The Cross House

In 2015, I had the built-in gutters of the Cross relined with some space-age white goop. And, presto, the gutters stopped leaking! As time however would soon prove, my excitement was…premature. For, while the gutters did indeed no longer leak, several areas of gutter simply allowed water to cascade over their edges. And this caused…

In an episode of Friends, the obsessively compulsive Monica is discovered to be hiding a secret: a messy closet. I often think of this episode. For, I work hard at keeping the Cross House neat and tidy. I regularly vacuum top-to-bottom. As mentioned recently, I keep the lawn mowed and edged, and the windows clean….

              There are three things which, I think, announce that a house is loved: A crisply cut/edged lawn. Flowers on the front porch. Clean windows.      

      I am soooooooooo excited about this. Bringing back the many lost columns to the main porch is something I’ve yearned for, yearned for since 1999, well before I purchased the house. And now, now, all the lost columns are in place. They are back. They are really there. Really! So much damage…

I always love visiting Scott. I bring him stained-glass windows in disturbing, depressing, and worrisome condition, and he magically transforms them. Today, I dropped of three stained-glass windows from the round bedroom. And I picked up a finished window.               There are 43 stained-glass windows in the house, which…

  When I purchased the house in 2014 it had but a single downspout. All others had been inexplicably removed, causing extraordinary damage over the years. I rushed to install spouts, and this one was cobbled together out of what I could find. The spouts aren’t normal, of course, but round. This used be common….

            So, it seems obvious that if the extant three steps are all curvy, that maybe the missing one was, too? But I don’t think so. There’s the 1999 image of a straight run. And the steps might be original. They were rotted enough to be.     Thus, my…

      Today was a “feels like” temperature of 101 degrees with the heat and humidity. Ross not happy about this. Installing #4 was in full sun. Ross not happy about this, and he was soaked. After much bonking pounding and swearing, the capital and column would NOT align. This would be easy with…

          It is a THRILL seeing the two stone piers stand, again, alone as originally intended. And to see columns again? SQUEE!!!!!!!! Columns! Only the hand-carved capitals of the columns are original. All else is new, exactly replicating the originals.   A BACKGROUND STORY When I first saw the Cross House…

Today, I drove the 90 minutes to Dr. Doug’s huge 1904 house to deliver more period-correct lighting. He and I have been bartering. He gets lights. I get woodwork. Doug is soon to start on the lattice for my front porch! After hanging a sweet 3-arm fixture in the white bedroom, I stood back and…

Today, I arrived at the Cross House. It’s 90 degrees with very high humidity. It feels like an oven outside. But…the lawn needs mowing. I work hard at keeping the lawn mowed and edged because it conveys to the community that the house is being cared for. It is loved. Yes, the outside looks much,…

        The column looks SO out-of-place! It’s all pretty and pristine against sooooooo much decay! I am beyond excited. EXCITED!!!!!!!! In January, 2015, when I was able to return all the missing columns to the west face of the main porch, it would not have seemed possible that getting the south face…

    The #4 column is not shown, nor are all the bases. These are in the kitchen of the Cross House, while all the above are in the living room of the carriage house. I keep darting back/forth with a wet paint brush!    

                                          I call this the big sweep because the cornice sweeps around the corner. As will the railing and lattice. The latter two will be in by the end of the year! And what a…

    This single corner has been overwhelming. And I have never said that about any project on the Cross House. The work began in October! Eight friggin’ months ago! EIGHT MONTHS! While the work has not been continuous for all those months due to cold weather or rain, it has nonetheless been eight months…