, education, fire, etc! The governing Council, through its public meetings, acquires community input. Remember the old adage: Decisions are made by those who show up!
Robert Boccabella, B.F.A. is principal and founder of Business Design Services and a certified interior designer in private practice for over 30 years. Boccabella provides Designing to Fit the Vision© in collaboration with writingservice@earthlink.net. To contact him call 707-263-7073; email him at rb@BusinessDesignServices.com or visit www.BusinessDesignServices.com or on Face Book at Business Design Services.
