The Cross House

I was up on scaffolding when some movement caught my attention. I looked around, and down. Oh! It was Lindy! Her father and grandfather owned the Cross House from 1929 to 1960. Lindy yelled up: “Can I mow your lawn?” Huh? Huh? “Why would you want to mow my lawn?” “I’m going crazy in lockdown…

A few days ago, my neighbor Brad came by the big house while I was up on scaffolding. “I’m an extrovert! This staying at home is killing me!” So, with him standing on the lawn, and with me on the porch roof, we safely conversed for an hour, during which he mentioned baking a lot…

  It rained all morning. Then the rain paused for a while. Which allowed me to work on the cornice above the scaffolding. Then it began raining again, but the huge overhanging cornice protected me. Then it began to crazy rain and I was forced back into the house. The area hidden by the tarp…

BIT ONE After years of wanting to — years of yearning, years of longing — I finally sent samples of the Cross House kitchen to be analyzed in order to determine the original colors!!!!!!!! Frank Welsh is doing the work, and he previously determined the original exterior wall color (which I had not quite gotten right). It…

      This work is being done by Justin in the mornings. So, when I arrive in the afternoons, it is like pixies are doing the work! The decking appears to be original, as improbable as this seems. Justin thinks it is yellow pine. He is going to see if such wood can be…

Today, I received a note from Cindi M, informing me that Mary Garner-Mitchell, a long-time commenter on Restoring Ross, had passed away due to cancer. I gasped. Mary and I have been privately corresponded since this blog was created in 2014. I adored her. Last year she wrote about her cancer diagnosis, and in December…

  Today, my neighbor, Brad, stopped by while I was working on the Cross House. I was on the porch roof. He explained that he was an extrovert and was losing his mind staying at home, alone. He has not been able to see his girlfriend, Amy, for three weeks now. He figured that he…

      Due to, you know, Doug spent his time in the round receiving room doing all this work, while I spent my time on the second floor, outside, painting. I had asked him to take a bunch of pictures and send them to me so I could do a blog post. This was…

The main porch of the Cross House is big. And L-shaped. I cannot tell if the decking, which is obviously very old, is original or not. So, is it from 1894? Or, perhaps, from 1930? I have no idea. The decking though is mostly in very good condition. The problem areas are all at the…

                          So, what looks fine from the ground proves a disaster up close. It is fascinating just how beat-up the south facade is, as the other three facades were all in vastly better condition. The only good news is that the shingles surrounding…

So, y’all know that the Cross House received two Heritage Trust grants. This was to enable: Shingling all the secondary roofs. Relining the built-in gutters. Restoring 43 stained-glass windows. Replacing rotted sills. Restoring lost siding in NE corner. Restoring tower finial. Recreating lost octagon tower finial. Restoring many of the clear-glass windows. Replacing most of…

        As Doug and I toured the house he kept saying: “Wow. As we walk around I keep seeing my work everywhere!” It is true. Doug, as with Justin, has been an indispensable, invaluable, and consistent help in restoring the house. I shudder to think how vasty harder everything would have been…

I have done a number of posts on my kitchen, and on kitchens in general. Just type in KITCHEN to the new search box! In 2016, I unveiled my plan for the kitchen. In short:     Island “UFO” Double Sinks Barstool(s) TV Counter for microwave, blender, toaster. Radiator Recreated laundry chute Recreated dumbwaiter Relocated…

A while ago, several readers wrote in asking if a SEARCH box could be added. Oh. I thought this already existed. But I belatedly realized that while I could search this blog thingy, you could not. Oops. Sorry! I contacted my web master, Tracy, from IM Design and asked for her help. Help! Tracy started…

  OK. I am obviously not being serious! What I rigged up is a sun screen to keep the south sun from baking me while I work, and baking the paint (newly applied paint will blister in direct sun on hot days, as I have painfully learned). And today it was 84-degrees. While waiting for…

So, I recently did a post about re-pointing the towering north chimney. John wrote in and suggested I contact US Heritage, which I did. I poured over their website and watched their videos. Wow! These were the people to talk to! Thanks, John! Today, I called the company and spoke to Tai, who was working at…