The Cross House

In 2019, I did a post about the “Bo Mystery light”. The light was a fabulous gas pendant featuring a serpent!       However, the light was not gas/electric, which the Cross house had when new. So, me being, well, me, vexed over this historical narrative aberration and I knew the world would not…

        In order to do this, I first had to cut some shingles to size. Then the shingles had to be shaved thin with my electric planer to match the thin profile of the 1894 siding.       Today and yesterday were HORRIBLE. Hot and incredibly humid. I wilted just stepping…

Kit recently asked that I do an update on my seemingly well-known Four Facades post from 2015. I was surprised to find that I did an update in 2017. So, Kit, this 2024 edition is for you!                                 And, I…

                    I realized that the damage was not being caused by normal weather conditions (as I had assumed) but rather from water getting (somehow) into the column from the porch roof beam. The adjacent column is also damaged so an investigation is needed to figure out…

This is a political post. If interested, please scroll down…..                                                                  

                      The living room is next. Then all the repair work to the bits of original flooring. Then it all needs to sanded and finished. But…how long before I can lure Justin back? If ever?          

Owning an old house means a never-ending tasks of maintainence. I keep a mental list of issues that need attending to. The problem? The list ever grows. My time never expands. But, while working on the NW corner, I have: repaired issues with the siding on the tower, replaced the rotten base of one column,…

                  While the kitchen looks like a bomb has gone off in it, it is near-miraculous that I have been able to acquire what appears to be a matching set of period-correct figures, and a full set of matching Holophane shades. The great magician, JR of Oregon,…

    Several of you have commented that the door of the side-by-side will hit the sconce when it is opened. But this this will not happen with the swivel sconce pushed back, as seen above. Several of you have commented that a sconce in that location makes little sense, being stuck in a corner….

I know, y’all are looking at the title and thinking: Huh? Background: About 15 years ago, on eBay, I scored a Cicatrices de Luxe 5 by FLOS, designed by Philippe Starck. It retails for $4,500. I think I paid $150.     I scored, in part, because the ceiling mount had been damaged. I figured…