The second-floor sewing room at the Cross House has, like almost all the rooms, stained-glass transom windows. There are 42 such windows in the house, which is remarkable. Astonishing, really. When I first purchased the house I thought all the windows were in situ but then realized that there had originally been 43 stained-glass windows. One…

      All the parlor clear-glass windows will be done soon! And the sewing room clear-windows are in the shop for restoration! At this point, about 80% of the 43 stained-glass windows are restored, and about 60% of the clear-glass windows are restored. At the end of 2018, or soon into 2019, all the…

WARNING: This is a long, intense post. Wine might be required.   A GOOD PLAN? In March, I did a post about having to give up on Mr. Darcy, meaning that I had come to the conclusion that my romantic ideals for the Cross House were not realistic. In short, Jane Austin was not coming…

Over a two-year period I made a concentrated effort to dismantle the Aladdin’s Cave in the basement, a room full of bits & pieces removed from the house over many decades. This effort proved successful and all over the house (interior and exterior) long “lost” bits were re-installed. But two inside window stops — just…

          I am working with the Stencil Library in England to create a stencil version of the original frieze and ceiling pattern. A luscious period-correct gilded picture rail, a gift from Blair, will be installed about 22-inches below the ceiling to recreate the lost original rail. In the meantime, I plan…

The stairhall niche will be primed this week! Then I plan to create a facsimile of the original frieze and ceiling paper via stencils. As there is almost no wall surface below the picture rail (it’s all doors and windows and trim trim trim), recreating the original wall paper pattern is not an issue (at…

I am very pleased to announce that ALL the windows in the kitchen are restored! The wood sashes have lasted for 123-years and there is no reason why they cannot last another century. Contrast this with new vinyl windows, which have a lifespan of 15-years. Even new wood windows will not last as long because…

  Damn. I stared at this unexpected and unwanted waterfall flowing down in front of the two arched windows of the tower, and the large window below. It was obvious that the downspout, around the corner to the right, was blocked. But how to get to it? How? How? A sensible person would have waited…

This morning, I did a post about the dramatic discovery, by Blair, that the Cross House originally had a call system and annunciator. This means that most of the rooms in the house would have had a doorbell-like thingy. When pressed, this would have alerted a servant in the kitchen via an annunciator.    …

Yesterday, Blair came to the Cross House for a tour, as detailed in my previous post. Blair and his wife, Beth, own a big house built in 1900, so they have plenty of experience with old houses. As we walked through the many rooms, we stepped into the kitchen which is, like most of the…

            I briefly met Beth and Blair last summer at the house, but they did not have time for a tour. But Blair said he could not leave the area without a tour! Sadly, Beth could not join us as she is already working at her new job in Ohio….

  It’s fun working with Justin. He has a feature which is rare in a contractor but hugely appreciated by me: Almost nothing fazes him. Over the years I have worked with many contractors and plumbers and electricians, etc., and a common dynamic is an unwillingness to take on…the unexpected. But with Justin? Kinda no…

  In the classic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, a huge and mysterious black monolith appears at…         And what, you may be asking, does this have to do with the Cross House? Well, today, a mysterious brown monolith appeared… (scroll way down)                    …