A Monday Update!
ANNOUNCEMENT!
During the next week or so I will be doing a series of MYSTERIES REVEALED posts about the numerous magical discoveries made during the — drum roll, please — BO VISIT!
Stay tuned!
TODAY:
Last Thursday, while on the way to pick up Bo, I stopped by an antique store…and came across a bag of drapery tie-backs for $30! The above shows one of the $30 tie-backs on the left, and the cheapo tiebacks previously purchased on the right.
The “new & improved” library tie-backs! MUCH better! I am quite thrilled by this discovery/purchase!
Today, I picked up the five restored stained-glass windows for the dining room of the Cross House!!!!!!! And, who knew that bags of cat food could provide ideal support for 123-year-old curved windows?
And….see the big gable? See the two windows in the big gable?
This is what the upper sashes looked like in 1894. But, as I detailed in a previous post, the squares had vanished over time. Oh, the horror! The horror! And there was no question that the lost squares HAD to be recreated!
And, today, the lost square upper sashes were returned to the Cross House. I need to glaze the glass, paint, and reinstall. But, soon-ish, all will be as it was in 1894!!!!!!!!
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I can’t see any of the pictures. It might be my computer?
I can see! I can see! And how wonderful! I LOVE the lushness of the new tiebacks! And the stained glass made me gasp. They are beyond beautiful.
You’re so awesome to get the house back to the original design. The gable windows will be stunning.
I can see them. Love your blog, Ross.
Thank you, Leann!
You’re putting the original stained glass squares in the perimeter panels of the gable windows right?
There is no evidence that colored glass was inset into the squares.
While such a detail was common to “squared” windows in the 1880s, this would have looked, I suspect, a bit dated on the Cross House in 1894 and its advanced Queen Anne Free Classic aesthetic.
The diamond-paned windows are also clear glass.
In my part of the world Pittsburgh Pa, the colored perimeter glass was used until 1912. I have turn of the century millwork catalogues to back that up. When I restored the windows in my house I used the original Kokomo stained glass from Kokomo Indiana.
I just don’t want you to put clear glass in now and have to change it out for stained later. Whatever your final decision may be, it’s your house so do whatever you want.
Cory, I agree that colored “squared” windows were still being sold in the 1890s and beyond.
I have 1890s millwork catalogs offering them.
It’s a look I have always loved, and an 1870s house a block from the Cross House abounds with such windows!
Ross. I’m waiting with baited breath for this week of revelations (we all are).
The tie backs look so much better now, and from what I see of those windows…well, to quote you, ‘Zounds’! It looks like jewels inset in places, the red and turquoise in particular. Those are going to look phenomenal when reinstated.
Here’s to a good week of updates….
So, two bags of cat food! How many cats do you have? I bet I have you beat! I have 13, but I run a small rescue with my local shelter. It is all so exciting to watch the windows get finished and installed!
It’s amazing to me that the Cross House survived with so many pieces intact over the years, given its many uses over those years. But it’s also amazing to me that you have most of the original blueprints. I can’t imagine how helpful that’s been during the restoration.
Hi Barb!
One of the things which sold me on the house was the wealth of original details/trim/etc.
Even though everything was in terrifying condition, it was all mostly still there.
In the yard, in the carriage house, in the basement. . . .
Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but… I was noticing that the door in the blueprint looks a lot like your red door and I remember you saying that you’re missing an interior door. Is it possible that the current exterior door on the north side is, in fact, that missing interior door and the door that is REALLY missing from the house is the original door that went on the north side? Does that make sense?
You have a good eye!
Let me check!
Gosh, that makes so much sense. You would want to be able to look out the door to see what’s on the other side. Kerri definitely has a good eye!
I checked!
The north exterior door is 36-inches wide.
The “red” door is 32-wide, and does indeed exactly match the south frame.
Hi Ross! I knew my first comment wasn’t very clear. I remember when you explained how you knew that the “red” door belonged on the south side. In my unclear way, I was trying to ask whether the north exterior door could be the missing interior door. I thought you had once said that you had a missing interior door, but I may be remembering something you never actually said. Assuming you do have a missing interior door, would that space be for a 36-inch wide door? I was thinking that maybe the north and south side doors matched in style if not in actual size, kind of like you said your west and east side doors match. Anyway, thank you for taking my idea seriously and thank you for writing this blog – you know that we all absolutely love it!
It looks like from the drawing of the attic windows that they might of been bevel glass in the inserts.. hmmm maybe?