So yes, we've been on a bit of a break, just enjoying our functioning kitchen. We've dabbled a bit in re-seeding the back yard (which has proven to be tricky), improving the guest room, unpacking the thousands of books we own...but nothing truly worth of a blog entry.
We promise we'll be back to work soon. Next up: the dining room.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Counter Revolution
Ladies and Gentlemen , we are proud to announce a new addition to our family. On friday, September 5th at 11:30 am we became the proud owners of countertops.
They weighed approximately 714 lbs. 10 oz, and labor seemed very painful.
We have already begun to lose our skills at balancing cereal bowls and glasses of juice on the sink edge. And it is significantly more difficult to get at the silverware. However, on the whole the countertops have been a positive addition.
We celebrated Friday night by inviting all of our friends over to spill some red wine. I am proud to say we christened the counter with its first drinking game. Reagan may tell you she won, but really, my friends, can there be winners and losers in such games? Certainly not!
To give you an idea of the true expanse of countertop, this salad is in a 20 gallon bowl. It fed 10 people for dinner.
They weighed approximately 714 lbs. 10 oz, and labor seemed very painful.
We have already begun to lose our skills at balancing cereal bowls and glasses of juice on the sink edge. And it is significantly more difficult to get at the silverware. However, on the whole the countertops have been a positive addition.
We celebrated Friday night by inviting all of our friends over to spill some red wine. I am proud to say we christened the counter with its first drinking game. Reagan may tell you she won, but really, my friends, can there be winners and losers in such games? Certainly not!
To give you an idea of the true expanse of countertop, this salad is in a 20 gallon bowl. It fed 10 people for dinner.
Defense wall complete!
We have now completed the walls around the front yard. Now only approximately 50% of the trash gets into our plants.
Rather than a big mound of dirt and mulch, we have a defined front yard. It makes it all look so clean! We can now take a brake from yard work...well, work on the front yard.
Rather than a big mound of dirt and mulch, we have a defined front yard. It makes it all look so clean! We can now take a brake from yard work...well, work on the front yard.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Trash Defense
This past weekend we focused our attacks on the front yard...still. The battle is not quite won, but we are closing in on the enemy. The enemy, by the way, is the trash that blows down our street and is left by the thoughtful kids who buy candy at the corner store. In order to defend our yard and new plants, we had planned a while ago to build a stone wall. This would also help to level our yard and retain some of the dirt, but that is incidental.
First, though, Adam finished the stone walkway from our front porch to the driveway.
View from the driveway.
Pretty fancy work.
Reagan was in charge of laying the stones in front of the larger bluestone slabs (but Adam helped).
So onto our defense walls...we used the same flat stones as in the pathway to make most of the wall, but as "fence posts" we used some of the larger, irregular stones that Adam dug up from the yard when he was making the too-big holes for our trees (at least some part of that operation was useful).
We dug up the front of the yard, set the stones in place, and poured a little bit of concrete at the base to keep the stones in place.
Then we put the dirt back on top to fill it in and covered it back up with mulch. Hopefully this allows for a nice long curing time for the concrete?
Overall, this front section of wall only took us a couple hours (with help from the neighborhood kids, of course).
And we're done for the time-being...who knows when we'll be able to finish, but at least we've protected that little section of the yard from the invasive trash in our neighborhood.
First, though, Adam finished the stone walkway from our front porch to the driveway.
View from the driveway.
Pretty fancy work.
Reagan was in charge of laying the stones in front of the larger bluestone slabs (but Adam helped).
So onto our defense walls...we used the same flat stones as in the pathway to make most of the wall, but as "fence posts" we used some of the larger, irregular stones that Adam dug up from the yard when he was making the too-big holes for our trees (at least some part of that operation was useful).
We dug up the front of the yard, set the stones in place, and poured a little bit of concrete at the base to keep the stones in place.
Then we put the dirt back on top to fill it in and covered it back up with mulch. Hopefully this allows for a nice long curing time for the concrete?
Overall, this front section of wall only took us a couple hours (with help from the neighborhood kids, of course).
And we're done for the time-being...who knows when we'll be able to finish, but at least we've protected that little section of the yard from the invasive trash in our neighborhood.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Thank you Ellis family!
We have been in touch with Maureen Ellis Geiger, who grew up in our house. She has been so wonderful to share with us the history of this home and some older photographs of the house. So now we will share with you some of the stories that she and other family members have told us (Ellis family, please correct me in the comments if I have made a mistake).
