I have been restoring vintage lights since I was a teenager in the mid-1970s. An Interstate highway was being rammed through the city where I lived, and I ran (steps ahead of the bulldozers, and with my shag haircut flying) from one incredible building to another, and from one incredible house to another, and salvaged everything I could.
My poor, bewildered parents. Their garage was soon chock-a-block with what I thought were treasures beyond compare. But which they thought was just useless flotsam. I did though once overhear my mom say: “Well, at least he’s not out doing drugs.”
However, when all their boring lights were systematically replaced with the most stunning lights they had ever seen – and all for free, rewired, and restored – they soon had second thoughts about the flotsam. (I paid for new parts by mowing lawns!)
Fast forward many decades.
One day I realized I had a pile of old lights rusting away in my basement. I hauled a few out, restored them (bringing back many old memories), and listed them on eBay.
At the time I had no idea, not a clue, that I had just radically changed my life.
Within months my life was unrecognizable, and I was working full time restoring vintage lighting and selling the fixtures across America.
My new e-commerce website is now online. Whoee! Please feel free to shop and purchase here:
My blog post are below.
And So The Kitchen Begins
In March, 2021, I presented my super-duper super-revised kitchen plan. I had planned to move ahead with the kitchen, but my order for the island cabinets kept getting OUT OF STOCK notices. After 6 months I cancelled the order. A year later I noticed that the cabinets were now in stock but the prices had…
Continue ReadingThe NEED List
A few days ago, Cody asked: “what else does the Cross House need in terms of lighting?” This is my reply. THE ENTRY HALL. DONE RECEIVING ROOM. DONE. PARLOR. DONE. LIBRARY. DONE. PEACOCK POWDER ROOM. NEED. KITCHEN. DONE. …
Continue ReadingInchin’ Along
The small amount of work shown between images #1 and #2 represent about two weeks of Baby Step work. If I had Justin doing the work, this all would have taken half a day. And this, this, is the new Slow-Motion Ross manifested, as I detailed in my year end post. What matters…
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingMy Sad but Necessary Vigil
I thought of them as Calico 1 and Calico 2. These were two stray cats that, for at least the last 15 years, I fed twice daily on my front porch.. They were part of the “Front Porch Kitties.” None of them were mine, but all were in need of care. Eventually, things got really…
Continue ReadingMason & Hamlin Arrive at the Cross House!
Susan and Harrison Cross built the Cross House. Their granddaughter, Mary, lived with them. She was nine-years-old when the house was finished. Mary later married, and moved to Seattle. In January, 2024, the great-grandson of Mary, Peter, reached out to me. I was thrilled! But it got better. After moving to Seattle, Mary purchased an…
Continue ReadingMy “Schedule”
Note how I put schedule in quotes in the title? Today, in another post, Monika asked: “One thing I always wonder but haven’t really wanted to ask until now: You are renovating/fixing 3 houses… Do you see the end of the tunnel or are you going til you no longer able to do all this…
Continue ReadingWanna Meet My OCD Diva?
On several occasions, after giving a tour of the Cross House, my guests said: “You have OCD. Like me!” “What makes you think that?” “Because the house is immaculate. I’ve never seen a construction site so clean.” “Ahhh. But, that’s not OCD. That is learned management. Long ago I learned how vital it was to…
Continue Reading2024. The Year End Review. The Ross
Well, my fellow flying monkeys, it is time for the annual Ross Review! Overall, it has been a good year. Slow. Steady. But with a catastrophic shock on November 6. Yes, that. The primary shift in 2024 has been the ever-dawning awareness that I am not the Ross I always have been. As I wrote-in…
Continue ReadingAre Ya’all Out There?
Last nighted I posted a very long Year End report. Here. This morning I woke to not a single comment. It is now lunch time. And still not a single comment. Have ya’all been kidnapped by aliens?
Continue Reading2024 Year End Review. The House.
2023 proved unexpected. And I mean 2023 and not 2024. 2023 began with finishing the library. It turned out great. I mean, really great. Then, in April, I was hit with a Violation Notice from the city regarding the dilapidated condition of the Carriage House exterior. And there went all my plans for the rest…
Continue ReadingDecades of Ross
The other day, while washing the dishes, a thought occurred to me: A pattern in my life is that every decade, my life proves unrecognizable from the previous decade. Really, it is uncanny. 1968 I was eleven. Very scared. Living, obviously, with mom & dad and 3 siblings in our home in Westland, Michigan….
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue Reading