The Cross House

        I am SO not looking forward to recreating all the hand-painted work. Sigh. I am not even certain the new work will match the older work. Pray for the ceiling. Pray.  

            This all reconfirmed my previous experience: the dining room is going to be a problem. In the parlor and library, it was effortless (relatively speaking) to restore the wood in each room. Ditto, so far, with the oak in the stairhall niche. Ditto ditto with the round bedroom mantel….

Yesterday, after a long time being dormant, the radiator system in the 1894 Cross House was, after much ado, reactivated. As my post yesterday detailed, some highly distressing and unexpected results occurred. Oopsy-daisy. Well, you can imagine my great excitement, and fear, at arriving at the house today. Would all be well? Or would I…

Today was the best of days. Today was the worst of days. For, today was the day I have waited years for: getting the radiator system online. At first, it seemed a fortuitous day, being literally 0 degrees. So having more heat was something I would vastly appreciate.   Over the last 123-years, the radiator…

      The doors are in poor condition. Besides the condition of the hinges, there are missing sections of wood, and the outer veneer (oak?) has delaminated, well, a lot overall. The doors need to go to Dr. Doug for renewal. STAT!      

            I greatly enjoyed getting to know Kenny and took him to lunch yesterday and today. I love a good conversation. Also, he has a nice attention to detail that I admire, which makes him ideal for such work. Kenny said he has a few days in February. He asked:…

  The west screen doors were extant in 1999 when Bob Rodak purchased the house. They were no longer in situ when I purchased the house in 2014. What happened? Where had they gone? Bob assured me that he had them. But repeated searches, and I mean repeated, did not reveal anything. Recently, Bob told…

Last month, Kenny, a reader of this blog, contacted me. He had a question. “I have two days available in January, and would love to volunteer to help with something at the Cross House. Do you have a small project for me?” Why yes. I did have something which, just the previous day, I had…

I am breathless with excitement. I am giddy with excitement. I am LIVING for Tuesday. And why? Because the radiator system at the Cross House will, hopefully, BE BACK ONLINE!!!!!!!!   When I purchased the house four years ago the system was working. Sorta. It did not actually heat the house to anywhere near a…

  One of my favorite movies is The Uninvited, from 1944. This is a elegant story about elegant people living in an elegant house…and ghosts. An aspect of the story is that one ghost is never seen but is rather, ah, smelled. “The mimosa! It’s overpowering!” And what, you understandably will be asking, does this have…

                                A week ago, reconstructing the staircase seemed overwhelming. This is why I ignored it for four years. But, after playing with it for several days, its mysteries have been revealed and I understand how it was put together, and…

  I need many many many pairs of gas/electric sconces for the Cross House. And such sconces are hard to find. But they also need to swivel. And such a feature is incredibly hard to find. Indeed, the pair Cody found was the first I had ever seen. The swivel feature is vital because of…

                              Well, today was QUITE the thrill! I am confident that during the next few months I can have the missing spindles recreated, new handrail milled, and other bits. So, perhaps by spring the fabulous grand stair will look, in 2018,…

        Bob thinks he has the north counter, too. Somewhere. There are still missing sections of vertical bits. I have some of these, and Dr. Doug can make up the other lost bits. I will soon be having all the various bits of the pantry analyzed to ascertain all the original finishes….

Two years ago I did a post on the parlor. The room looked ready to paint but, up close, well, horrors were revealed. Horrors!                  

                                          So, I need: Handrail for the east and west balustrades. Length of shoe. Length of fillet. 16 spindels. Oak trim for under balustrade. All of this will have to be custom made. Knifes will…

            The diamond pantry windows are now restored. The huge double south kitchen windows are now restored. And the east kitchen window is now restored. Whoee! Next on the window list are the sashes for the servant’s hall!   The sashes were, originally, painted. I think. A kinda nutmeg color….