Timothy Lynch was the first owner of the house, and the house was supposedly built in 1893 (see the maps below). We have to find out more about this Lynch guy, but while ripping up the kitchen floor we did find a piece of cardboard with an address label with his name on it.
1889 map of Dorchester, and the red box shows our approximate plot of land (originally all owned by George Welles). Some old structure sat on our property and overlapped our neighbors'.
1899 map (just 10 years later...we think we have problems with rapid development/sprawl now). Our plot with the outline of our house, and Timothy Lynch's name. (Montague and Mellen streets were not on the earlier plan.)
James Ellis, a lawyer and judge, and his wife Kathleen bought the house in 1942 for $4,000. His mother, however, had immigrated from Ireland in the early 20th century and had lived and worked in this house as a domestic servant (for the Lynch family). So the Ellis family has a long history in this house! One of James's favorite aspects of the house is the beautiful quarter-sawn oak Newell post in the front hall (which is one of ours, too).
James Ellis, just before selling the house, standing at the Newell Post. Supposedly, he decided to buy the house as soon as he saw this, before even seeing the rest of the house (and before his wife could see it!).
Area curtains hung in the doorways in the first floor, where there are still hooks, and dark velvet curtains were hung as blackout shades during WWII. These curtains were left on the 3rd floor when they moved out because they were too heavy to lift, but they have since disappeared. Speaking of wars, Maureen also told me that, as kids, she and her brothers were rummaging around the attic and found old conscription papers from WWI. (We have yet to find anything nearly as interesting...just a couple dead mice.)
The house, as Reagan had confirmed under the microscope, was always yellow with green shutters. Neighbors remember the house with great canvas awnings before the shutters were installed. The porch was slightly different, with the corners solid and shingled. We may try to reproduce this this summer, or at least some aspects of the original porch.
An old photograph of James Ellis (center) with Maureen, left, and her brother in 1950. You can see how much sturdier the porch used to be, as well as the original posts. And look at how little those shrubby trees were!
I absolutely love this photo. A goat! But you can see the porch well here, too.
Maureen remembers the kitchen being remodeled, with the dropped ceiling installed, while she was a teenager. The long green bathroom off the kitchen was installed while she and her mother were on a trip to Ireland. Maureen, however, refused to use it since it had previously been the pantry, and it just didn't seem right to go to the bathroom in the pantry.
James Ellis in the kitchen. On the left is the wall and doorway that we removed. We found bits of the linoleum as we were pulling up the kitchen floor, and also a tile here and there during demolition. I wish we still had that big old sink.
James Ellis's mother - the same who had worked in the house - lived with them in the house as well. Maureen's bedroom was the front little room on the second floor (which currently serves as Adam's dressing room). Then as now, there is no door to this room, as Maureen's grandmother had the opinion that whatever you were doing behind closed doors, you shouldn't do at all.
The dining room always had a rug to cover up the central pine flooring in it, and we were told one story that, after having lived through the depression, the Ellises always kept a couple thousand dollars under this rug in front of the fireplace. Don't worry, though - they never once built a fire in the fireplace during their entire time in the house!
Kerry Close, one of James and Kathleen's grandchildren, shared that she thought a ship captain had lived in the house before (Timothy Lynch?) and had left an assortment of nautical mapping instruments and books up on the 3rd floor, which was of great interest to the kids. (I have to say, as a preservationist I am completely remiss in thoroughly researching the history of this house - I have some more rummaging through archives to do!)
The house ca. 1985, before the trees were lopped off mid-way, and still with the old porch. Notice the lack of driveway, too.
James Ellis on his front porch in 1985.
One of the reasons that we love this house so much is that it was changed so little. It's rare to find a 100+ year old house that had really only 2 owners in its life. The family who owned the house before us only had it for about 10 years and only made a few small cosmetic changes. We're working hard to bring the house back to a state that we like to think would make Mr. Ellis proud! Thank you all for sharing these great photos and stories.
Timothy Lynch was the first owner of the house, and the house was supposedly built in 1893 (see the maps below). We have to find out more about this Lynch guy, but while ripping up the kitchen floor we did find a piece of cardboard with an address label with his name on it.
1889 map of Dorchester, and the red box shows our approximate plot of land (originally all owned by George Welles). Some old structure sat on our property and overlapped our neighbors'.
1899 map (just 10 years later...we think we have problems with rapid development/sprawl now). Our plot with the outline of our house, and Timothy Lynch's name. (Montague and Mellen streets were not on the earlier plan.)
