CarterSparks.org!

With great delight and admiration I'd like to announce a website my friend and colleague, Justin Wood, has been preparing: an "informal archive" of works designed by Sacramento's beloved architect Carter Sparks. Please visit CarterSparks.org for a look at Sparks' works and additional detailed information.

Per Justin's welcome section from CarterSparks.org: "This project originally started as a private repository for notes and research related to the Sacramento, California area architect, Carter Sparks. Sparks practiced a contemporary style of design from roughly the mid-1950's until the early 1990's. He was best known for his design work on behalf of the Streng Brothers designing 'modern' tract homes."

I "met" Justin on Flickr a couple of years ago and was thrilled to discover someone else in town with similar interests. Since then we have been freely discussing and sharing our research findings about mid-century modern architecture in the Sacramento region.  I've posted about Carter Sparks many times in my blog (look under "posts by topic" in the left margin) and am so happy to see Justin's diligent and thorough research developed into a resource now available to all of you!

Please contact Justin if you have any additional information regarding any home in the archive -- or any home you believe should be in the archive. As Justin states: "There are more works out there, and some that are gone forever. One of the intentions of this archive is to catalog and bring awareness to Sparks' works so that they may be appreciated and saved when they are threatened."

One of my favorite features of the archive is the Visual Index of All Custom Homes. It allows you to see the evolution in Sparks' designs over time.

While you're at it, check out Justin's cool art work and his other MCM-related site, Modern Valley, which features "post and beam mid-century style architecture in the Sacramento Valley..."