The Ark
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 submitted a second grant request for $87,000. This was for completing the remaining stained-glass and clear-glass windows, restoring the columns on the south facade, replacing missing siding on the south facade, painting the south facade, and repointing the towering north chimney.
With such work completed the Cross House will FINALLY be protected from the weather, and no longer will wind and rain and even snow find their way inside. Glory hallelujah! And of vast importance will be the fact that, with the house finally tight against the elements, I can move in!!!!!!!!
The 2017 grant application would restore everything you see above.
But…would I be approved????????
Yesterday I presented my case to the grant committee. This was nerve-wracking.
There were almost 40 applicants, asking for about $3 million total. But only about $700,000 was available. So,the grant is incredibly competitive.
My friend Carl was there. To my surprise. He submitted a grant for his gorgeous pile in Wichita, after my strong urging. But, he was not supposed to compete against me! “Carl! You are a brat!”
Upon sitting, I first quickly looked through the list of applicants. Whew. There were none from Lyon County, which, I hoped, helped my chances.
Many of the applicants spoke about the history of their building during their 3-minute allotted time. But with so little money available the grant is decided upon by a triage basis. So, when it came my time to speak (#30) I focused on the urgency of the work rather than history.
After finishing, I asked Carl how I did. He replied: “I thought we we all going to need an Ark!”
This baffled me.
“You were so dramatic! Wind! Collapsing chimneys! High winds tearing off roofs! It was breathless!”
Was this good? I wasn’t sure.
I retained almost no memory of speaking, which was weird, but nervousness can do that. I did recall my dramatic finale:
After, I was just demolished, and fled Topeka.
Would I be approved?
Would I be approved?
Would I be approved?
And, what if I was approved but not for the full amount? I mean, maybe they might just approve $10,000 for repointing the north chimney?
Still, I felt a bit hopeful. The many images I included in the formal application made clear the highly alarming conditions affecting the Cross House. Also, the first grant monies were well spent and the work done well.
But still. Would I be approved?
I knew the website for the grant would update with the 2017 results. Saturday afternoon? Monday?
This morning, early, I was talking with my friend Patricia on the phone and telling her about this. I explained that I had the grant website open on my computer, and would start to refresh after lunch. While continuing to talk I, without thinking, clicked refresh.
Oh. Oh! OH!
I gasped. I choked up. My eyes filled with tears.
“Ross! Are you OK? What is wrong????????” Patricia pleaded.
I could not speak.
“Ross! ARE YOU OK?”
With a warbled voice I explained.
Patrica shrieked.
And then I did, too.
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Happyhappyhappy dance!!!!!
I am dancin’ right with ya’!
Congratulations!!!! So wonderful that money is available to restore treasures like this! The work that’s done looks amazing. Can’t wait to see the south side. What will you do about the other 2 sides? Are they done?
Most of the damage to the north facade has been repaired. It mostly just needs the painting completed, which will be this spring.
The damage to the east facade was repaired as part of the 2015 grant.
WONDERFUL! Truly an awesome announcement!!!! Congratulations!
I’d say that is a pretty satisfying Birthday present, eh! A dance – and cake!
CONGRATULATIONS! So happy for you and the Cross House!
Thank you! I would have gone into an emotional tailspin had they said no! And I do not even want to think about the additional damage to the Cross House which would have ensued.
Congrats, and great job! I’m sure your careful stewardship of the previous year’s grant, your dedication to the restoration, and vivid illustration of these facts helped make your case easier.
I can’t wait to see the work unfold this year!
I had no idea this would end with such thrilling news!!! Whooooooohoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations to you and the Cross house! I hope Carl doesn’t give up and tries again next year…
Carl got a grant, too! $40K! He is the Wey Mansion.
Oh good! I was looking for Wichita on the list! Double congratulations!
Oh good! I was looking for Wichita on the list! Double congratulations!
Congratulations! I wish we could have seen that presentation!
Congratulations!
Congratulations!!!
Congratulations, Ross, well done. Your meticulous preparation and presentation garnered one of the highest grants. A wonderful birthday present from the Kansas Heritage Grant and from the universe. More blessings to you.
This is incredible and fantastic news. So very happy for you!
Such wonderful news, Ross! Adding my congrats to all the others. Your passion is contagious!
