Blog Resurrected! Caleb off to camp...

It’s been almost three years since we posted to our old blog…a lot has happened in the interim…and I missed keeping it. So, it is resurrected! We will catch up slowly…starting with today’s adventure which was a trip to Chewonki!

 Caleb packing for camp

 Caleb by his bunk in Xanadu, a yurt!

Caleb and Eliza in front of Xanadu. Have a great summer, bud!

All in a good month's work!

Every day our house is filled with men and women who are working to finish our home.  On our quietest work day this month, we had two members of our crew...on our busiest day this month we had 20+ people working!  We have come a long way in a month's time:

• The siding is nearly complete
• Many rooms have been painted
• More floors have been refinished
• Some rooms now have wallpaper
• The laundry room in the basement is getting a facelift
• We have new brick steps to the mudroom



Preparing the last remaining side for clapboards



Siding complete!




Down the Ave with a fresh coat of paint



Eyrie with a fresh coat of paint



Masons arrive with building supplies



Demolishing part of an old concrete slab in order
to build new brick steps to the mudroom



Looking through the mudroom door



Ted O'Harte lays the first brick step



All steps built...now to build the landing



Finished mudroom steps!



Unpacking in the new kitchen

 

Eliza and Caleb (Caleb's
first day of school)

Poppy, the newest resident at 1514 Canton Avenue.



Siding turns a corner...

Greetings from 1514 Canton Ave!  The siders have completed 95% of the back of the house, turned one corner, and have now started on the front of the house just under the new bay.  They are making progress despite the heat, humidity, and somewhat frequent rain showers.  A few large pieces of furniture were hoisted into the attic through an opening created by the removal of old glass blocks -- before it was sealed up, it was an opportunity for Caleb to furnish his "man cave" with furniture that wouldn't otherwise fit through the attic's trap door.  More paint has gone on walls, and we Beebes are painting furniture that is being repurposed to make the children's rooms ready for our move-up date of August 15!  The list of odds and ends is long, but every day the list gets a little shorter.  We've had lots of company and visits from friends and family which has been fun -- thank you for spending time with us and supporting us in this project!



Opening in attic wall where glass blocks were removed...



Couch being readied for lifting...



Couch on the way up!





Couch reaching its destination
thanks to Carl, Chris, and Ger



Siding on the back of the house -- the hole in the attic
wall is sealed up.




Another view of finished siding




Clapboards on two floors on the side of the house



Brendan and Jack working on area by the kitchen,
just below the bay



Old kitchen cabinets that look like new!



Another kitchen cabinet that's
been refinished



The old pantry cabinets, now
shining with new paint



An old exterior door now employed
as the door between the
mudroom and the kitchen
(with coat of primer on it)



New recessed lights are installed in the dining room



Painting furniture that will occupy Eliza's room



Eliza's "new" headboard and footboard



A little wooden bookcase for Caleb's room
(Costa Rica blue)



Staining Caleb's old bunk bed



Cedar, who visited this past weekend, on his bike



Prescott and the Golden Piglet, packing
up after a fun weekend



Penny, unfazed, amidst the rubble of construction



Clapboards start to go on!

Happy August 1!  In addition to our regular crew, we now have two men putting the siding (clapboards) on the house.  It takes a lot of precise measuring since we have so many windows and doors, so only parts of the back of the house are finished, but it looks wonderful already!  The clapboards came with two coats of solid stain on them (Nantucket White) and will be painted with a final coat once the siding is completed.  The "white" trim you can see in the photos will be painted dark green to match the windows.  We've also had more painting done inside the house which looks terrific, and we are starting to move some furniture around in anticipation of a move out of the basement on or around August 15, the day Eliza returns from summer camp. 


It's lovely to see the clapboards going on as they
look much tidier than Tyvek!





Soapstone counters arrive!



Cherry butcher block counter arrives from California...

Butcher block on its way into the house...



Ta-dah!  There's our island with its counter top!




Midway (a.k.a the Rose Room) gets a fresh
coat of paint (will be our family office).




Not a great photo of the family room color,
but the Georgian Green looks very nice on the walls.



The kitchen 1/2 bath is now
Van Deusen blue!  The marble
sink came from the bathroom
in the maids' wing that was
demolished.



The Game Room (a.k.a. the Willow Room) ceiling
had been badly damaged when pipes in the
bathroom above froze a long time ago, so the
ceiling was taken down.  Stay tuned as this
room is going to look quite interesting -- we
are trying to figure the best way to keep some
of the wonderful old beams exposed!



This is our electrician, Dermot, taking
out the very outdated recessed
lighting in the dining room -- we
all gathered around because
we'd never seen anything like it!



Here's Jim with one of the old recessed lights...



Caleb was at Chewonki for
3 1/2 weeks (he lived in
Quarter Deck) but is back home now.



Eliza as Lucy (in You're a Good Man, Charlie
Brown) during Visitors' Weekend at Alford
Lake Camp.  She'll be home August 15!