|
 |
January 2002
-- Our hard work was rewarded when the electrical inspector gave us a "well
done" on the rough-in electrical work. Pictured
at left -- an outside light -- looks barn-like, doesn't it? |
|
 |
February
2002 - Our winter weather has been very volatile -- highs in the
50's followed by snowy days. Can't help but
thinking looking out this Livery window how nice it will be to sit here in
front of the gas fireplace!
Enough dreaming -- back to work. |
|
 |
Dale and Nigel
lay out the 2 inch oak flooring in the "living room" of a suite. The
board they are placing is 15 inches wide.
The oak flooring is once again in the 1st floor of the Livery, as it was
originally. (Restorer's note: After washing years of grime
off these floors in our 02/03 restoration efforts, they were coated with 5
coats of polyurethane. The boards were so old and porous that they just kept
sucking up the coating). |
|
 |
The layout of
the flooring complete, Dale works on insulation.
At the very left of the picture, you can see the edge
of the future fireplace. |
|
 |
March 2002
Working on installing drywall in 2nd floor bedroom.
Suites will have a living room downstairs and a bedroom and bath on the 2nd
floor. 2nd floor opens to deck with overview of pasture. |
|
 |
Insulating and
installing the beadboard ceiling in a 2nd floor bedroom.....
Then, we "retired" to doing outside work until |
|
 |
Fall 2002
Drywall is up and finished in 1st bedroom. Marcy is
delighted to be painting (and dreaming of decorating) |
|
 |
Nigel and Dale
remove 100 years of dirt and paint from the original yellow pine flooring in
the hayloft (now restored into a suite bedroom). Their methods (as seen) are
misted in time. |
|
 |
Installing propane fireplace in a suite living room. |
|
 |
View from the
deck. A delight in any season. |
|
 |
Winter 2003: The original
joists between the 1st and 2nd floors are shown off by the white-washed
ceilings. |
|
 |
The Weatherbury
Farm Carpentry Department installs trim in the first suite. We used
the trim in the farmhouse as a model for the trim in the livery. |
|
 |
Fireplace with
mantel (which still needs to be restored) |
|
 |
Bedroom in
first suite has chair rail added. |
|
 |
 |
We never were
very fond on the stairs that had been put in the Livery when it was
restored. But when we held up the newel post, we thought "these stairs
are really down right unappealing." So Nigel turned the boxed in stairs
(left) into open stairs (below), widening the width on the first four
stairs. |
|
 |
 |
Stairs shown
after remodeling, including wood panel work, similar to that in the
farmhouse. The 2 inch oak floor planks have 3 of an eventual 5 coats of
polyurethane in this picture. (baseboard and window trim still need to be
added. |
|
Spring & Summer 2003:
We've were hard at work restoring the Livery into the
early summer. Late in the spring, we were inspired to get some up-to-date photos,
as we had to send our digital camera off for repairs. More photos will be
upcoming as we "return" to finish the restoration this fall. |
|
 |
 |
Pictured at
left are shots of "The Stables" suite -- the most complete of our suites
(and seen in progress above). To the far left are shots of the downstairs
living area & fireplace; on the near right is the upstairs bedroom area
|
|
 |
"The Mews"
suite got its name from our reading of English literature -- a stables which
has been turned into living quarters! Pictured is the downstairs living area
-- which you might be able to tell has a garden theme (one of Marcy's
favorite activities when she is isn't staining, varnishing, painting ...) |
 |
 |
"The Carriage
House" suite (which is what this suite was in a former life) is pictured at left.
At the far left is the fireplace (the mantel will be installed shortly when
the tile hearth is grouted). Beneath that photo, is one of the stairs to the bedroom area
(still without railing or spindles) -- showing the result of our stair
remodeling described above.
On the near right is the interior bath -- it's a bit difficult to see but
the trim upstairs will be the same color as the wall color downstairs.
We've just ordered the shower enclosures, faucets and high tank toilets --
so working on the suite baths will begin when we return the Livery
restoration this fall. |
|
Winter 2003/04:
We took advantage of a wonderful Indian Summer which allowed
us to paint, paint, paint fences and farm buildings on the Farm (40+ gallons).
When the weather turned cold in December, we once again moved inside to work
on the Livery. |
|
 |
Here, we're
working on the bottom level of the Livery which is a large hall (just under
1000 square feet) where we will be serving breakfast. The hall will also be
a gathering spot for guests during the remainder of the day. Games, puzzles,
farm books and toys will be available. The hall is being finished to look
like (what else?) a barn. The barn boards have already been hung and painted
on the first half of the hall. The bottom of the walls will be faced in
stone and the floor will be brick.
There will be two restrooms for guest use. Of course, there is a kitchen
where the farm family will prepare breakfast. |
|
 |
The first half
of the livery hall -- with finished barn boards and ceiling. Before we moved
to working on the second half, we just had to set it up like it will look in
the future with a table (one of four) and the server behind it. |
|
 |
This door is
the entry door to the hall (there are also two sets of French doors -- you
can see one above). The door came from a house in nearby West
Middletown that was unfortunately (for history buffs) dismantled. The house
(from which we also rescued windows which now grace Mother's Sewing Room
(2nd floor of the Summer Kitchen) and the suites' living rooms was the
first brick house west of the Alleghenies. George Washington reputedly
visited the house when he was surveying for the National Road.
To meet L&I requirements, we had to change the door so it
swings outward. But you can still say, if you visit, that you walked through
a door that George Washington walked through. |
|
 |
We have been
hard at work on the hall in the livery -- here you can see the stone half
walls with barn board above. If you look closely, you can see a sampling of
the brick which will be the flooring. |
|
 |
The fireplace
in the hall in the livery. |
|
 |
The plumbing
crew (look quite like the carpentry crew, don't they?) work on the bath in a
suite. |
|
 |
 |
Still in
progress, but work on the bath is progressing! |
|
 |
Brick for the
hall at the Livery arrives. Also delivered, part of the brick for the
patio (which matches the brick in the hall) -- it's just thicker. |
|
 |
Bricking the
floor in the hall at the Livery. |
|
May 3, 2004. We did it! Labor and Industry Occupancy
Permit received today. Suites will open (still some finishing work to do) on
Memorial Day Weekend! |
