Raise the roof… or at least the ceiling

We’ve already realized that in order to get the front rooms as close to back in shape as possible before we move in (our lease in Salem ends July 15), we will have to squeeze in a few hours after work most days.

We’ve refined our technique after our first foray into demo, specifically we are being much more organized so that we can load the dump truck efficiently.  (Fascinating stuff, I know!)

Ryan’s so far taken down the sheetrock on one side of the front rooms and it is making such a difference.  With the gained 5 inches in headroom, we can rest easy knowing that our friend Bilello and Caitlin’s cousin Ian can visit without bumping their heads – at least in these two rooms.

We’ve uncovered more shoes, along with some other items.  Being the huge, admitted nerd that I am, I emailed my former colleague and the curator at Historic New England who told me that our "concealments" are interesting because they are so late.  She said that people often put shoes in the walls of buildings in the 17th and early 18th centuries for good luck, but that by 1860, the Age of Reason has been in full swing for a century and the practice was all but dying out.  I guess some throw backs built our house... I like it.

For a change of scenery, we ventured into the barn and began clearing out some more debris there.  The super-awesome shop vac we got at Home Depot came in handy.  I'm slightly obsessed.

  

The Help

We’ve taken to referring to Ipswich as our “summer house” and yesterday, our gardener was hard at work…

Cait’s mother Lonna worked very hard all day yesterday to tame the out-of-control yard.  After 6 weeks of spring showers and no caretakers, the yard had developed a je ne sais jungle look about it. 

The place looks fantastic and it is obvious that a lot of time and love was put into it.  We are so appreciative of all the help that family and friends have offered with the new house and feel very lucky.

In addition to a kitchen garden (basil, tomatoes, parsley, rosemary, and I’m sure a few other things I’m blanking on right now), Mom filled our three window boxes, weeded out the front and raised beds, and brought in a variety of container plantings.  She also started to train a morning glory on the pergola and on the barn – can’t wait to see how it looks when they start climbing!

Now, I just need to try not to kill the plants.  Mom says in the summer, it is hard to over-water plants.  I assured her that would not be the challenge…

Process shots and front room demo report – weekend one

So far we’ve taken down all the walls surrounding the (alas, nonfunctioning) fireplace and hearth and have begun to expose the original beams above. It makes such a difference! What was two small rooms is now an open space and removing the sheetrock ceiling has given us 5 more inches.

As we’ve exposed the bones of the house, we’ve begun to discuss what we are going to do about this fireplace. The current thought is to paint it white (or cream?), add built-ins on the right side to hide a repositioned oil vent, house an entertainment system and books, and hang a flatscreen over it (on the living room side). On the other side, we will cap off the openings and keep it pretty basic besides the built in. 

Frank lent us his dump truck again which we filled to capacity by mid-morning on Day Two. He and Ryan have also been bouncing design ideas off each other and I’ve been trying to keep up with the archi-speak.

Frank was also kind enough to bring over some Ipswich Summer Ales, which we both like quite a lot (not too fruity) and came in handy when our very kind neighbors invited us to join their BBQ and take a load off. Can’t come empty handed to a BBQ! We were so sad to miss the McShera Bash in Wareham, but the Haggertys did their best to sub in and didn’t bat an eye when Tela came bounding over the fence to join the party (standard).

As far as nerdy Caitlin moments, we found a leather shoe and some sort of switch stick from above the chimney and uncovered layers and layers of wallpaper (over horsehair plaster). A quick Google on the shoes has turned up that this is not uncommon in New England homes of our period and that it is a tradition that goes back to Pagan rituals of human sacrifice and burying a body in a home’s foundation to ward off evil. Thankfully, by the time it traveled via Western Europe and to the New World, a shoe was used instead.

Tela’s been very patient and monitoring our work from the safety of the kitchen.  She’s a little bored, but likes the new house a whole lot.

Next up: Take down ceiling in front rooms

Home Depot trip count: 3

Before & "After" - Future Livingroom

We did some demo-ing this Memorial Day Weekend at the house - big changes already a-foot!

Signed, sealed, delivered

It's official!  We closed on the house on Friday afternoon.  It was an incredibly long road to the closing table, but we are so thrilled to finally be able to call the house on High Street ours.

Mike was not only able to join us at the closing table, but he also prepared a special blessing for the house, so we started our time at High Street with friends and frankincense.

Ryan's wasted no time in getting to it and made a small "exploratory cut" in the wall we intend to take down between the two front rooms.  We also measured out the whole house so we can play around with it in Auto CAD, Ryan's super-techy architect drafting program.