It's a little bit like a train wreck right now. When you drive by you just can't seem to take your eyes off of it - because it's so bad. And that's literally how things feel around there. Folks drive by very slowly. They stare, and hope for something better to look at.
Well, it's coming - hard to believe I know. The sign on the side of the Conference Room side of the building says "Coming Soon" and it will. Maybe not soon enough, but nonetheless, it's coming.
This side of the building will be our conference room. This room was traditionally a screened-in porch. In an effort to return "The NeighborHouse" back to it's traditional form - and emphasize it's expounded use we're turning it into our conference room. Big broad glass will be installed floor to ceiling all the way around - on all three walls. The light will fall in, and we hope it transforms how people feel about driving into the neighborhood. This place is on the move -
catch the vision. It will be on the very edge-corner of where people enter Jefferson, and it is sure to constantly have a few folks seated at the table - working for the benefit of our neighborhood and
rising city.
From the front things are really starting to shape up, and as you can see, you get a better picture of things to come as you proceed to the front, west-facing portion of the building. Most recently the crew's been working on leveling and shaping up the conference room side of the building. Structurally we've strengthened that side of the building, and we've removed a few of the architecturally insignificant
add ons. The idea, is to return this building to what it once was using the newest technology in building materials found today.
The front is such a state of progress. As you can see we've replaced the windows with the originally sized
two light up, two light down that historically existed, and installed a traditional transom window. The columns have been re-proportioned to fit the aesthetics. By changing the size of them it more correctly follows the lines of the original home. It will be very fun to watch as the cornice details above the windows will be built in the next couple of days. Pay specific attention to the details - it should be intriguing.
Originally a transom window was installed above the doors in homes before the development of central heat and air. These windows were left open to help air move through the home, but still allowed the privacy of having your doors shut. Here you can see our traditional transom built to match the original high lines of our newly installed windows. Special attention to the details is the name of the game here, and this is a perfect example of Walt's eye for the historical. The glass should be installed in the coming days to finish it off, as it's simply open air for now.
Hardiplank falls into the
fiber-cement siding class. This simply means the product is a combination of a cellulose fibers (like wood) and of cement. It's part wood, part cement. It's pretty incredible stuff, and you can see it overlayed here as our new siding. It's a green building material, and a remarkably tough material. We only want to do this once, and with a product like Hariplank we'll only have to do it once. The folks who make Hardiplank advise that it should last 50 years - but that's only the beginning. How long has the driveway been in the ground at your house? Yeah exactly, and you
drive on it.
We're laying this siding on with a traditional 5.5" reveal, meaning that the planks are spaced evenly apart, creating a beautiful wide slat look that emphasizes the traditional lines of the building. It's overlayed and installed from the bottom up, like a roof would be, so it doesn't even leave any exposed nail holes as it's installed. It's a clean look. It'll definitely take a little more shape once the whole building is painted.
It's starting to really shape up inside too. Randy here is showcasing our newly installed doors that open up into the conference room. This picture was taken as if you walked in the front door and turned to the immediate right. Randy's standing in what will be our lobby. It will be filled with comfy new furniture, and busy activity. The doors will fall into the room and our conference room table will be right there on the corner of Jefferson and Carlisle streets. New flooring will be installed in the conference room and the hardwood through out the entire office will be refinished and stained something dark - strikingly dark.
This picture is taken looking down the hall towards the back of the building. As you can see, we've got quite a lot of wiring and electrical work that needs to be done. There are
bird's nests of tangled wires, and re-wires hanging sporadically throughout the whole building.
As you look down the hallway you can see that there will be a row of offices on the left side. One up front, a hall bathroom, another office, a bathroom and then the back office - all on the left. On the right side of the hall is another office that was traditionally the dining room in the original home.
The ceiling is a tale all it's own. Considering that the building has been added onto so many times - it had several different false ceilings. We started tearing out, and went through layer after layer. Once we got it all torn out we cleaned it up. As you can see in the photo we're rebuilding it to a traditional taller height, all one level. It should slick out much better and create an open feel upon completion.
Further back in the building is the kitchen. It too is coming along very nicely. John Bursi built our new upper cabinets and installed the new MDF doors. We've installed a new window in the kitchen to original height and we've rebuilt the cabinets compliment the height of the ceiling. New drawer boxes and hardware will come, but even now it's really something to see.
Thanks for checking in with us. We've got more to show you that we can fit in one blog post. Holler at either Walt or me if you're around this weekend and you'd like to check it out.
Thanks for all the support,
Dallis