Shrieking here too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cannot wait to see all this wonderful work done! Congratulations
PHENOMENAL! I will be checking anxiously whenever I am home to see your progress! Congrats!
Way to go Wiz! Looking forward to this year’s progress at the Cross House.
I’m crying, I’m totally crying!
Congratulations!!!!!
Oh, you got it! Yay! And a little piece of the world is made right????
So nice to hear some good news in the midst of all the bad in this crazy, crazy world. Many Congratulations – you have to know we (faithful followers) were pulling for you!
Attached to the grant application were truly inspiring letters of support from the readers of this blog.
There is no doubt in my mind that these made a difference.
I wish I could have seen the presentation. Kudos to your eloquence and sense of drama, deservedly rewarded (maybe a touch of Blarney in your Scots heritage?) A privilege, shared with scores of other readers, to take pen (well, pixel) in hand to support in a small way your great achievements.
This was so great to read! Keep up the good work, your passion shines through in every post.
What joy! This is easily the best news of 2017! Happy, happy birthday, Ross! Congratulations!
I am so happy for you Ross. There could be no better steward for the Cross House.
Thanks to Kansas also for continuing to sponsor such an important grant program.
Thank you, Pamela!
The Heritage Trust Grant is, indeed, an important program, and I am unaware of anything similar in other states.
A reason to buy old houses in Kansas!
Wonderful news! Congratulations, Ross and Cross House. Great news for us, too, to see all that you document.
Now for the Kansas legislature: may the Lord make you work together for the people, putting aside petty concerns of party and ego, to show the rest of the nation what can be done. (And Lord, please help the Virginia legislature as well.)
Amen, Cindi M! I went online last night in search of a heritage grant source in Virginia to no avail. Sadly, it seems, despite the historic preservation efforts by Virginia through the years most available funds are restricted to non-profits organizations, historic districts and institutions, not individuals. What I would give to have the opportunity to apply for such a grant like the one available to Ross and his friends in Kansas.
Move to Kansas!
Carl knew nothing about the grant. When I first toured his immense and INCREDIBLE house, I could see that it needed help STAT.
I urged him to apply. And was so happy he did. And was even happier he was rewarded!
Last year I urged my friend Doug to apply. He, too, has a HUGE house. Decades ago, when he was a State Senator, he helped make the Heritage Trust a reality. But he had never applied to the grant! “It would seem self-serving,” he stated.
I replied: “I think, after 25 friggin years, that you can finally apply and NO ONE will accuse you of being self-serving!”
He applied. And got $90K.
Doug must be a fine gentleman and statesman! Congrats to all of you!
YES! YES! YES! YES! You and the Cross house are SO deserving!! This makes me happy and tears spring to my eyes! Woo hoo, Ross!!! I love following your blog and the revitalization of the Cross house. Your passion for it, is simply inspiring.
Oh Congratulations! Something goes right in the world, yay!
♡ Congratulations!!
Whoop! Gratulerar!
I see what you did there! Smooth!
I knew I could count on you 😉
Woo hoo! It will be so good to see the work advancing.
There is something about the phrase “I fled Topeka” that makes it seem like there should a a whole novel around it.
I lived in Topeka and can sympathize, lol!
My mind is already racing with plot ideas…
Woo hoo hoo!!! I wish more states would follow Kansas’ lead so we can all Make America Beautiful Again! Great job on all levels Ross, bravo!!
I am happy, happy, happyhappyhappy for you and the Cross House! I can’t wait to see you make progress on the south facade — and to wrap up work on the windows and the other myriad projects that will make your house finally your home.
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so thrilled for you.
And, now I must find out what the “Fresh Air Baby Camp” is, as well.
How cool! Look here.
Thanks for finding the link. I want to know more about the program, and why the Girls Scouts took it over (and gave it up).
YAAAAAAAAAAY!!
Oh Ross….I am so very happy for you! Whoot, whoot!
I live in Calgary Alberta Canada. This city has absolutely no regard for beautiful old neighborhoods or houses. I routinely look for lovely old houses to dream of buying. Slowly and sadly all of the older districts are being taken over and redeveloped into horrible towers of new condo’s. The charming neighborhood I grew up in is gradually being eroded by condo’s and nasty looking contemporary mini mansions with no respect of the charm and beauty that used to reside there. It breaks my heart. That is why I am so completely in love with your house as well as Doug and Amy’s. I await breathlessly for every update. You make my heart sing! I am so envious of all the gorgeous old houses in Kansas, or in the USA for that matter. Thank you for giving me so much joy.
