Finding…A TREASURE TROVE!!!!!!!!
Two years ago I realized that the Cross House still retained, at least by 1999, its original screen doors on the main entrance (a pair) and north entrance.
What happened to them?
I contacted the previous owner, Bob Rodak. He thought he might have them stored away. Well, squee!!!!!!!!
Since then we have gone back/forth/back/forth/back/forth but Bob was unable to schedule a meeting to find the doors. The problem, as Bob explained, is that while he almost certainly had the doors (“I am a first-class pack rat. I never throw anything away”) he wasn’t sure where they might be. Bob has numerous buildings and numerous outbuildings. All filled with stuff.
But of late I reached my limit of back/forthness and, with Bob’s encouragement, I started nagging him. Really, during the last few months I became a world-class nagger. I should receive an Academy Award for the brilliance of my nagging performance.
Yesterday, rather than nagging Bob via texting, I called. “Bob! It’s been two friggin’ years that we have been going back/forth about the screen doors. TWO YEARS! TWO FRIGGIN’ YEARS! Can we just confirm a day/time to meet????????”
How’s that for nagging! I mean, wow! What a pain-in-the-ass I am!
And Bob’s response? “Wanna meet tomorrow?”
Why…yes. Yes I would.
Well, you can imagine my great excitement this morning.
At 11AM, I arrived at Bob’s house. He came out. “Didn’t you get my text?
“What text?”
“I texted to reschedule. Today is so blustery. I thought we should meet tomorrow.”
“No. I didn’t hear my phone. But Bob?”
“Yes?”
“NOTHING could have kept me away today.”
Bob, perhaps awed and a bit frightened by my FOW (force of will) gestured to a tall stack of doors on his side porch. “I think the screen doors are buried in there.”
I looked over and my heart sank. There were dozens of doors all piled atop one another. The screen doors which might be from the Cross House were, of course, at the bottom.
So, I ratcheted up my FOW and we went to work.
One door removed. Another door. Another door. Another…another…another…and more and more and then my heart stopped at the final door atop the three screen doors. THIS was it. THIS was the moment I had waited two years for! THIS WAS IT!
I lifted the final door.
And…oh.
Oh.
I had been expecting an oak screen door, kinda beefy, and with, most importantly, fabulous kelp Yale & Towne hardware.
But what I encountered was a green painted door, kinda flimsy, and with no fabulous hardware.
Was this unimpressive specimen of screenness MY door?
Damn. Poo. Fuck.
I lifted the screen door to reveal the one under, and then that one to reveal the third one. All were unimpressive. Then I realized that all three were different. Huh? There should have been a matched pair and a single.
“Bob?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t think these are from the Cross House.”
And with this statement my heart began to re-inflate. For, fabulous screen doors might still exist.
Then something truly wondrous and wholly unexpected happened.
God, obviously concerned that my joy had been diminished, stunned me with…surprises.
And my joy soon overflowed.
This miracle occurred as I stood, dejectedly, staring at the three these-can’t-really-be-my-screen-doors.
Bob then said: “Oh. Look at this.” I glanced over as Bob pulled out an architectural fragment. “This is part of the main pantry counter.”
What? What? WHAT????????
My heart revved to maximum. The main pantry had been altered and was missing sections of counter and cabinetry. I instantly recognized the fragment in Bob’s hand as the lost east counter.
Wow. Wow!
The miracle continued.
Bob said: “And I think this is from the Cross House.”
I looked at the unearthed door. It was pitiful. Shockingly so. I would never have connected it to the Cross House. But wait? What is that? OMG! OMG! I AM FREAKING OUT!
Attached to the cut-down and broken and shattered door was…EEK!…Yale & Towne hardware matching the interior hardware of the Cross House.
The miracle continued when Bob said: “And I think this is from the Cross House, too.”
I gapsed as Bob pulled another door out. Before me was an interior door from the first floor (the doors are different one each floor). It had the plain servant’s hardware so I knew it must have come from the kitchen. And…I was missing two kitchen doors.
The miracle continued. Bob said: “And these as well.”
Bob waved his hand over doors I did not recognize as being from the Cross House but Bob explained where they had been and this seemed, well, possible.
My heart was doing a happy dance. A very happy dance.
And God was pleased.
Returning to the Cross House I piled the stash on the porch.
Unimpressive screen door #1.
Unimpressive screen door #2.
Unimpressive screen door #3. It shortly proved that my instincts were correct. None of these doors fitted (not even the east and south entrances) and could not have been from the Cross House.
The missing counter in the pantry.
But now less is missing! SQUEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The door with servant’s hardware (very plain) matched perfectly with the hinges to the pantry. Amazing.
The long long long lost pantry door. Incredible. This just fills my whole being with happiness.
I would never have recognized this battered, cut-down wreak of a door from the Cross House save…
…its hardware. Delicious sexy yummy hardware.
