The kitchen yields some treasures—but not that kind
The heavy lifting started in earnest during the first two weeks. The first areas to completely get gutted were the kitchen and library. The whole place opened up beautifully, and we’ll have the envious challenge of deciding whether to bring the cabinets up to the ceiling or leave space above.
The next major area was the second floor bedroom and enclosed sunporch. In the sunporch we found vaulted ceilings that will provide potential for a more spacious-feeling bathroom suite.
Throughout the home, the areas covering the chimney for the furnace started to come down.
That’s where they snaked all the old wires, and we would gain space on each floor, most importantly in the kitchen.
Outside, the old concrete sidewalk was pulled up across the back, the rear corner was excavated and shingle walls removed. Next to the house granite foundation, we found the rubble footings, along with ledge about 4-6 feet down. The good news was that we were not going anywhere.
The challenge will be how to lower the grade for the patio below the granite foundation without impacting the integrity of the rubble support underneath. We talked through a potential solution to buttress the rubble against the foundation with a seating wall.
Along the way, we found a 1933 newspaper, a 1963 baseball card and various other sundries. Unfortunately, no long lost stashes of cash or a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Oh well, can’t hurt to dream!
Posted by Paul Friedberg | Categories: Newton 2007 | Permalink
(2) Comments
thanks so much for sharing your process and your journey with TOH and Norm, Tommy, Kevin, Roger, and Richard !!!
Re kitchen cabinets. For a look more in keeping with the period, I'd suggest running the cabinets up to the ceiling with the crown molding at the top and make at least a few upper cabinets with glass doors, either clear (in which case only dishes and glassware behind for tidiness and maybe the back wall painted a contrasting color) or some form of textured glass, a reed look is very nice. You get more storage space that way and you don't get greasy grimy dust on top of your cabinets. The look is much more like the pantries of that era. Also, another suggestion is to make sure your cabinet doors and drawers are inset, which is a much nicer look, much more finished and much more in keeping with the age of your house. I love old houses and have watched This Old House since inception and wouldn't miss it. I bet you are thrilled to have this happening at your beautiful, beautiful new home.