The Cross House

                                  The main roof is 1920s cementitious tiles. These tiles will last till the end of time, so I am leaving them in place. The new roofing was selected to complement the 1920s tiles, and paint colors. The new…

I recently did a post about adding a structural beam to the foyer/stairhall of the Cross House. This post will not make much sense without reading the previous post. UPDATE: The installation of the new beam is moving along!                    

    At some point somebody thought it would be a good idea to paint the red brick…red. So, you are looking at red paint rather than red brick. Sigh. As a reader of Old House Journal since the 1970s (yes, I really am that old), I have known for decades the dangers of repointing,…

Ok. I admit it. And even though it is kinda scary coming out with such an admission…I am going to go for it. Ok. Here I go. Really, I am ready to admit my secret. Really. Ok, I am taking a deep breath. Breathe. Breathe. Ok! Now, scroll way down…but prepare to be…shocked!    …

                  I am years away from restoring the bathroom but am nonetheless interested in learning all I can about it, and all I can about what an 1894 bathroom would have looked like for a house of the style/quality of the Cross House. If I were to…

What a thrilling day! I am uncertain how the great adventure started, but Justin (the main contractor working on the Cross House) and I were walking through the house, going over various issues, when our discussion unexpectedly veered toward sleuthing. Don’t ya’ love it when that happens?   THE GREAT DINING ROOM DOOR MYSTERY For…

          For two years I have been pondering how to make my beautiful pockets doors effortlessly open/close. Every time I tried, I would give up, frustrated. HOW was I ever going to get the doors right???????? Then Stephen, God love ’em, saved the day. For two years I worried that the…

Whew. Saved! At least I hope! I sent my previous post on the subject to Stephen, who has an amazing website. His tagline: Practicing the lost art of maintenance and repair of pocket doors. Ahhh, THE man! Stephen replied to me today. I was THRILLED. He began: “Kudos to your blessed neurosis concerning the restoration of your…

The Cross House has three pairs of pocket doors: Between the foyer and parlor Between the parlor and library Between the stairhall and dining room There is also a single very wide door (like five-feet wide) upstairs between the main bedroom and sewing room. Only the dining room pair works well. All the others open/close,…

In a previous post, Sharon commented, and graciously forwarded a link to online plumbing catalogs. Well, I have been astounded looking through these treasures! Thank you, Sharon!!!!!!! Then I realized that if I was having so much fun, so might you! So I decided to kinda transfer Sharon’s comment into this post. Sharon wrote: Ross,…

        Yesterday, it never occurred to me that the missing pantry faucets were likely of the gooseneck type. And of course this makes sense with the small, shallow sink. Thank you, magical Bo! Now, I am on the hunt for vintage gooseneck faucets!    

  Below are a bunch of single taps. All are from Bathroom Machineries. But are any period-correct to the Cross House? Oh, the vexation! The vexation!                 Who knew that simply trying to buy faucets could be so vexing? It belatedly occurs to me me that there might,…