James Ellis, a lawyer and judge, and his wife Kathleen bought the house in 1942 for $4,000. His mother, however, had immigrated from Ireland in the early 20th century and had lived and worked in this house as a domestic servant (for the Lynch family). So the Ellis family has a long history in this house! One of James's favorite aspects of the house is the beautiful quarter-sawn oak Newell post in the front hall (which is one of ours, too).
James Ellis, just before selling the house, standing at the Newell Post. Supposedly, he decided to buy the house as soon as he saw this, before even seeing the rest of the house (and before his wife could see it!).
Area curtains hung in the doorways in the first floor, where there are still hooks, and dark velvet curtains were hung as blackout shades during WWII. These curtains were left on the 3rd floor when they moved out because they were too heavy to lift, but they have since disappeared. Speaking of wars, Maureen also told me that, as kids, she and her brothers were rummaging around the attic and found old conscription papers from WWI. (We have yet to find anything nearly as interesting...just a couple dead mice.)
The house, as Reagan had confirmed under the microscope, was always yellow with green shutters. Neighbors remember the house with great canvas awnings before the shutters were installed. The porch was slightly different, with the corners solid and shingled. We may try to reproduce this this summer, or at least some aspects of the original porch.
An old photograph of James Ellis (center) with Maureen, left, and her brother in 1950. You can see how much sturdier the porch used to be, as well as the original posts. And look at how little those shrubby trees were!
I absolutely love this photo. A goat! But you can see the porch well here, too.
Maureen remembers the kitchen being remodeled, with the dropped ceiling installed, while she was a teenager. The long green bathroom off the kitchen was installed while she and her mother were on a trip to Ireland. Maureen, however, refused to use it since it had previously been the pantry, and it just didn't seem right to go to the bathroom in the pantry.
James Ellis in the kitchen. On the left is the wall and doorway that we removed. We found bits of the linoleum as we were pulling up the kitchen floor, and also a tile here and there during demolition. I wish we still had that big old sink.
James Ellis's mother - the same who had worked in the house - lived with them in the house as well. Maureen's bedroom was the front little room on the second floor (which currently serves as Adam's dressing room). Then as now, there is no door to this room, as Maureen's grandmother had the opinion that whatever you were doing behind closed doors, you shouldn't do at all.
The dining room always had a rug to cover up the central pine flooring in it, and we were told one story that, after having lived through the depression, the Ellises always kept a couple thousand dollars under this rug in front of the fireplace. Don't worry, though - they never once built a fire in the fireplace during their entire time in the house!
Kerry Close, one of James and Kathleen's grandchildren, shared that she thought a ship captain had lived in the house before (Timothy Lynch?) and had left an assortment of nautical mapping instruments and books up on the 3rd floor, which was of great interest to the kids. (I have to say, as a preservationist I am completely remiss in thoroughly researching the history of this house - I have some more rummaging through archives to do!)
The house ca. 1985, before the trees were lopped off mid-way, and still with the old porch. Notice the lack of driveway, too.
James Ellis on his front porch in 1985.
One of the reasons that we love this house so much is that it was changed so little. It's rare to find a 100+ year old house that had really only 2 owners in its life. The family who owned the house before us only had it for about 10 years and only made a few small cosmetic changes. We're working hard to bring the house back to a state that we like to think would make Mr. Ellis proud! Thank you all for sharing these great photos and stories.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
After a little break...
Sorry we haven't updated the blog in a while...Reagan was out of the country, but that doesn't mean that work on the house stopped. Adam took up the reins and worked on both the yard and the kitchen.
The most exciting thing Reagan's gotten to do in a long time is unpack the kitchen. After a year of home-ownership. After over a year of the kitchen being boxed up. Finally...we get to use real plates, sauce pots, and mugs. Our cabinets have drawers and doors (most of them), as well as handles to open them. And Adam has even built the support for the peninsula extension. All we have left is to get some counters (small detail).
View from the dining room.
Those upper cabinets are now full of bowls and platters that we won't need to get to very often...especially if the fan is on.
Because the cabinet doors haven't been in stock at Ikea, it makes for easy access for our dishes and glasses thus far.
The plywood support for the "breakfast bar" area of our peninsula.
Also, we have a functioning disposal, and soon our dishwasher will be hooked up. These small conveniences sure are nice conveniences.
We also bought some stones for our front walkway. Nice 2x3 foot blue flagstone for the front walkway, and "Pennsylvania fieldstone" for the side pathways. It took 2 trucks to deliver it - one with the stones, the other for the bobcat that took the stones from the truck and onto our driveway.
The crate of stones was so heavy that it needed to be counter-balanced by two extra people...
Reagan picked out this pack of stones in particular. They seem like a nice size.
