|
Thorsen House
The William R. Thorsen House, also known as the Sigma Phi-Thorsen House, is a historic residence in Berkeley, California. Built in 1909 for William and Caroline Thorsen, it was the last of five so-called "ultimate bungalows" to be designed by Charles and Henry Greene, principles in the renowned architectural firm of Greene & Greene. Three others (Ford, Gamble, Blacker) are in Pasadena, and one (Pratt) is in Ojai, California. The term "ultimate bungalow" was coined by Robert Judson Clark in the 1960s, but is technically a misnomer, since bungalows are typically small, one-story houses. However, "Craftsman bungalows" of the early twentieth century do share some characteristics with the larger houses of Greene & Greene, including the Thorsen House. Since 1942, the house has been the home of the California Alpha Chapter of the Sigma Phi Society, the oldest national fraternity in continuous existence. It houses members of Sigma Phi Society, hosts communal dinners, organizes small c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piedmont Avenue (Berkeley)
Piedmont Avenue is a street in the city of Berkeley, California. Originally known as Piedmont Way, is the major street through the University of California, Berkeley's fraternity and sorority area. The street was originally named Piedmont Way. Piedmont Way was conceived in 1865 by Frederick Law Olmsted, America's foremost landscape architect. As the centerpiece of a gracious residential community close beside the College of California, Olmsted envisioned a roadway that would follow the natural contours of the land and be sheltered from sun and wind by "an overarching bowery of foliage." This curvilinear, tree-lined parkway was Olmsted's first residential street design. It has served as the model for similar parkways across the US. This original portion, now located between Gayley Road and Dwight Way, is designated as a Berkeley Landmark and California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of Calif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Collegiate Secret Societies In North America
There are many collegiate secret societies in North America. They vary greatly in their level of secrecy and the degree of independence from their universities. A collegiate ''secret society'' makes a significant effort to keep affairs, membership rolls, signs of recognition, initiation, or other aspects secret from the public. Some collegiate secret societies are called "class societies", which restrict membership to one class year. Most class societies are restricted or limited to senior class members and are therefore called ''senior societies'' on many campuses. Some include junior class members, hence, upperclassmen and women. Categorization There is no strict rule on the categorization of secret societies, although a secret membership role is key. Secret societies can have ceremonial initiations, secret signs of recognition (gestures, Secret handshake, handshakes, passwords), formal secrets (the 'true' name of the society, a motto, or society history). Traditional Fraternit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sigma Phi Houses
Sigma ( ; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; ) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as an operator for summation. When used at the end of a letter-case word (one that does not use all caps), the final form (ς) is used. In ' (Odysseus), for example, the two lowercase sigmas (σ) in the center of the name are distinct from the word-final sigma (ς) at the end. The Latin letter S derives from sigma while the Cyrillic letter Es derives from a lunate form of this letter. History The shape (Σς) and alphabetic position of sigma is derived from the Phoenician letter ( ''shin''). Sigma's original name may have been ''san'', but due to the complicated early history of the Greek epichoric alphabets, ''san'' came to be identified as a separate letter in the Greek alphabet, represented as Ϻ. Herodotus reports that "san" was the name giv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Museums In Berkeley, California
A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers and specialists. Museums host a much wider range of objects than a library, and they usually focus on a specific theme, such as the arts, science, natural history or local history. Public museums that host exhibitions and interactive demonstrations are often tourist attractions, and many draw large numbers of visitors from outside of their host country, with the most visited museums in the world attracting millions of visitors annually. Since the establishment of the earliest known museum in ancient times, museums have been associated with academia and the preservation of rare items. Museums originated as private collections of interesting items, and not until much later did the emphasis on educating the public take root. Etymology The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houses In Alameda County, California
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.Schoenauer, Norbert (2000). ''6,000 Years of Housing'' (rev. ed.) (New York: W.W. Norton & Company). Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses generally have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into the kitchen or another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Craftsman Architecture In California
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label that was previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bungalow Architecture In California
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a bungalow was built in 1869. In the United States, it was initially used as a vacation architecture, and was most popular between 1900 and 1918, especially with the Arts and Crafts movement. The term bungalow is derived from the word and used Ellipsis (linguistics), elliptically to mean "a house in the Architecture of Bengal, Bengal style".''Online Etymology Dictionary'', "bungalow"Online Etymology Dictionary/ref> Design considerations Bungalows are very convenient for the homeowner in that all living areas are on a single storey and there are no stairs between living areas. A bungalow is well suited to persons with impaired mobility, such as the elderly or those using wheel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historic House Museums In California
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categorize history as a social science, while others see it as part of the humanities or consider it a hybrid discipline. Similar debates surround the purpose of history—for example, whether its main aim is theoretical, to uncover the truth, or practical, to learn lessons from the past. In a more general sense, the term ''history'' refers not to an academic field but to the past itself, times in the past, or to individual texts about the past. Historical research relies on primary and secondary sources to reconstruct past events and validate interpretations. Source criticism is used to evaluate these sources, assessing their authenticity, content, and reliability. Historians strive to integrate the perspectives of several sources to develop a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buildings And Structures In Berkeley, California
A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for numerous factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, land prices, ground conditions, specific uses, monument, prestige, and aesthetic reasons. To better understand the concept, see ''Nonbuilding structure'' for contrast. Buildings serve several societal needs – occupancy, primarily as shelter from weather, security, living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work. A building as a shelter represents a physical separation of the :Human habitats, human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) from the ''outside'' (a place that may be harsh and harmful at times). buildings have been objects or canvasses of much architecture, artistic expression. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arts And Crafts Architecture In California
The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of media. Both a dynamic and characteristically constant feature of human life, the arts have developed into increasingly stylized and intricate forms. This is achieved through sustained and deliberate study, training, or theorizing within a particular tradition, generations, and even between civilizations. The arts are a medium through which humans cultivate distinct social, cultural, and individual identities while transmitting values, impressions, judgments, ideas, visions, spiritual meanings, patterns of life, and experiences across time and space. The arts are divided into three main branches. Examples of visual arts include architecture, ceramic art, drawing, filmmaking, painting, photography, and sculpture. Examples of literature include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Alameda County, California
Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Alameda County is in the San Francisco Bay Area, occupying much of the East Bay region. The Spanish word ''alameda'' means either "a grove of poplars...or a tree lined street". The name was originally used to describe the Arroyo de la Alameda; the willow and sycamore trees along the banks of the river reminded the early Spanish explorers of a road lined with trees. Although a strict translation to English might be "Poplar Grove Creek", the name of the principal stream that flows through the county is now simply " Alameda Creek". Alameda County is part of the San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area. History The county was formed on Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houses On The National Register Of Historic Places In California
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.Schoenauer, Norbert (2000). ''6,000 Years of Housing'' (rev. ed.) (New York: W.W. Norton & Company). Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses generally have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into the kitchen or another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-oriented soc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
