The Cross House

      Right after installing my brilliance, Justin and I stopped by Groh & Sons for a small thing we needed. Groh relined the gutters at the Cross House and did all the roofing, as part of the Heritage Trust Grant. While there we spoke with John who showed us some equipment and materials…

I did a post about the non-original oak floors being refinished in the parlor and library of the Cross House. Some readers loved my…ah…unorthodox approach. Some readers…did not. For those of the former, you may, I hope, like this update. For those of the latter, you should not, I repeat, should not scroll down to…

Even though I have spent a lifetime being obsessed with design and decoration, and have four decades experience in interior design, I know almost nothing about what furniture looked like in the 1890s. Almost a year ago I did a LONG post articulating my thoughts on how to decorate the parlor of the Cross House….

Yesterday I was minding my own business when Cody asked a question. I was struck dumb by the question, and did a post as an answer. The question: Would I be installing period-correct light switches in the Cross House? I had never thought about this before, and knew NOTHING about what light switches looked like…

Cody just asked if I would be installing period-correct light switches in the 1894 Cross House. I stared and stared at the question on my computer screen. Huh? What? I have never given this an ounce of thought, and was planning to install modern switches (and electrical outlets). These would not confuse the historical narrative…

In my previous post, Travis (a guy I know and adore) stated: “I think you’re overly concerned about the “historic narrative”.” I started to reply but realized that doing a post on the subject might be better. So, Travis, this very very very wordy post is all your fault!   IS TRAVIS RIGHT? Often, I…

On December 27, I posted two back-to-back posts. This was my annual year-end report but this year I broke it in two. The first was THE HOUSE and the second was THE ROSS. I did this as a way of letting readers know that the latter post would be personal. In the post I wrote…

Today I was singing in the rain. Well, not really. And for two reasons. First, it was not raining today. It was wet, yes, but I never saw any rain. Rather, it was like being on the Scottish moors. It was kinda foggy all day and with what must have been like 250% humidity. Had…

        The brackets are made of four pieces of wood nailed together. To repair this eek issue I could remove the bracket, cut away the eek parts, and attach new pressure-treated parts, cut to the right shape. A plan! This plan however presupposes I can get the bracket out. Will this prove…

The Cross House sits on a highly visible corner, and all four facades can be fully seen depending on what direction one is walking/driving. The east facade is, technically, the rear of the house but it is fully exposed to anybody driving west along Highway 50, about 25-feet away from the house. Yep, close. Scary…

2016. 2016. 2016. Has there ever been such a year? The year grabbed me, snatched away countless hours of my time, and, in the end, spit on me. In my previous post I detailed much of the work done on the Cross House in 2016. And a great much did happen. A great much also…

2016. 2016. 2016. Has there ever been such a year? 2016 is the year that the Heritage Trust Grant work commenced! This involved relining the miles of built-in gutters, installing new shingles on all the secondary roofs, restoring about 2/3 of the 42 stained-glass windows, and replacing rotted sills, rotted water-table trim, rotted sheathing, and…

Many many years ago I lived in St. Petersburg, Florida. And one of my most vivid, cherished memories is of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. Every year, about ten days before Christmas, Mr. and Mrs. Claus would sit in their respective rocking chairs, atop the roof of their porch, and wave at passing cars. Every…

This year I took two road trips to the fabulous WF Norman Company in Missouri. Norman is almost as old as the Cross House, and the company restored its tower finial, recreated the lost finial on the octagon tower, and created a finial for the carriage house turret. As awed and fascinated as I was by…

          In short, in a couple of square feet there is a LOT of wondrous detailing going on. Sadly, none of this exuberance has been noticed for decades, the results of unflattering and poor paint jobs. But, as was shown dramatically with the Before/After images of the Diamond Brooch on the…

When the Cross House was built in 1894 it had wall-to-wall carpeting on the first- and second-floors, 22-inch-wide strips hand-sewn together. The very acme of luxury. However, I will forever curse this decision. For, under the carpet was just cheap random-width pine. In 1929, I surmise, plain oak floors were laid on the second floor,…

As part of the 2015 Heritage Trust grant, about 2/3 of the 42 stained-glass windows in the Cross House are being restored. The last set to be done as part of the grant are the five in the dining room. There is one VERY long one in the middle, two curved ones, and two flat…