A yard of stone-dust is necessary to put underneath the stones.
We spent the morning weeding what had become of the pathway from the driveway to the front steps and then dug out a little trench.
Adam then filled in the trench with the stone dust and then spent a long time tamping (and tramping and camping*) it down.
Our front walkway! Better than the muddy weed farm that it had become. Pretty handsome, no? Those flat stones that Adam used to build the little step will be stepping stones on the rest of the paths.
We're getting there!
*Inside joke with Laura Ruedig
The most exciting thing Reagan's gotten to do in a long time is unpack the kitchen. After a year of home-ownership. After over a year of the kitchen being boxed up. Finally...we get to use real plates, sauce pots, and mugs. Our cabinets have drawers and doors (most of them), as well as handles to open them. And Adam has even built the support for the peninsula extension. All we have left is to get some counters (small detail).
View from the dining room.
Those upper cabinets are now full of bowls and platters that we won't need to get to very often...especially if the fan is on.
Because the cabinet doors haven't been in stock at Ikea, it makes for easy access for our dishes and glasses thus far.
The plywood support for the "breakfast bar" area of our peninsula.
Also, we have a functioning disposal, and soon our dishwasher will be hooked up. These small conveniences sure are nice conveniences.
We also bought some stones for our front walkway. Nice 2x3 foot blue flagstone for the front walkway, and "Pennsylvania fieldstone" for the side pathways. It took 2 trucks to deliver it - one with the stones, the other for the bobcat that took the stones from the truck and onto our driveway.
The crate of stones was so heavy that it needed to be counter-balanced by two extra people...
Reagan picked out this pack of stones in particular. They seem like a nice size.
A yard of stone-dust is necessary to put underneath the stones.
We spent the morning weeding what had become of the pathway from the driveway to the front steps and then dug out a little trench.
Adam then filled in the trench with the stone dust and then spent a long time tamping (and tramping and camping*) it down.
Our front walkway! Better than the muddy weed farm that it had become. Pretty handsome, no? Those flat stones that Adam used to build the little step will be stepping stones on the rest of the paths.
We're getting there!
*Inside joke with Laura Ruedig
Thursday, June 19, 2008
At Last, a Kitchen.
Food stored in the same room where you cook? What a novel idea!
We finally got some basic necessities in the kitchen, notably running water. Here's the sequence of events over the past couple of weeks:
We get plumbers to run water and drainage lines into the kitchen floor, in the place where the sink is going to be in the peninsula.
We manage to built the sink cabinet and drill holes in sort of the right places, enough to lower the cabinet over the pipes (notice the addition of another cabinet to the left and the dishwasher in place on the right).
We set the sink on the cabinet. Isn't it so pretty and sparkly?
Adam shows off his plumbing skills...complete with a few expletives when it doesn't all fit exactly the first time. Eventually it all fits beautifully.
Adam connects the faucet, and presto! Running water! With only minimal leaks.
With cabinet doors and drawer fronts added...
Nice huh? It'll be nicer when we have handles to actually open the doors and drawers.
Elsewhere:
Cabinets constructed and placed on either side of the stove.
With doors and drawers!
The wall cabinets have been installed, but the doors either (a) require some complicated installation, which we've been procrastinating, or (b) are on backorder. But at least we can start bringing our glasses and dishes into the kitchen from the dining room!
Remember that tall pantry cabinet that fit so perfectly behind the refrigerator? Well, you probably don't unless you've been paying very close attention. Either way, we got the drawers installed and the doors put on. It looks so tiny in this photo, but here:
These drawers pull out and it's actually quite deep. A handy use of a tight space if we do say so ourselves!
We finally got some basic necessities in the kitchen, notably running water. Here's the sequence of events over the past couple of weeks:
We get plumbers to run water and drainage lines into the kitchen floor, in the place where the sink is going to be in the peninsula.
We manage to built the sink cabinet and drill holes in sort of the right places, enough to lower the cabinet over the pipes (notice the addition of another cabinet to the left and the dishwasher in place on the right).
We set the sink on the cabinet. Isn't it so pretty and sparkly?
Adam shows off his plumbing skills...complete with a few expletives when it doesn't all fit exactly the first time. Eventually it all fits beautifully.
Adam connects the faucet, and presto! Running water! With only minimal leaks.
With cabinet doors and drawer fronts added...
Nice huh? It'll be nicer when we have handles to actually open the doors and drawers.
Elsewhere:
Cabinets constructed and placed on either side of the stove.
With doors and drawers!
