ToolMan Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 By ALLAN TURNERCopyright 2005 Houston ChronicleNothing is as forgettable as yesterday's beer can.But to John Milkovisch, Houston's front-yard philosopher and beer drinker extraordinaire, the empties were handy shortcuts to home repair. Over two decades, the Southern Pacific upholsterer flattened and attached thousands of cans to his modest bungalow, stacked them into fences and strung them as garlands from his roof.By the time Milkovisch died at 75 in 1988, his can-clad home was on its way to becoming a nationally celebrated folk-art site.Efforts to restore Milkovisch's Beer Can House, which has suffered years of gradual decline, have moved into high gear with a $125,000 Houston Endowment grant to the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, which acquired the house in November 2001. "The Beer Can House represents the sort of idiosyncratic individualism that Houstonians and Texans' pride themselves on," Emily Todd, the endowment's grant officer, said Wednesday.Orange Show Executive Director Susanne Theis said repair and restoration of the house at 222 Malone west of downtown should be complete by late next year. The house then will be open for tours.The house's evolutionTheis said Orange Show staff is searching for an architect to trace the house's artistic evolution Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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