The door, Bob explained, had come from the top of the fire escape. The door had obviously been taken from an interior room, altered, and installed as an exit to the fire escape. In 1999, the house had a fire on the third floor (!!!!!) and the firemen smashed the door to gain access. Bob then replaced the door with a old beveled glass door, which remains today. But…but…where had the battered door come from? I put on my intrepid sleuthing hat and went to work.
Gadzooks! I knew the door was an interior door because it had Yale & Towne interior hardware. I knew the door was from the second floor as each floor has different style doors. And I am only missing two doors on the second floor. And it seems that the door was originally the door to the bathroom of the hexagon bedroom. The door has been reduced in length, and its left side reduced in width. You can see the door knob way on the bottom right.
As I stood staring at this pitiful door, I called Dr. Doug. “Is your brilliance absolute?”
Doug laughed. “Well, you know my only answer could be a yes!”
I did know this, and laughed also.
I then explained about the pitiful door and asked if he could restore it.
“Funny you ask as I am right now doing the exact same thing to two doors in my house which were stored in the basement and really battered. It’s actually easy making new parts but the new wood will never stain to match the old wood.”
“That would not be a problem for me as my door was painted originally with a faux wood finish.”
“Oh! Then I can take the door apart, replace all the bad bits, and give you a fully restored door.”
My heart erupted in song.
Repeating this image. It is hard to imagine but soon the pitiful door on the left will look, once again, like the door on the right. Dr. Doug truly IS absolutely brilliant.
Bob said this was from the Cross House. OK. This side did not look too bad. But, oh dear…
…the other side was horrifically burned. “This was on the third floor, and damaged in the 1999 fire.” Bob then said he would come to the house and show me where the door had been.
This baby door (it is really short) was also from the house, Bob said. He thought it was from the third floor but was uncertain where. With my sleuthing hat still on, I went to work. The results? The door has been cut down, and originally matched the extant door from the Big Room to the bathroom on the third floor. The bath also had a door to the “plaster room” and this is missing. I believe the door pictured is the lost door.
Golly.
What a day! What an adventure!
It was very generous of Bob to return all these bits to the house, and he promised that we could meet this week to tour a remote building he owns. “I think the screen doors will be there.”
Thus, the adventure will continue!
So…
.
Oh.
And as if this day was not wondrous enough…
While working in the kitchen I glanced out and saw somebody on a riding mower mowing the lawn of the carriage house. Huh? As I stared, the mower looked my way. I waved. The mower waved back, and smiled. I recognized the mower as Rob, who lives a few blocks away in a fabulous 1880s house.
Rob then mowed the lawn of the Cross House.
I have no idea why Rob would be on his riding mower in late November surprising people with mowed lawns.
But I really need to buy the man a beer.
And God…
…really does work in mysterious ways.
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Just think, without nagging some of this could have been lost forever!
The nagging made me laugh out loud!!!! What a hoot!
I read the whole installment with baited breath…living vicariously. What an amazing post! And yet I still wonder where the screen doors are.
Serendipity, thy name is Ross!
You should visit Bob more often!
Here is something that I just posted on Old House Dreams and am posting it here because it might be of interest to you and/or your avid followers.Here’s hoping that this is useful to as many people as possible.
Hi Ross and Fellow RestoringRoss Followers,
I am writing about an accidental discovery in removing paint. I am hoping that one of you has a similar paint stripping need and will try this method and see if it works for you. I am rehabbing an 1888 house which was carpeted throughout. Under the carpet was linoleum tiles with no underlayment. When I scraped up the tiles, the floors were painted underneath.
When I am cleaning, I routinely cover whatever cleaner or solution that I am using with black plastic. I use contractor grade bags and cut out the bottom and one side, apply cleaner to an area that size, and cover it with the plastic. Then I go away for anywhere between an hour to a day or more. I find that as long as the chemical is wet, it continues to work.
I was trying to clean a test area of my floors of about a square foot. I used the purple cleaner and degreaser which is sold at the local big box hardware store. I poured a little on the floor corner and spread it with my nitrile glove encased hands. Then I covered it. The next day when I uncovered it, I noticed that the pint had partially dissolved too. I poured a little fresh cleaner on top and scrubbed with my gloved hands. I also used a stiff brush that does not have metal bristles so as to avoid putting scratches in the wood.
After wiping up with paper towels, the floors were nearly down to the wood. A spot cleaning with the cleaned brush and more of the concentrated cleaner took the rest of the paint out.
I discovered this several months ago and have been stripping my floors in sections since then. It does raise the grain, but that is easily hand sanded off.
Today I decided to try it on something else. I have a brick walled room which was formerly on the exterior of my 1820 Federal house. I have tried without success to remove heavy gray paint with a citrus based stripper. I wanted to hang a tankless water heater to the wall, but I didn’t want the paint behind the heater. Using a cheap pump garden sprayer, I soaked the wall with the purple cleaner. I sprayed the cleaner on several times during the day to keep the wall damp. I took an old screwdriver and scraped out about ¼” of the mortar between the brick with ease. Then I scraped the brick surface with a metal putty knife. For the next step, I used the scrub brush and rinsed with more chemical. I now have exposed red brick.
