JournalJournalhttp://www.doubleffdesign.com/journal/2010-12-13T23:51:07ZSquarespaceFirst things firsthttp://www.doubleffdesign.com/journal/2010/12/13/first-things-first.htmlJoan Ffolliott2010-12-13T23:31:00Z2010-12-13T23:31:00ZOne of the first things that had to happen was to clean out the previous owners left-behind detritus. A 30 yard dumpster took care of most of that. As I mentioned in the previous post, Mr. Rowland never threw a thing away, so we got to do it. There were a few memorable items that went into the memento pile: an Elvis playing card (similar to a baseball card) from the mid-50's, a couple beautiful yellow bowls from France, and some old cane chairs, among other things. Mostly the dumpster was filed with ancient wall-to-wall carpet, plywood cabinets covered with black mold, and formica from the distant past. We actually salvaged the toilet and the sink in the bathroom to reuse, but all the other fixtures and appliances had to go.

When the place was finally "broom clean", we worked on preparing an actual clean space in which to sleep. We started with the bedroom over the kitchen/dining room (now one large room) as the woodstove was installed directly below us and we could break the house into heated zones and non-heated "work" zones. In this manner we began our first winter.

 

]]>How it all began....http://www.doubleffdesign.com/journal/2010/11/29/how-it-all-began.htmlJoan Ffolliott2010-11-29T23:39:33Z2010-11-29T23:39:33ZSo, times are tough. And when times are tough, the tough start writing. 

This is a journal about the restoration project my husband, Silas, and I have taken on. As of this post, we are two years in. When I say every square inch of this 1/2 acre property has been touched, that is no exaggeration. Built in 1850 in a hamlet founded in 1812 on the Hudson river, the place has a deep, but shrouded history. When we took ownership in 2008, it had been neglected for 23 years. Though Mr. Rowland loved the place, he couldn't bring himself to pull a weed, stop a leak, set out a mousetrap, or clean. Ever. For real. When the wall between the kitchen and the dining room came down (installed in 1920, per the newspaper we found), a little family of mice ran for their lives. Needless to say, the bathroom was also promptly removed.

Even before the bank would lend the mortgage, the shingled roof needed replacement, city water hooked up (the well still provided stinky though potable water), and all peeling paint removed....

 

 

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