Archive for the ‘Renovations’ Category
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
Well, it’s been a month since I set a few goals for the Spring. Following is the list:
- repair the “roof” of the gazebo which collapsed under the weight of the first snow we had in December. After assessing the damage, I’m confident that with some new wood arms, I can repair the ones that broke.
- replace any dead plants and bushes around the patio areas and in containers. Plant new plants in the pergola area to continue filling it in as a garden area.
- replace some rotting wood around the front porch roof and outside the bay window of the dining room.
- build a small 4X6 vegetable/fruit garden outside the kitchen on the edge of the pergola/garden area. I would like to start small with a few vegetables and fruits and expand from there.
- research the feasibility of building and stocking a small chicken coop enclosure to provide eggs for cooking. This may not end up being a goal, it’s just an idea right now and I want to look into whether this is even something the city of Asheville will allow me to do.
At this point, I’m about 95% complete with the first goal of fixing the gazebo roof. My father and stepmother visited for a few days and they did a lot to get it repaired (actually, they did most of the work). I replaced one broken wood arm and my dad was able to get all of the arms up and back into their holder. The one casualty of the damage was to the canvas. When the roof fell, the canvas ripped in several places so it did not go back into the holder along with the arms (see photo).
As such, I had to staple the canvas to the tops of each arm. Unfortunately, it does not look the same and there are some rips and gaps. However, being the creative person that I am :0), I am going to attach more fabric to the underside of the arms so that nobody has to see the damaged canvas. By the time my readers come visit, the inside canvas should be up and I’ll be sure to make it look decorative so that it will appear good as new.
One goal – check!
I have begun working on goal #2 of replacing dead bushes and plants around the patio and garden areas and in containers. Today was the first day of warm weather and a free afternoon. I have started by pulling out dead stumps, cutting back bushes, branches, and dead grasses around the patios, gazebo, and front porch. On Friday, my landscapers start again for the year and will be cleaning up debris and leaves so that I can fully assess what needs to be replaced. I am really surprised that most everything I planted last year is coming back, given the cold, snowy winter. Some plants that I thought for sure were dead are sprouting leaves and buds. I may not have to replace as much as I had thought, but I anticipate completing this goal (or being close to completion) by the end of April.
Goal #3 is getting looked at on Friday.
I have the materials list for goal #4 and hope to start building the bed by next week; and to start filling it in within the next 2-3 weeks. I plan to start with tomatoes, peppers, basil, and mint and will go from there.
I have not even begun to look into goal #5. That will definitely be last on my list.
The good thing about publishing goals is that it’s not enough just to post them on the wall for me to see. By showing them to my readers, I feel more motivated to work on them. Sharing goals with others means that more than one person is thinking about them, and not wanting to disappoint my readers, I am determined to accomplish them.
Sunday, February 28th, 2010
Once this dratted winter is finally gone, there will be some projects that I plan to work on around the Inn. Until the days stay warmer (40s and above), I can’t assess the entire property, but there are some things that I know will need to be done. Over the Winter, my major project was repainting the downstairs and upstairs common hall areas and stairway. The previous color is what I call salmon. I changed it to a light vanilla on the first floor and one shade darker on the second floor. With the exception of a patch of wall going up the stairs which I cannot reach, this has been accomplished. The unpainted patch will have to be done by a professional who has the proper scaffolding. I am quite pleased with the results. You can see the salmon pink color still on the wall in the first photo as a reference.
Now, I’m compiling a list of goals to accomplish during the Spring season. So far, here is what I’ve got:
- repair the “roof” of the gazebo which collapsed under the weight of the first snow we had in December. After assessing the damage, I’m confident that with some new wood arms, I can repair the ones that broke.
- replace any dead plants and bushes around the patio areas and in containers. Plant new plants in the pergola area to continue filling it in as a garden area.
- replace some rotting wood around the front porch roof and outside the bay window of the dining room.