The wall cabinets have been installed, but the doors either (a) require some complicated installation, which we've been procrastinating, or (b) are on backorder. But at least we can start bringing our glasses and dishes into the kitchen from the dining room!
Remember that tall pantry cabinet that fit so perfectly behind the refrigerator? Well, you probably don't unless you've been paying very close attention. Either way, we got the drawers installed and the doors put on. It looks so tiny in this photo, but here:
These drawers pull out and it's actually quite deep. A handy use of a tight space if we do say so ourselves!
Monday, June 16, 2008
What is your dirt doing in the warden's hole?!
So this actually happened a while ago but it took this long for me to be able to operate my hands again.
As you may recall, we hired our cousin Doug to help us with the landscaping. He has his own business and is a machine in terms of getting things done. Generally he is also full of useful information and tips about how to proceed with our landscape work. Then, sometimes he's not.
We wanted to put two new trees into the barren mudscape in front of the house. Any fool knows that this involves digging, and to be macho I decided that I would do ALL of the digging myself. Doug, scheduled to show up Sunday morning with the trees, was all too happy to tell me how big the holes needed to be - roughly 5' in diameter and 3' deep. (any of you who know better can stop reading now and go jump off a cliff).
Saturday was 115 degrees and sub-tropically humid. Reagan, who usually wears a parka into July, was seen in shorts. The sun burned down like a burning sun, facing down. Our neighborhood organization had organized its annual community yard-sale. There was a crowd.
I awoke early and went for a run with our dog who knew better.
Then at 9 I grabbed my brand-new shovel and went to work.
Eight and a half hours later, I had bored two holes into the rock pile that we call a front yard, and I was 5 inches shorter.
me and my hole.
These children had clever parents who told the older child that I was hunting for treasure, and the younger child that dirt tasted good. I didn't see the parents from 11 am to 3 pm. The little viper in the green shirt spent half the day kicking dirt back into the holes as I was trying to dig them.
Somehow, Sunday morning I regained consciousness and Doug arrived with the trees. In a casual sort of way he said, "why are those holes so big?" Sort of like you might say, "hey there friend, why is there so much water coming into this boat?" or "Nice day isn't it, why are you dragging that bicycle under your car."
Here I am filling in one of the holes to the required depth of 9". Notice the pile of rocks that I was too weak to throw at Doug's head.
Here is Doug putting the finishing touches on the "backfill." Thanks for the help Doug. Don't get tired though.
All that is left for me now are the memories.
But in addition to a severe stoop, we got two nice new trees in the deal. The one on the left is a Red Bud and the one on the way right is a Dogwood.
Red Bud
Here I am being held up by a hose.
As you may recall, we hired our cousin Doug to help us with the landscaping. He has his own business and is a machine in terms of getting things done. Generally he is also full of useful information and tips about how to proceed with our landscape work. Then, sometimes he's not.
We wanted to put two new trees into the barren mudscape in front of the house. Any fool knows that this involves digging, and to be macho I decided that I would do ALL of the digging myself. Doug, scheduled to show up Sunday morning with the trees, was all too happy to tell me how big the holes needed to be - roughly 5' in diameter and 3' deep. (any of you who know better can stop reading now and go jump off a cliff).
Saturday was 115 degrees and sub-tropically humid. Reagan, who usually wears a parka into July, was seen in shorts. The sun burned down like a burning sun, facing down. Our neighborhood organization had organized its annual community yard-sale. There was a crowd.
I awoke early and went for a run with our dog who knew better.
Then at 9 I grabbed my brand-new shovel and went to work.
Eight and a half hours later, I had bored two holes into the rock pile that we call a front yard, and I was 5 inches shorter.
me and my hole.
These children had clever parents who told the older child that I was hunting for treasure, and the younger child that dirt tasted good. I didn't see the parents from 11 am to 3 pm. The little viper in the green shirt spent half the day kicking dirt back into the holes as I was trying to dig them.
Somehow, Sunday morning I regained consciousness and Doug arrived with the trees. In a casual sort of way he said, "why are those holes so big?" Sort of like you might say, "hey there friend, why is there so much water coming into this boat?" or "Nice day isn't it, why are you dragging that bicycle under your car."
Here I am filling in one of the holes to the required depth of 9". Notice the pile of rocks that I was too weak to throw at Doug's head.
Here is Doug putting the finishing touches on the "backfill." Thanks for the help Doug. Don't get tired though.
All that is left for me now are the memories.
But in addition to a severe stoop, we got two nice new trees in the deal. The one on the left is a Red Bud and the one on the way right is a Dogwood.
Red Bud
Here I am being held up by a hose.
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