Chapter 4: The End of the Odyssey
Lisa and I had advised our contractor Yates Hussey that we planned to have great friends Tom and Terese Houle visit us over Memorial Day weekend. Yates did his best to drive the work forward, and various trades descended on Rose Cottage like locusts throughout April and May. Thanks to their steadfast efforts (see Yates, Frank, Pat, and Harold below) , the Memorial Day weekend deadline was met.
Lisa obsessed over the type of light fixture to install in our great room. In the end, we settled instead on a propeller-style fan. After viewing the completed work, we were relieved to have made the right choice. We ultimately placed similar fans in two of the bedrooms. Our furniture, which had been languishing in storage back in Columbus since October, finally found its way south to Pinehurst. All American Moving and Storage made the delivery in two stages over a three day period. Lisa had fretted that the furniture in the German Village house would not work in the more spacious Rose Cottage. But to our delight, most of it looked like it belonged. (see the living room below)
We did buy a circular Victorian era piece to place in the middle of our front foyer, It provides a good focal point for our entry area.
One of the biggest problems of the move was how to move the massive double-sink (see below) we had purchased from Restoration Hardware upstairs and into our master bath. The movers were unable to maneuver the sink up our narrow staircase.
Fortunately, Yates's crew, led by the country strong Tommy Wilkes (see below), found a way by lifting the sink up and through the upstairs bedroom window.
It was also difficult to move mattresses upstairs. But Tommy managed that also (see master bedroom below).
One of the more intricate aspects of the final days of construction was the finishing of the renovated staircase, bannister, and railing. The crew held off on completing this until our furniture had been moved upstairs. We were able to add a transom at the bottom of the staircase to assist in opening up this area. We were pleased with the final results from the vantage points of both the top and bottom of the staircase (see below).
Shower stalls for the master bath and large guestroom bath were late to arrive. The one shown below in the guest bath was finished the day before the Houles arrived.
I always liked the "rain" style shower heads. Now I have one in the master! And Lisa likes the sprayer which is portable.
The third bathroom is old-school with a claw-foot tub and the repurposed marble sink which was formerly located in the master bath.
The dining room looks great with our Empire buffet and the painting we bought from Bob Hanson's shop.
Lisa's vision of our new dinette area opening out through a French door came to fruition. And our Welsh cupboard and newly purchased white circular table and chandelier livened up this space.
On the other side of that door, we had Billy and Frank Barnes build a deck (see below).
The first floor has a small den. Our couch will be a good place to cozy up in the winter to watch football.
The kitchen sports several interesting features. This built in bar and fridge is one.
There was just enough room next to the bar to place our mission-style chairs and a small table- a perfect place to look out the windows and share coffee.
When you sit in these chairs, this (below) is your view of the rest of the kitchen.
Lisa loves her new red Blue Star Stove.
We repurposed old door knobs and used them for coat hangers in our mudroom off the kitchen.
Our front brick patio has been in use for barbecue many times this summer.
My office off the garage (probably a servant's quarters in days gone by) was finished off with polyurethane over the pine wall. The refinished heart pine restored some luster to what had been a derelict room. We have been reluctant to put any of our rugs over the wood floors of all the rooms because we so much enjoy savoring the floors' natural wood finish!
We replaced the old wooden carriage house doors with new ones which could function with a door opener (see below).
But we couldn't bear to trash the old doors. So we decided to keep 'em. We simply mounted them on the side of the garage(see below).
Lisa's painted porch furniture seems to fit well with the exterior color scheme (see below). Nothing like sipping a scotch there and watching the world go by!
This was an expensive and time-consuming effort. We both say that had we known up-front what it was going to take to complete the project, we may not have undertaken it. But make no mistake about it, we are thrilled with the result and are glad we did it. The house is extremely livable: the blown insulation and fans keep the home cool during the hottest summer nights, and there are many areas of the home where you can relax. And notwithstanding its 1895 vintage, Rose Cottage feels fresh and new inside. We are pleased and proud to call it home.