I am so incredibly excited for this!! Congratulations, Ross! This is a grant well deserved, friend.
Made me cry! So happy…someday I hope to visit this beautiful honest!
Home!!!
Woohoooo! Today’s post was a much needed ray of sunshine. Congratulations!
XOXOXOXOXO
My most sincere and heartiest of congratulations on this 2nd significant grant award, dear Ross!! I am so so pleased and happy at this result for you and Cross House.
You are a wonderful steward and in this crazy world with insane “stuff” going on multiple times a day to the point that I am ready for a non-stop primal scream that lasts a straight month….ahem….I so welcome this wonderful wonderful news.
Bravo!! Forge on!
I read and love every single one of your posts. xox
OMG, congrats!! I’m so looking forward to seeing more posts of you caring for this house, thanks to the grant! And you received the 3rd highest one! congrats again!!
Wonderful news! I am SO glad that Kansas recognizes the value and importance in what you are doing.
FANTASTIC news. Wholehearted congratulations to you, Ross. This has made me WOOP at my desk! Very well deserved! This will do wonderful things for you and your beauty of a house.
OK, you’ve (almost) got the money in hand, you know what to do, so “RUN, FORREST, RUN!!!!” Seriously, I am extremely happy for you. I wish I could move my house to Kansas…Illinois’ own Governor’s Mansion is literally falling apart due to neglect. Our state, even when we weren’t broke, much prefers to tear down than to restore.
Thanks, Mike!
Illinois, to its great credit, did restore the incredible Dana House by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Funny that you should mention the Dana House, I was able to tour the house last summer while in Springfield, and it was absolutely amazing! Being from a small town, it was my first up-close look at the Prairie Style, and I was surprised to see how modern it looked. Some areas of the house had an Oriental feel to them, while others looked very mid-century.
If the house seemed somewhat foreign to me in 2016, I can only imagine how it must appeared to folks in 1902! Here is a link, showing the street in the early 1900s, I wonder how the surrounding homeowners felt about their new neighbor?
I live a few hours south of Springfield, and it is a shame the way that so many of the historic homes and buildings in our area have been needlessly lost. There are a few non-profits in Illinois that offer limited grants to private owners of historic homes, but they are for specific areas, not state wide. About the best that most of us can hope for is some sort of tax credit or easement…and those are not easy to get unless you have $$$ to spend out of pocket. So, I’ll just keep working overtime, and hope to finish before I retire 🙂
Congratulations! What a shot in the arm!
Ross, congratulations! I have binge-read your Cross House restoration over the past week and I am finally up to speed. It gives me great pleasure to know that with the aid of this grant the content will continue. I cannot wait to see the completed exterior! The town I live in has several historic districts and I wish any of the homeowners had a similar blog.
And well-deserved, too…
Congratulations Ross. The south facade is my personal favourite. Can’t wait to follow your progress and see it returned to glory.
Also Eagerley awaiting the installation of some latticework…. wish I could lend a hand!
FANTASTIC NEWS! I was on the rollercoaster of emotions with you. At one point I had wished for a fainting couch, but I stuck it out to see the prize!
Congratulations!!! So delighted for you!
Congratulations, well deserved
Tears in my eyes! Astounding! Congratulations!!!!!
Congrats Ross !
Congratulations, Mr. Ross!
Tears here, and I don’t even know you. You are an excellent writer! I felt the anxiety and hope, and rejoice with you on winning the grant $. We are working on a (very small in comparison) home, and feel lucky to have it. YOURS is a national treasure! I look forward to seeing her and perhaps you and your wife someday. What you are doing is phenomenal!
SO FREAKING HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!
Congratulations on your 2nd Heritage grant! I did not realize when I read the most recent posts the 2nd grant was awarded! I really think showing what the 1st grant provided and results helped in your seeking the 2nd grant. Astonishing! Keep up with the wonderful work & I am going to pray for continued health and stamina to continue to progress:-)
Congratulations! This is such wonderful news. I’m thrilled for you and I’m excited to continue reading about your incredible journey.