Separating More Myths From Reality
Wow. What a year it is going to be, politically. In November, there is a presidential election, and in my lifetime I cannot recall such, well, surrealism. The Republicans started out with sixteen candidates. This keeps getting whittled down. And I continue to gasp at what comes out of the mouths of some of these…
Continue ReadingThe Cross House…on YouTube?
When the Cross House was built in 1894 there was no television. And computers and the internet were unimaginable. Fast forward to today, and I tremendously enjoy that my big old house co-exists with a very modern world. Today, a YouTube video was posted by Elizabeth, who created Circa, a delicious blog about old houses…
Continue ReadingDesperately Seeking a Lost Roof Finial. In Two Parts.
PART ONE By summer, if all goes well, the roofing on the towers will be new. And the missing finial really absolutely most certainly and without-a-doubt needs to be resurrected. Right? It would be criminal to have pretty new roofing but with a denuded…top. The obvious choice to make a…
Continue ReadingLearning From The Past…SLOWLY
If I were a millionaire, the Cross House would have suffered. With millions at my disposal, I could have (and would have) embarked upon a restoration with a full crew, and would likely have finished the house by now. And the house would have suffered. You see, there are dividends to moving slowly. By moving…
Continue Reading…and speaking of Old Cisterns.
My last post was about the built-in gutters on the Cross House, and how they originally fed into a cistern. I was surprised by how many people asked questions about the cistern. So, may I please introduce…the Cistern of the Cross House? From Biographical Sketches: JOSEPH C. JONES, foundry, was…
Continue ReadingLet the Games Begin!
After much ado, the Heritage Grant work on the Cross House commences! This week Groh & Sons began work on relining the built-in gutters. Groh was founded in 1918, and is almost as old as the Cross House. The house has no visible gutters. The gutters are built into the prominent “cornices” of the house,…
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online store.
Continue ReadingOn The Hunt For The Lost Gas Sconces. PART 5
Finding early 1890s gas/electric chandeliers and sconces for the Cross House will be a monumental, daunting task, requiring many years (decades?), and also requiring a vast fortune. Yes, I play the lottery weekly. Another monumental task will be finding period-correct glass shades for all the lights. I grow weak at the very thought. Last year…
Continue ReadingDetroit Reborn
I was born in Detroit, a 1957 model. While my family lived in suburban Detroit, my father’s parents lived in outer Detroit, and my grandfather often took his four grandchildren downtown on the weekends. I wrote about my vivid memories of these adventures, and this was published a few years ago. My family left Michigan for Florida…
Continue ReadingOn The Hunt For The Lost Gas Sconces. PART 4
Almost a year ago I did a post about the lighting which I had purchased for the Cross House. Although I sell vintage lighting for a living, I specialize in post-1920 lighting, so Victorian-era lighting is a mystery to me. However, slowly, bit-by-bit, I have been gaining a suggestion of knowledge about the era. As…
Continue ReadingThis Old House?
WAY back in 1979, I watched the very first episode of This Old House. And was mesmerized. I ate up each subsequent episode. When a book came out about that first season, I snapped did up, and devoured it. I was twenty-two. As the years have passed, as the decades passed, I became aware that…
Continue ReadingA Laughing Matter in the Carriage House
My previous four posts have all been about vintage lighting. And I sell vintage lighting for a living. So, one would think my own house would be full of vintage lighting treasures, right? Well, like the proverbial shoemaker with no…I am shoeless. The problem is that I cannot justify hanging up fabulous vintage fixtures in…
Continue Reading1920s Luscious by Moe-Bridges
Two brothers, Henrik and Ole Moe, helped to found the Milwaukee-based Moe-Bridges lighting company in 1919. Later friction among various shareholders resulted in the brothers leaving the company in the late 1920s, and founding Moe Brothers Manufacturing, or Moe Light. The Moe-Bridges Company continued, however. In 1943, the company was renamed The Lighthouse, and then…
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online store.
Continue ReadingA Brief History of Gas/Electric Lighting
In my three previous posts I wrote about the great adventure of finding and revealing the lost gas/electric sconce locations in the Cross House. I wrote: In 1879, Thomas Edison invented the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb, and in 1882 Edison created, in New York City, the first practical system for generating electricity for homes and businesses….
Continue ReadingOn The Hunt For The Lost Gas Sconces. PART 3
In my two previous posts I detailed the discovery of the lost gas nipples to fourteen sconces adjacent to seven fireplace mantels. At first I assumed that the sconces were gas sconces, but more sluething revealed that they were gas/electric sconces. Cool. While researching the two blog posts, I realized that the Cross House may…
Continue ReadingA Safe Place During A Zombie Apocalypse
I know a couple of wild & crazy kids: Brian and Bailey. The couple is impossibly young, and attending Emporia State University. So, why are they wild & crazy? Because they want to buy an old house. Even an old house needing work. Even an old house needing a ton of work. God love ’em. Young…
Continue ReadingOn The Hunt For The Lost Gas Sconces. PART 2
In Part 1, I detailed the adventure revealing the, well, not quite lost, but, ah, overlooked gas sconces in the 1894 Cross House. They had been there since 1894 but I just never really registered them before. This was not too surprising as some were buried behind later plaster while others were just small nipples…
Continue ReadingOn The Hunt For The Lost Gas Sconces. PART 1
When the Cross House was built in 1894, it was state-of-the-art. It had new-fangled radiators, a telephone closet, a built-in ice chest, speaking tubes, and ELECTRIC LIGHTING! Yes, ELECTRIC LIGHTING! This would have seemed a wonder to visitors. In 1879, Thomas Edison invented the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb, and in 1882 Edison created, in…
Continue ReadingPlease, will you join me in the Parlor?
A problem with getting a pretty color on the walls of the parlor, which I have been DYING to do, is that the walls are not really ready. They LOOK ready, but a raking light reveals a disturbing reality. Raking light is a bitch. In normal light the walls look pristine, and just…
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