 |
| Enter at Your Own Risk! |
The blog returns from a winter of discontent and, well, actual work, as summer approaches. Many have asked "aren't you done by now?" To that we simply answer that our experience has taught us that these projects have something of a long tail to them, so to speak. While we are certainly 95%+ complete, there are still a number of items to be done.
We have recently acquired gas fireplaces for the screen porch (done except for the floor) and the old living room to be installed in a few weeks. The latter after learning, to no one's surprise, that the 70-year-old chimney is more or less unusable. All of our cedar flat-sawn balusters and corbels for the eaves arrived last week, and are awaiting installation and painting. The library bookcases and original back door still must be addressed.
 |
| Short work... |
 |
| ...for guys with the right tools |
Most significantly, the carriage house and driveway is a massive and separate project that will take much of this year. Making way for the carriage house became necessary, largely due to the speed at which the existing "shed" seemed to be falling over. So over a short 3 hours, we liberated the old church window from the structure, saved a few other pieces (like the horseshoe adorning the roof crest), and deposited the rest of the thing in a rather sizable dumpster where it couldn't fall on anyone at an inopportune time.
After a lot of thought about what we wanted in the carriage house, including a look at some really
amazing timber frame work, we settled on a design that resembles a barn, but with the shape and layout to fit two cars attendant bikes and lawn gear, and allows us to incorporate the awesome church window present in the old shed. The permitting process has begun, and we are hoping to break ground on that (simpler) project sometime in June.
 |
| Something like this... |
