The Cross House

This post isn’t JUST about the Cross House. This post is, ah, also about a heretofore unrealized and very weird neurosis that I, Ross, might suffer from. This dramatic outing is explained…       After the railing was removed I experienced a wholly unexpected sensation: The lack of a railing made me feel terribly…exposed. This…

In 2015 the Cross House was awarded a Kansas Heritage Trust grant of $90,000. This grant was used to reline all the built-in gutters, restore about 80% of the 42 stained-glass windows, restore some clear-glass windows, replace missing exterior siding, shingle all the secondary roofs, and replace the rotted sill and water-table. Last November I…

I have been a bit quiet of late, blog-wise. In January I sold a ton of lighting (I restore vintage lighting for a living) and have been frantically getting all these fixtures restored and packed and shipped. Whew! Yesterday, I had a VERY important meeting and am breathless about the results. Please stand by, Because…

              While in Ottawa, I stopped in an antique store. Looking around I saw a little chair on little wheels. It was sweet. But no pair. As I turned to walk away I saw its mate a few feet away. I froze. Before me were two little Victorian-era chairs…

Usually, I can still do exterior painting in January. Not every day, but Kansas weather goes up and down almost daily. February? I hibernate inside. The Great Interior Plan for February is to get the Parlor and Library decorated! The infamous striped floors are now done, and I have most of the furnishings and all…

Tools. They make all the difference in restoring a house. And one would think that at my age, and with all my decades of restoring houses, I would know about every tool there is, right? Nope. Justin recently pulled a tool out of his mighty arsenal and I was gobsmacked at its…potential. It is a…

    Jill and I went upstairs and she showed me something which was a concern, and asked what she should do. I knew just the person who could help and texted her the contact number. As we chatted my eye glanced at something which made my heart stop. OMG! OMG! I AM FREAKIN’ OUT!!!!!!!!…

                                                  On Saturday, after having (or so I had assumed) finished painting the paneling under the center triple window green, I was a block away and looked back at the house….

A few months ago Meg asked about the servant’s stair in the Cross House. The stair serves all four levels of the house, and is my primary up/down route. The previous owner gutted the stair as he planned to install an elevator. While I am grieved at the loss of all the original plaster I…

  The newly milled water table (trim that goes at the bottom) is also ready, and I will be picking it up this week in Kansas City. Justin is scheduled to begin installing the trim (cedar!) the following Monday, weather permitting. Come April I hope to be able to paint all the new siding. At…

All old house restorers know this: Because of a lack of time and/or money, one does a “temporary” repair. However, over the decades, I have learned that temporary usually becomes permanent. For example, let’s say you have an original window. The sashes are in very poor condition, as are the frame and sill, but all are…

I have done several posts about having the circa-1950 oak floors in the parlor and library of the Cross House refinished in…stripes. Some readers love the look. Some readers are…aghast! Me? I am incredibly, thrillingly in love with the look. Once everything is in place (area rugs, drapery, furnishings) the floors will be a subtle…

                            I grew up in in a cheap-as-can-be 1950s ranch and this engendered in me a passionate appreciation for quality. This is why, as I walk up/down the stone steps on the main porch I often think: I love these steps! This…

One can be delicate. By the I mean that one is easily offended, and easily upset about small matters. One can be strong, but have, ah, some delicate sensibilities. These are two very different things. And I suffer, occasionally, from the latter. Or perhaps I have watched too many movies based on novels by Jane…

I am breathless to announce a yard sale at the Cross House! INCREDIBLE things are going to be for sale! Like a Studebaker Colonial phaeton! A Van range! Five pairs of damask portieres! And so on! Oh…wait…oops…I made a…mistake. There IS a sale…yes…but it was…113-years ago.     This amazing discovery was forwarded to me…

        My temporary solution made the center window look like it was floating. It just looked odd. At first, with SO much else unfinished this did not bother me. Much. But after all the painting was done of this facade, and the roofs redone, and the tower finial restored, and a finial…

Recently, I did a post, inspired by a question Cody asked, about installing period-correct light switches in the 1894 Cross House. Then I did an update. When Cody posited his question I had not a clue what early 1890s light switches looked like. A day later I knew a few things, and what I learned…

My briefest ever post: Today, I received a text from Handsome Justin, who refinished the parlor and library floors. I thought they were done, but Justin texted: More glossy for Rossy? What a caution! I replied: Can I get MORE????? Justin then called and explained that he had some unexpected time, and could put a…