Marvin's in the House

Hello, peeps.  My new Marvin windows were installed today.  If you were following last spring when I started from scratch with my living room, you may remember this shot of the living room just after I painted it.  The two windows on the left are on the front of the house and they're being expanded down to the baseboard.

The old vinyl replacements windows easily popped out of the frames....

...and the frames were quick to follow.  The window sills are quite chunky - not something you can buy today - so they're going to be used to replace two rotten sills on the garden side.  The new windows have their own but they're really thin so we're going to add an additional piece underneath them so they match all the others.

Sam is cutting the window openings back.  You can see the baseboard cap has been removed.  The new interior window sill, or stool I'm told it's called, will sit right on the baseboard. 

Both openings are enlarged.  Here you also get a first glimpse of the new skirt under the porch.  It just needs a little more trim work.

The top of the old windows were slightly lower than the top of the door so Jerad is installing new headers at the top and bottom so everything lines up along the top.

One down, one to go.

And here they are.  You can also see that the beadboard ceiling is installed.

Here they are from the inside.  The window casings no longer fit so I need to get new ones.  I couldn't find a stock casing that's anywhere close to my original 1842 casings BUT I looked through the catalog of a local millwright and found a blade for a casing that someone else had made that's VERY close.  Not exact but close enough that it's acceptable to me.  

So I can place a custom order for enough casings for these two windows and the front door for about $150 more than stock casings that wouldn't match.  I think that's an extra cost that makes sense.  

And here's what the house looks like from across the street.

For the first time, it looks like a Greek Revival to me.

Never Ending Trim Work

This has been a frustrating two weeks.  Just as I decided I should replace my old stove after continually noticing the faint smell of gas in the kitchen, my refrigerator died.  So I bought two new appliances I wasn't planning.  Also, one of my cats has been sick and after one trip to the vet and another to the emergency room over the holiday weekend, another $400 down the drain.  I don't think there's anything worse than having a sick pet.  If they could only tell us what's going on, it would be much easier.  Fortunately he's feeling a little better.

Oh, and the estimate to trim the tree is $1000. 

At the same time, progress on the exterior trim seemed to come to a halt.  Some days I would swear that the workers only came to take bottles of water out of my (new) fridge and to use my bathroom.  As it turned out, the guy I hired to do the job was out of town so I think it was a case of "While the cat's away..." 

But once he got back, the pace picked up again.  The stock window casings have been trimmed out with a molding (left) that really dresses them up and after a few mockups for the top of the corner boards, this is what I decided on (right).  Sometimes, I think it's a little big, but the siding will reduce the depth and once everything it's painted, I think it will be perfect.  It's pretty similar...

...to the ones on this Greek Revival in Harvard Square.  (Isn't the air conditioner in the front window a nice touch?)

The treads are on the front stairs...

...as well as the lazy stairs.

The new (and larger) living room windows have arrived.  Even in the plastic, they look amazing and I can't wait to see them installed.

As for the rest of the windows, I've held off ordering them until now.  When you start ripping apart an old house, you never know what you're going to find so holding off on ordering the windows was one thing I could do to leave a little cash in reserve in case something went wrong.  They're installed from the inside so it doesn't hold up outside progress so that seemed to make sense.  They'll take about six more weeks.  Not bad.

And here's a sneak peak at the columns.  Remember, getting the composite columns was a concession but now that I see them in person, I think they look really good.   I'm really eager to see these in place because I think they'll make the biggest impact.

On this driveway side, I'm keeping the old shingles for now so...

...the shingles were carefully cut back to accommodate the new corner board.

This little detail at the bottom of the corner board is a really nice touch that they added without my even asking for it.   (Notice the iron post at the left.  It's one the contractor brought so we could try it out for size.  That's still an ongoing project.)

The painters have been on the job for over a week filling the holes left over after removing the vinyl siding, scraping the old shingles and...

...the trim around the windows.

Look what a beautiful job they did on the old window casings.   This is the window right next to my kitchen sink.

And look at this little surprise.  All of the original window sills have Roman numerals chiseled into them.  It's my guess that as they cut them, they numbered them so they knew exactly where they were to be installed.  

Next week should bring big changes.  Can't wait to show you.

This Old Tree

When I bought my little cottage, I also inherited an elderly Norway maple.  Every time I hear of an impending Nor'easter, or snowstorm or Hurricane Earl, I get a little bit sick to my stomach wondering how my old tree will fare.

In my last post, I mentioned that I needed to remove this limb.  It's not only because it looks a little silly; the entire limb is in really bad shape.  So for all of my tree-loving readers, I want you to know I am with you.

This is a photograph of my neighbor's house from perhaps the 1920s and to the right you can see my tree.  Incidentally, this porch was removed at some point along the line and my neighbor used this photograph...

...to restore it about five years ago.  I wished I had an old photo of my house.  I think it's so cool to have that reference.

Even before I moved in, one of my dear neighbors was kind enough to leave the number of an arborist in my mailbox that would maintain my tree.  (Yes, that's very Cambridge!  I've had other neighbors welcome me to the neighborhood with the gift of a recycling bin.)  The company who is an all organic tree preservation company thought the tree was fine; it just needed some chai tea latte injections or something like that. I'm all for being organic but I was a little skeptical about tea injections so (after having it done once) I called two more arborists for opinions.

