August 11, 2008
Field Trip!!!
Pete and I realized a while ago that finding some really unique pieces that will go into our new house requires more effort and time than just searching on the Internet and shopping around. So in our never ending quest to represent our overall house theme properly (the homage to the barn structure and the industrial age) Pete found a great website that begged us to make a road trip. This website blew us away and was exactly what we had been looking for, and it was too interesting a place to just do an on line order. So thankfully this place was in New England, and luckily we own a truck because we knew we would need to make a field trip.
So a quick back story to our journey.
For months Pete and I have been scouring the Internet and drilling everyone we meet or know on how we can find some really unique industrial furniture pieces for our home that will help represent our whole house theme. We knew that we were spending so much time and energy on building the structure of the house that we needed to do the same service to what we put into the house. Along with stuff we already have we wanted to find some really special pieces that match the theme of the house - and worked well with all the new open space we will have - something totally new for us...
So like I said for months Pete and I have entered this into our
search engine: industrial lighting and furniture. It has been a tough
search. Not much would pop up. But we knew that this was not common
stuff we were searching for. But Pete noticed one place kept coming
up. Getbackinc.com.
The website rocked (thanks to the owner's
son!) and it was exactly what we were looking for. I called the place
up and arranged a meeting.
So last Friday thanks to Pete taking a well earned day off we ventured out to Get Back Inc. And what we found was a gigantic old mill/factory space that had endless amounts of stuff for us to discover. We were fortunate enough on the day of our visit to also meet the owner, a great guy - Timothy Byrne who gave us a tour and showed us how they work. Tim and his crew discover great industrial pieces and parts from old American mills, factories, warehouses, and various workplaces and bring them back to their shop where they spend endless hours cleaning them up, while keeping their original integrity, and making them into recycled/re-purposed items - the end product is amazing. They do all the work by hand in the most meticulous fashion and the end products are pieces of art for the home - yet still serving a function and purpose . Each piece also gives a great story of the past - this place was right up our alley. We fell in love with Get Back and it's hard working people.
In the end our field trip was a day well spent. We were able to meet a guy who was super passionate about industrial pieces as we were, and he worked hard at what he did while loving every moment of it. This place in our eyes was one of those hidden gems. We spent about three hours there and we are happy to report that we found the industrial lights we have been searching for to use in our kitchen, a great metal cabinet on wheels, and some old cart wheels that we will re-purpose on our harvest table (more on that later!). We will be emailing Tim about some other items we wanted and we plan another trip out there in the next few weeks. So keep an eye out in the next month or so where you will see Tim's great pieces get a new life in our new home. And thanks to Tim and all the guys at Get Back Inc. in Oakville Connecticut for giving the Favats a memorable field trip.
Now please don't tell anybody about this place ok?
Amy & Pete
(8) Comments
Comment on this BlogHello Amy & Pete, #1 - Thank You for taking the time to do a new blog. We still don't know what's happening in most of the house - or "on" the house, either. But this is a great start. Glad you found so much great stuff - I look forward to seeing your treasures on the show. I'll check out their website. Thanks Again, Take Care, Rockman Jim,
Why are the webcams down AGAIN? Why are the webcams ALWAYS DOWN during EVERY TOH project during the most intersesting parts? Why doesn't anyone on this website aknowledge the problems with webcam outages, blog gaps or anything else that's going on?
For all of us that have been faithfull viewers and supporters for decades, you people owe us more than your total disregard of this website!
Jim, Judy, Chris, HRM, and all the Loyal TOH Bloggers:
We are bummed about the webcams being down too. Pete is away right now on a business trip and it is a total drag that he can't see the project going on. Please know we have let the TOH folks know that we share your frustrations and we are bugging them too. Please know this: The roofing is still going on as is the start of the solar panel work. The rain, lightning and thunder in New England has been endless this summer so the roof is taking some serious time - not to mention the roof structure itself is pretty compicated, and with all the solar going in on the dormers it is not an easy or quick job by any means. The shingling is also progressing on the exterior as is the vertical board on the barn bump out in the back. And a ton of work is going on inside - all the kitchen and bathroom cabinets are in, tile work is being done in the bathrooms, and endless amounts of electrical wiring and plumbing is keeping the interior buzzing. It is a very tight site to work on with minimal parking and cars whipping by at 40+MPH on our main road. So let me just say how much we applaud all the hard working and talented crews who are dealing with the site being very muddy, very rainy, and very crowded for most of their work days in the last few weeks. They rock. We hope to get the cameras up and running soon and in the meantime I am headed to the site now (in the rain again) to take some interior pics of the action to share with all of you on our next blog coming up this week. Hang in there with us!
Amy Favat
Hello Amy, Thank You AGAIN. I just checked the cameras - they are dark. That's good - it's 9:20 pm by you - the cameras should be dark - that means they are working again. Thank You camera managers.
All the little bits of information are great. We all appreciate you taking the time to get pictures for us (and your scrapbook - I'm sure). To see what's happening around the house will be super! You ROCK ! Looking forward to your next blog. Again - Thank You. Rockman Jim
Cameras are still not working? Is this going to get fixed? I was really enjoying this project please help with the cameras.
Amy - Any chance of getting that new blog you mentioned with some interior pictures? Not much to see with the cameras in their present locations. Thanks a bunch, Rockman Jim
Hello Pete and Amy,
Just found your project through today's boston.com article. I realize that you have found a great source in Get Back but wanted to turn you on to a similar resource that is located in L.A. if only for ideas, sonrisafurniture.com. And if you are looking for an original piece, there is a craftsman in the Todd Farm barn up in Essex (that also has a shop in Concord), www.toddfarm.com/dealer_table.cfm , Milldam Woodworks. If I recall correctly, his son creates beautiful cabinets and wood pieces but incorporates quirky design, metal and industrial pieces - very whimsical. If I also recall, he previously had pieces in Carly Simon's shop on the Vineyard although not sure if that is still the case. Pete, haven't seen you in about 16 years, really like the idea behind and the design of your new home - best of luck.
Amy and Pete, I have a bronze placard from the Old Levis' hot dogs building in Phila. It is actually a placard for the Asian Bistro resturant that opened after Levis' which is now a vegetarian pizza shop, in which I did some electrical work in before it opened. Email me back and I will send you pictures of it and send it to you if you would like it. I sent an e-mail to TOH but never received a reply.