The Cross House

Riley asked what my plans were for the Cross House post-me. I have actually given this a lot of thought. In my lifetime I have seen houses beautifully restored in the 1970s, and then demolished three decades later because they were in such poor condition. I have also seen houses in perfect condition, and architectural…

Yesterday I did a post about my plans for the kitchen of the 1894 Cross House. These plans were created after three years of thinking and pondering and fretting and research. Informing all my ideas were two conflicting thoughts: Create a period-correct kitchen. Create a comfortable, convenient kitchen. The problem? I had no idea how…

In my previous post I presented plans for the kitchen of the 1894 Cross House. Several readers wanted to know why I was not going to install a big ol’ sink against the south wall. To answer this question a bit of sleuthing is required.     The kitchen abounds with space and doors and…

After three years of endlessly thinking about the new kitchen for the Cross House, I have at last created a plan. Will I build the plan? Only time will tell. I have endlessly pondered these possibilities: Create a dazzling modernist kitchen. Create an authentic 1894 period-correct kitchen. Create a period kitchen from the 1920s or…

I am hoping to get the radiators turned on next month. In order to do so I need to get a couple hooked up still. Like the one in the servant’s hall (eventual breakfast room). This radiator could not be installed because the floor was torn up in 2014 because of termite damage, and I…

  The big white square is where a murphy bed cabinet was installed in 1929. This was later turned into a closet. The cabinet is now dismantled and stored away. I plan to reinstall it. But…look at the vertical rectangle to the left. This is what I never noticed before. And all of a sudden…

In the 1894 Cross House I am planning to install ceiling fans. The idea is to install a chandelier in the center of most rooms, with a pair of ceiling fans to each side. The rooms are large enough to do this. One concern is that the house would not have had ceiling fans when…

      The first such tree was a straight line along its base. Then I realized that you could only see it head on. Coming from the south or east? The tree disappeared! The second incarnation had a V-shaped base and this hugely helped although the V was a bit pinched. The third incarnation…

  The large image shows the house from a few months ago. The smaller image is from 1999 and was taken by Bob Rodak, who sold the house to me.  When Bob, and his late wife, Debbi, purchased the house it was boarded up and in terrifying condition, and I have always felt that Bob…

Young couple tells their realtor: “We want a cool old house UNTOUCHED by time! We want it to be ALL ORIGINAL! We love old houses and want to respect history!” Young couple buys amazingly intact old house. And then proceeds to tear out the original kitchen and bathrooms. They then gut the house to the…

    Looks better, right? Right? Right???????? Sigh. I know, it’s kinda laughable that I can take some pleasure in this micro improvement while all around is cracked plaster, missing plaster, a missing ceiling, unrestored trim, and a drop cloth covering the windows. But…a selective eye is a Godsend when one is restoring an old…

Recently, Bo asked about the arches in the Cross House. There are three. And they not quite as they appear. All the arches are in the expansive entry/stairhall.             The arches (and columns) are diminished by heavy alligatoring. This will be removed. And at some point I will bring in…

          The WHY of the remuddling makes no sense. WHY remove a counter? WHY remove two drawers? WHY lower the tall doors? If somebody wanted more closed storage, why didn’t they just put doors over the counter area? A mystery!  

Like most every room in the Cross House, the kitchen looks like a bomb has gone off in it. The entire ceiling is missing. The walls are missing large areas of plaster. Flooring is missing. Trim and wainscoting are missing. But what remains is…good. The original maple flooring is under later linoleum. Much of the…