Their opinion was the tree has numerous problems, the first of which is girdling roots.  As you can see, the roots are all twisted around the base, and as the tree has grown, it's literally choking itself to death.  They both advised I not put money into the tree.  Trees have a life span and its lived its life.

So what do I do?  I can't justify cutting it down yet.  But if I do nothing, I have a tree that's a liability.  If limbs fall on a car, or take out the power lines to the four cottages that are behind me, the financial burden is mine, not to mention the possibility that someone could get hurt. 

So last year, I spent $450 to have all of the dead wood taken off to see how things went.

And here I am one year later, with another large dead limb that hangs over my neighbors front yard and the street where someone parks...

...and this other decaying limb...

...has attracted a few woodpeckers which have been quite a neighborhood novelty... 

...and that sits precariously close to my electrical line.

So I've called the arborist again to have the dead and dying branches trimmed off and I just pray that Hurricane Earl will be good to me.

My old tree.  I love it and I hate it.

Front Porch Progress

So while I was goofing off and wandering around Marblehead, SLOW progress was being made on the outside of the house.  We had four solid days of rain last week that really brought things to a halt.  But the porch roof is up, the front stairs are almost there, just missing the treads.  The trim is on the upstairs windows.  The new longer living room windows are done and should be delivered to the house today.

I need to have that limb taken off.  I never noticed it until I started to stand back to take photos of the house.

Hey, do you think this porch...

Before picture of the house.

...makes me look fat?  Doesn't the house look taller in the old photo?  I think the horizontal lines of the porch deck and roof that make it look wider.  You know what they say about horizontal lines.

I think it will look at little better when the skirt detail fills in the black space under the porch.  The longer windows will also add some verticality to the front.

As I mentioned before, I'm keeping the old shingles on this driveway side of the house to save money.  You can see they've cut back the shingles on the front corner so the cornerboard can wrap around to make it look a little more finished.  Someone was there yesterday from the painting company scraping the shingles as you can see on the lower portion.  They look pretty darn good for being about 70 years old.  Hopefully they'll hold paint until I'm ready for phase 2.

Here's another view of the front stairs.  The first stair is granite which is done to keep the wood off the wet ground.  It's kind of a common treatment around here.  The old cement sidwalk is too narrow for the wider stairs so I'm going to have to have that ripped out and a little bit of that curbing cut back.

And remember the electric meter that was a few inches out from the house...

...and this ugly front corner of the house?

The electric meter has been moved and the trim is going up.

Here's another view of that area.  My "lazy stairs" are built, also except for the treads.  I think they should have been narrower but it's not a big deal.  It's something I missed on the architect's plan.  I think some landscaping will resolve that. 

The living room windows and columns are supposed to be delivered today.  I'm eager to see those in place; they'll make a big impact. 

Marblehead, Massachusetts (Part 2)

If you missed my first post on Marblehead, Massachusetts, you can jump to it here.

On my walk up to the Old Burial Hill, this house caught my attention, not for the salmon-colored door, but for the meandering path to door.  Not only is it much more visually interesting, the path provides a direct view past the house to the harbor beyond.

Let's take a little walk down the driveway to get a peek.

View of Marblehead Neck
(Click photo to enlarge)

And here it is.  Can you imagine coming home to work every day and enjoying a nice glass of wine watching yachts and sailboats drift by?  Pure heaven in my opinion.

Right at the steps up to the burial ground, sits this house backed right up to the granite ledge which creates its own little enclosed space.  It's really unique.

If you've never had a chance to walk around an old New England cemetery, you're missing an interesting experience.  The imagery and narratives on the headstones are really quite intriguing.   This particular burial ground is notable for its huge granite ledges...

...as well as the wonderful views of the harbor these spirits get to enjoy.  There are many heros of the American Revolution buried here.

On my walk back down the hill, this is one of two entrances on the front of the house...

...and this is the other more ornate entrance.  It's not my favorite color scheme but the woodwork around the door is gorgeous.

I've collected a lot of images of homes with monochromatic color schemes.

I think such a color scheme instantly creates a historical look.

This is one my favorite all-green houses.

This almost medieval-looking door...

...is on the Ambrose Gale house built in 1663.  347 years old.

Just a little farther down Franklin Street, one of the "oldest wayes in towne," the houses almost meet in the street like good old neighbors.  I love the castle-like pattern of shadows created by the dormers.

I wander back and forth between the water and the center of town not knowing what to focus on.  Lights, hardware, shutters, paint colors...

or pretty gardens, windows boxes and pots.



Doesn't this street seem unreal?  Like something from the movie Pleasantville.   I didn't even realize at the time I took the photo that there wasn't a single car in the shot.

This house was built 1683.

Some of the shops downtown.

The flower store.

I love these doors made of planks with the wide wrought iron hinges.

On my way back to my car, I admire this handsome house in Washington Square.  Everything is impeccable and restrained.  I love the curved fence and, surprisingly, the lack of a front garden. 

Notice the louvered door.  It's unusual but seems appropriate.

I've had a wonderful day and look forward to coming back sometime to explore more of Marblehead.

Where should I go next?  Maybe Salem in search of witches?