- build a small 4X6 vegetable/fruit garden outside the kitchen on the edge of the pergola/garden area. I would like to start small with a few vegetables and fruits and expand from there.
- research the feasibility of building and stocking a small chicken coop enclosure to provide eggs for cooking. This may not end up being a goal, it’s just an idea right now and I want to look into whether this is even something the city of Asheville will allow me to do.
Spring is a short 3 months so I think this list is a good start and should keep me busy. I will post updates and photos as I go along. I would love comments and advice from anyone with experience in any of these areas or things you experienced when working on a similar project yourself.
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
S. Lorraine Norwood, MA, RPA
Senior Associate
Manager, CRM/NEPA Department
Terracon
2855 Premiere Parkway, Suite C I Duluth, Georgia 30097
P [770] 623-0755, ext. 304 I F [770] 623-9628 I M [678] 372-3770
slnorwood@terracon.com
I’m happy to report that we’re coming down the home stretch on listing the marvelous Blake House on the National Register of Historic Places. Ann Swallow, the National Register Coordinator with the State Historic Preservation Office, has completed a second review of the nomination and supporting documentation. She has requested some additional information and research, and once this is done, the nomination will be reviewed by the Certified Local Government before heading toward an April deadline for submittal to members of the NRHP review board who meet in June.
As you can see, there are a lot of hoops to jump through to get a property on the National Register! Before we got to this point, we had to take measurements of all the rooms, windows, and doors, and note whether any architectural changes had been made and when. Tracking down dates has been very difficult. We have records from the Buncombe County Tax Assessor and the Deeds Office, but nailing down some subtle and not-so-subtle changes to the house is impossible due to the death of previous owners. Fortunately we have newspaper clippings, diary entries, old photographs, and archival documents.
One of the most interesting things to come out of the second NRHP review is Ann Swallow’s happy “accident” at finding an exact replica of the Blake House in an 1842 book of house plans called Cottage Residences by Andrew Jackson Downing. It’s amazing to think that in the 1850s, the Blakes had access to a book of house plans, much like modern consumers have access to plans in “Southern Living” or other architectural books and magazines. Downing’s drawing of “a cottage in the English, or Rural Gothic Style” is a dead ringer for the Blake House down to the kitchen wing on the rear and the bay window off the parlour. Downing designed the cottage for what he called “internal convenience”. By that he meant that there are “many families mainly composed of invalids, or persons advanced in years, who have a strong preference for a plan in which the kitchen, and at least one bedroom, are upon the same floor with the living rooms, and in which there is little or no necessity for ascending or descending stairs; an exercise which, though of little consequence to the young and robust, is of all others the most fatiguing to the infirm, or those in delicate health.”
We’re not sure if the Blake family had a member in delicate health who needed the downstairs bedroom, but that’s part of the additional information which we hope to dig up in the next few weeks. We do know that at some point, the downstairs bedroom was turned into a doctor’s office for Dr. Frederick Blake, the son of Daniel Blake, a rich South Carolina rice planter, who built the house. The Blakes were a fascinating family who had ties to Charleston, South Carolina and Hendersonville, North Carolina. More details and hopefully good news about the nomination in our next blog.
Added by Leslie:
This NRHP nomination has been very long and arduous I’m sure for Lorraine and her team. They first started in July 2007 and so I am very anxious at this point for a resolution.
I have the book that Lorraine mentions above and have taken a few photos so that you can see the similarities. The Parlour and Library are now the Inn’s Dining Rooms, the Bedroom is now the Inn’s Parlor and the entrance from the parking lot, the Kitchen is the Inn’s Rose Room which was my Gift Shop before that and the Labrador Landing Pub when I bought the Inn. Lastly, the Closet & Pantry are now the Inn’s Breakfast Room so you can see they are one room and are closed off from the Dining Room/Library on the other end which used to be open.
This book is available to guests so you will have to check it out when you come.Enjoy the photos!
