Paint work continues on the exterior of the Knox Hill Second Empire cottage. The one thing I have so wanted to not see, the glaring white of the replacement windows takes a very pleasant change as the paint goes on and the frames recede nicely on the building facade. I know its not the best allocation of time since This particular area of the house will change because its at this point the new Second Empire tower and carriage house connect to the main house but the house just looks so much "better" when those ugly white frames are painted!
We continue to "scrub" the house down and I spent most of Sunday working up high on the top side corner of the house, pulling nails, filling holes, getting down to "clean' in order to put the tinted primer on followed by the first coat of paint. It is a hassle going up and down that ladder switching back between the primer and paint but I am saving so much money rather than renting scaffold, which I admit would be SO much easier. I hope to get the paint running all the way from top to bottom next week so we have a better idea of the "impact" of the color on the house and neighborhood. I will be the first to admit that this is a 'stronger' historic colors than I would normally use but being a deeper base, as opposed to the "sunflower yellow' the house was originally done it will mellow to a nice shade and will not have the upkeep that a lighter shade would have.
Yardwork continues as well and perhaps for the first time since we have owned the house the yard is actually cleared of all limbs and "stuff" that was strewn all over the yard. I think next week we will use the chipper and get as many of the the tree branches and limbs chipped before we have the next dumpster delivered. The rain was welcome as the flower beds received some much needed rains. I do need to think about ordering the stone for the flower bed retaining walls and the brick for the sunken garden and sidewalks so it looks like a trip will be in order to the landscape supply place to make some decisions next week about that.
I spent some time working upstairs in the front bedroom prepping the floor (getting any small nails pulled and such) as I plan to sand the floors soon and refinish them. I will be so glad to see that gray paint gone. I will never understand the "logic" in painting wood floors? What were they thinking? I have the new trim work for the front window as well ( made from salvaged trim) that I will install soon as well. I still have to strip/refinish the baseboard trim.We also took a brief few minutes on Sunday to walk the neighborhood and I will post pictures probably tomorrow ( unless there is some breaking preservation news) of some of the homes in the area. I know more "shameless promotion" of the area but I figure maybe I can talk some of my regular readers into taking the plunge and moving to the next "Mt Adams". In five years you all will be saying , boy that guy was smart for buying over there, look how expensive those houses are now that they are all being restored and those new luxury infill houses are being built on the vacant lots.
Apparently we just missed one of our blog readers on Saturday who stopped by to visit. Our neighbor Mark though spent some time showing them the area. If I know you are coming to visit ( send me an email so ai know) I can try to be around but we generally try to head out between 4-5 for the drive back to Indy.
So progress continues!
Knox Hill Project: Restoration Progress
Reviewed by citra
Published :
Rating : 4.5
Published :
Rating : 4.5
