New Octagon Upstairs

Well, it's not in yet, but it's on order. I'm hoping it will make it here in time to get installed in two weeks when SuperDave is home. Anyhow, I had to post the pic! The window that this puppy will replace is from the 19th century....I'm sure, it must be! It has a single pane of glass and may as well not be there at all. It lets in so much heat....you cannot imagine. Anyhow, the plan is to get it out and replaced and hopefully cool things off upstairs. The guy that makes these is remarkable. If you are looking for a leaded glass octagon, he's your guy. TALeadedglass.com. Lots to choose from and price is very very reasonable. If you buy the older lead glass windows...the vintage ones that are being sold on ebay, well, they only last about 100 years, so by the time you buy the vintage leaded glass, you will probably have problems with it and have to have it releaded and by the time you do all of that, you may as well have bought a new one. With a new shelf life, y'know? I agree that the craftsmanship was phenomenal and if you are into all that era stuff, then go for it. I like my vintage house just fine, but I'm going to love it when it is completely done, modernized and salvaged from the boom truck. When it once again becomes a functioning house in this high tech world that we live in......complete with all the bells and whistles. I know there are some die-hards out there, but to each his own. Personally, I don't want to remodel a kitchen to make it look vintage, but to bring it into the "real world" of things and have all the modern conveniences that my husband is willing to install....he he he...can we say DISHWASHER?

and the walls...came tumbling down....la da da da de....

Today's progress at the Pierce 1896 mansion ==

The walls came tumbling down in the living room. Oh, yeah. Down went the rest of the big ugly blue. Bye-bye and good riddance! LOL Victory is mine....ahhhh ahhhh hhaaaa! Goodbye to the ugly turquois carpet on the stairs. Yep, that's gone too! he he he! Okay, now I have a few more hours in the day....hmmmm....what to destroy next? I think it's time for the ugly purple hallway to meet it's doom. I'm about blind from looking at purple walls! Yes, folks, really == purple! That was not a typo. It's not the deepest purple I have ever in my life seen, but certainly not to be confused with lavender!!! Well, I'm sure you saw the original photos....yes, THAT purple. Well, hugs to all and wish me luck.

Mass Destruction at the Pierce Mansion

Well, things are falling apart right nicely here at the Pierce Mansion. That's right, took out the middle bedroom and part of the hallway today. Plan is to complete most of the demolition upstairs, down the stairwell, the itty bitty closet bathroom and call for the dumpster. Then starts the really really fun stuff. Cleanup! Argh. Oh, you want pictures? Well, that can be arranged. I just have to wait for Dave-o to come home with the camera. He should be rolling back in here on Wednesday and back out again on Thursday. He's a minute man! Can't stay but a minute. LOL By then, I'm hoping to have the majority of the upstairs demo'd anyhow. If you don't know and are interested, we are removing any and all old drywall, concrete and lath. Taking it down to the studs. We have a set of plans for the Pierce Mansion and we'll rebuild this puppy from the inside out based on the drawings. We do have a few problem areas to address. For instance, the old chimney has to be removed. It has been removed from the roof, but left on the inside, so who knows what that's going to involve. Oh, wait. I know who can tell us == SUPER-Dave. He'll know what to do! So, yeah, I'm just working on the inside while poor Dave is working on the outside. Winter at my house, it's going to be a blast! Sorry if this is all a bit boring, but we are excited. Ever step we take, we want to shout it out! Dave is supposed to be home for a week at the end of this job and we are going to have a shindig so anyone who wants to physically see the deck can come on over. That will be just about one month from now. So mark it down and I'll get you details as we get closer. Hugs o' plenty. I'll post pictures in a day or so. Muah.

Porch Railed and Stained

Well, here we are, finally! It's been a long road to get here, but we have arrived. We are railed "and" stained . And now, here's to King Dave --

What's left? Hmmmm. Let's see, we have to shingle it, put the door on the basement entrance, side it, replace the windows upstairs so they do not interfere with the roof line of the porch. So close, but yet so far....and then, it's on to THE FENCE!!!!! Ugh. Talk about fun in the sun.

