The Cross House

        This is a much better place for the sink and it is curious that it was not installed in this location originally. Now, there’s a window and the plumbing can easily connect with the bathroom plumbing. The height of the tiled backsplash precisely aligns with the window sill height, so…squee! The…

The other day I did a post about the return of Kenny. Who brought his dog, Jet. Tiffaney commented. And she was not happy: ROSS! You break the #1 rule of the internet: if you mention a pet, you need to post the photographic evidence. That is to say, we need to see Jet. So,…

      It is not just that we have removed wood bits and a tangle of wiring. Every single extraneous bit on the ceiling has also been removed: Old nails old junction boxes old strapping old heating ducts and so on. Then the voids between the ceiling joists were vacuumed to remove every cobweb….

So, y’all remember Kenny? For several years now he has been volunteering at the Cross House, and refinishing wood. He refinished the mantel in the Round Bedroom, and then did several windows. Ross happy. Kenny also likes gifting the house with clocks and seating and vintage lights. Ross happy. Today, Kenny came by for the…

In getting the carriage house basement ready for its new HVAC ducting, the door to the basement was in the way. It needed to be cut down on top by 4-inches to make way for the new trunk line. No biggie. The current door will later be replaced by a new entrance on the north…

          Both windows are UNDER the south porch. I have never before crawled under the porch, so never knew about this horror. What you are looking at is gobs and gobs and gobs of spray foam, covering the underside of the porch, the two windows, one AC duct, and adjacent foundation….

Today, I began gutting the you-know-Norman-Bates-lived-here studio apartment. I tore out the sheetrock on the south wall, and the insulation behind. And I tore down the sheetrock on much of the ceiling, and its insulation. It was all profoundly dirty and sweaty but satisfying. NOTE: Yes, I wore protective gear. When I finished for the…

The parlor of the 1894 Cross House, as now decorated, is a carefully crafted mix of discordant elements. I like discordant elements as they, in my experience, help bring a room alive. The trick though is the degree of discord. Too little and things just look dull. Too much and a room can appear a…

Previously, I posted about the built-in gutter adjacent to the towering north chimney. Over time, the immense weight of the chimney caused it to sink 2-1/2-inches. Eek! And this meant that the gutter no longer directed water horizontally, but rather over its edge. This. Is. Bad. And this meant that, over many decades, water leached…

Cody left today after a 10-day visit. We got a lot done, as Cody furiously worked on numerous lights so they could be listed for sale. Last week, we went to an antique store in nearby Cottonwood Falls, which I have not been to since Covid. Quickly, we amassed a large pile of lighting to…

Yesterday, I wrote about the stunningly creepy basement of the carriage house, and its scary you-know-Norman-Bates-lived-here studio apartment. Wanna see?                                                                        …

I will admit to something. Something shocking. Something despicable. But, I will only admit if you promise not to tell anybody. Promise????????   So, you know how much I love clean windows, and advocate for them. But…[Ross cringes]…I have never cleaned a single window in the carriage house since buying the property in 2014. I…

While the Cross House has remained…relatively speaking…largely intact during its 127-year-life, the adjacent carriage house has been through a lot. A lot. I knew none of this when I purchased the property in 2014. Indeed, I did not even know that the carriage house WAS the carriage house to the Cross House. The ensuing years…

Justin, Scott, and their assistant, Brock, were in the carriage house. An ear-piercing noise was heard and, as Justin later told me: “I was suddenly weightless! It was terrifying.” What happened? A Lally column in the basement had buckled and all the jacking up this past week, in an instant, fell back down to ‘normal’….

              At some point the carriage house was converted into three apartments: Studio in basement. First floor. Second floor. I am gonna guess that this alteration was done at such a point.     In addition, being able to close off the second floor will make a significant difference…