This stuff costs about $35 for a five-gallon container. I already had the sprayer, scraper, and scrub brush. I have now been spraying the entire wall every hour or so to let the cleaner work through the paint and into the brick. Are any of you out there willing to give this a try on an out of the way test area on your house and report back to me as to what works for you and what doesn’t.
Now that is a practical and cheap proposal. I have heart pine floors in my 1899 residence, slathered with paint around the borders of now disappeared lino rugs and sometimes under them too. Methylene chloride like to kill me, the goo laughs at citrus strippers, and sanding them, as I’ve done in three bedrooms, produces a new floor made of old wood without the century’s patina. Can’t wait to try. Also have a partially stripped tapestry brick fireplace in a 1904 restoration–some foolish person hosed it with what seems to be an epoxy-based coating. I’ve been struggling with peel-a-way, with slooowwww results–hope this is a more magical bullet.
Hi, Stewart. Copied and pasted your post in another restoration blog (20 November 2017) georgianrenovation.blogspot.com. That blogger is in the process of paint removal as well. Full credit goes to you.
Hi Leigh, This is experimental, so I only want credit if it works for them. If it damages their floors, you are welcome to the credit. They might also be interested in my response to John that I accidentally inserted as a new post and not a reply.
Hahaha okay Stewart, full credit for burnt floors go to me. *bows*
I do hope that your experiences and skills will be passed on.
Dear Leigh, Thanks for responding. I am glad that you got the humor. I have made a sacred vow, which I feel entitled to break if I feel like it, that I will not use the l… acronym, shorthand for laughing out….
because if others can’t tell that I am attempting humor from my writing, then my telling them so doesn’t really make it funny. I did check out the site to which you reposted and wrote an addendum for the use of the technique on vertical surfaces. having seen the site, and the extent that a heat gun has been used in the stripping process, there is no way that either of us could get the credit for the burnt woodwork.
You are welcome, Stewart. Here’s to more wonderful moments minus the burn.
I wonder just how much stuff, has been stuffed away that was taken from the house. There maybe lost light fixtures, furniture and/or tons of misc…
Some people just don’t know how valuable some of this stuff is to us old house freaks…
I wonder everyday where all the stuff is rotting at from the church we bought, it was robbed of everything but the podium stuffed in a corner….I drive by all these deserted houses in town and just wonder where is it rotting away at…
So cool!! A little something extra to be thankful for this coming Thanksgiving. Departed Cross house ancestors must be very pleased.
How exciting! I’m sooo happy for you! When I first heard the story about how you couldn’t get the screen doors back, I thought that maybe Bob had got rid of them and didn’t want to tell you. However, if he kept a piece of counter, I’m sure he would have kept the screen doors. Good luck on your tour of Bob’s remote property. I hope the screen doors are there and some other Cross House treasures as well!
Just a thought before you dismiss those (yes, very) unimpressive screens…how about the sleeping porch? Given that it’s “tucked away”, they might belong there.
Does Bob have more Cross stuff? It is wonderful that so much was saved in Aladdin’s cave, but why save bits off property? There is so much storage at Cross house!
This is possibly my favorite post IN. EVER. Such a wonderful day you must have had, digging in that magical sand pile for buried treasure.
Dumb question, because I’m sure you thought of this: Did any of the screen doors fit door at the carriage house?
What a great read! I wait with bated breath for the continuance of the saga of the screen doors!
I wanted to add a comment here unrelated to the post: I thank you for continuing your dedication to your blog and stories and pictures. I find that many of my favorite old house blogs have stopped posting decent posts and are relying almost exclusively on Facebook and Instagram pictures, which is not nearly as satisfying as the nitty gritty details we love to read about the Cross house. Thanks!
Such good news! It amazes me how Bob can remember where all the pieces go in the Cross house. If I was faced with a pile of doors I’d be sunk! Can’t wait to see the cut door restored.
Oh this is such a really great story… you’ve got all these elements because of screens doors!! Well it was worth it, wasn’t it? LOL Hurraaahhh!!
John, I have no idea if it will work on the epoxy based coating, but try a test area. I think that best results on the brick occur when the cleaner absorbs into the brick, breaking the bond.
This process does raise the grain, so some patina is lost.You might want to feed the wood with some linseed oil before your final finish. I have not gotten to the finish sanding stage yet, but, after washing the floor with clear water, and after it dries out, I expect to brush on a coat of amber shellac BEFORE sanding to seal it. I then plan to wet sand with 80 grit wet or dry paper and raw linseed oil as a lubricant. I am likely to go to 120 grit and finer to see the different looks. That will be followed with wiped on coats of thinned shellac. I usually thin it to one part denatured alcohol to one part commercial shellac from a can. Be warned, the pine will look nearly black until it is dry. At that point it returns to the natural aged pine color. Remember, I do not know this will be as successful for you as it has been for me. If you have any questions my e-mail is dersieito@gmail.com. Feel free to ask as many questions as many times as you want. I really want the feedback, would like to know if you are able to repeat my results, and to hear the results of any experiments that you may make along the way.