Off Task -- A bit about my genealogy

This is the William Looney family. He was my great great grandfather. This is where my indian heritage came from and after years of tracing and tracking it, I can actually see the faces of my ancestors. My great great grandmother was Martha (Mattie) Harmon.

Here are our BEFORE pictures

Stay tuned for siding to go up and deck to be stained. We're getting close!

Notice the side? See the new entrance to our basement or cellar? I call it a cellar, the realtor called it a basement, but it is just one small room with a dirt floor surrounded by limestone walls. Well, before our new porch addition, it had an old, warped piece of plywood on the ground for the entrance. Now, it will have a functional door and an actual entrance since Dave built concrete supports and then framed in an entry. Only one more picture of our deck in progress.

Yeah, we are such children. Couldn't wait to get our new patio set out there! Poor Dave needs a place to sit when he takes a break!

Wow! Dave is smokin'! Look at the difference a day makes. Well, more like a couple of months. We are gettin' er done one weekend at a time.

Better view of the door by the driveway. Hey looks like we're going to have a light there too! Now, that's a novel idea.

See the new door? Well see the window across from the door? We took out a window just like that and replaced it with a door. This door enters into the kitchen from the driveway. It sure beats having to walk around to the other side of the house to get in! Uh-oh...do you see the paint on the ground? Looks like the makings of another deck to me. Hmmmm. Stay tuned for progress.

Goodbye to the old porch on the front and the solid concrete porch on the side (and the landscaping timbers)! See ya!

This is the front door where the joist is missing. See the wood? and notice the big hole beside it? Hmmmm. So that was replaced and fixed. Notice the limestone foundation? The foundation this house sits on is like four foot of solid beautiful limestone. A virtual bomb shelter!

Well, here's a big surprise! No support, they cut the joist and removed it. Not only did they do it here, but also at the second front door as well. So, my poor husband had to jack the house up and rebuild part of the original foundation support for the house. Lucky find for us though. Would've been a nightmare to let something this big go unnoticed.

Another view of the front after our demolition with the help of the bobcat we solicited from United Rental. Thank goodness for heavy equipment. I love the new front door and the window. Stay tuned...

Okay, we're tired of our slanty shanty with the drooped stoop and peeling ceiling! Enough, we're not going to take it anymore. So, to remedy our situation, we've ripped off the front porch and bay window (which had 5 leaks), we took out both of the front doors (why would this house have two front doors anyhow?) and moved the front door in preparation of building a wrap around porch. Stay tuned for progress.

Picture of our lovely home

Well, this is the outside of our raving beauty. Unfortunately, you can't see, well may be you can.... notice how the landscaping timbers slant according to the flow of the land? Well, the covered porch does the same thing! Not only that, but the actual steps are made of 2X4's. As if all that weren't enough, the decking of our lovely porch is plywood covered in fake green carpet, which is ripped and flies in the wind like a big green monster drowning and screaming for help.

HOW did this happen?!

Our journey began in 2005 when we felt an urgent need to leave the East Coast, more specifically, West Creek, NJ, for a number of various reasons. We searched online for what seemed like forever to find a house located in Illinois, Missouri, or Iowa. As luck? would have it, we stumbled across this one, made the offer, sight unseen, set the closing date, loaded with a pickup truck and two separate U-hauls, we took the plunge. Once we closed on our "dreamhouse" we continued driving an overflowing pickup truck and bulging U-haul to a place called Sheffield, IA, which looked like a bunch of houses stuck somewhere in the middle of a corn field! Hello, people? We are from the city. Can someone please tell me where is the mall? McDonald's? Taco Bell? Anything? Nothing. Well, nothing, but our "dream" home. Oh, wait, that wasn't a dream, that was a nightmare! Well, so here we are in Franklin County, Iowa, Sheffield, proper.