house archive
November 9, 2008
seasonal
I was up on the roof this weekend for the seasonal cleaning of the fallen leaves out of the gutters and downspouts. The nakedness of the trees reveals the city skyline to the west.
October 15, 2008
unique Victorian for sale, great renovation potential
A pre-1900 Victorian at the end of our block is for sale for $95,000. It needs a new roof, has a minimal heating system, and should be gutted, rewired, and insulated. Interested?
October 13, 2008
does your house wanna be on tv?
Fresh off last year’s Flip it Back restoration of 816/818 North 23rd Street, Gable Painter and GP Restoration have lined up a 13-episode season on a cable channel known for home improvement shows. The show will be Richmond-based and will feature 1 main project across the entire season and also a smaller project for each episode. The big project has been lined up, but Gable is looking for some great smaller restoration project. Find out how to get your house in the show…
August 3, 2008
please please please…
Less dystopian are the prophecies of Leinberger, who believes that a dramatic increase in middle-class central-city population will in fact take place, and that one consequence will be the deterioration of today’s car-dependent, suburban tract homes into the slums of 2030.
(via Alan Ehrenhalt’s Trading Places in THE NEW REPUBLIC)
July 9, 2008
moving to the front of the house
On-and-off rain today made the decision easy: work on the front of the house under the cover of the porch.
July 1, 2008
a new old-fashioned handrail
We put in a handrail at the front steps because the city said that we had to. It took us 2 tries to get it right.
June 1, 2008
gearing up mentally for a summer of house work
School is still has 2 more weeks to run before we can really switch gears into getting back on the house. This will be the summer that great strides are made towards finally finishing repairing the siding and painting the house, picking up where we left off 22 freakin’ months ago…
December 3, 2007
house with wreath
The wreath seemed really big when it was inside.
November 11, 2007
in which we reject a squirrel
We awoke Saturday morning to the scampering of a squirrel on the ceiling of the bedroom. The brave squirrel had discovered the gap where the wood has rotted behind one of the corbels across the front of the house, and had found a way to hang upside and then scoot into the attic space.
October 13, 2007
4 years
We moved in to our house 4 years ago today. We were pretty sure at that time that we’d be done in a year or 2; we still haven’t been in the attic yet…
April 29, 2007
plus $106,500
The second piece of our house-related financial scheming has come through, with our application for tax abatement having been received and processed.
April 29, 2007
the roses and the dead thing under the porch
This was the week that the rose bush freaked out and popped crazy beautiful flowers, and it looks like we’ll have plenty more over the next few days. This was also the week that something died somewhere in the wall or under the porch and it has been *stinky* all around the front yard and the front of the house.
March 25, 2007
making rounded fence pickets
Two weeks after planting the fence posts, we pulled in an actual skilled carpenter and made a bunch of rounded-top fence pickets.
March 6, 2007
this year’s house plan
The first little tastes of spring are in the air and we’re planning our next steps of working on the house.
February 24, 2007
Staunton, Virginia
I visited Staunton, Virginia, for school this weekend. Staunton has a *great* little downtown and some great older houses…
