Earth Matters

Who thinks up names for paint?  Earth Matters is the name of what we just call the brown paint on the building.  It started at about 9:00 am on the last Friday of November and by 4:00 the Dad and the son-in-law, paint brushes in hand, had used one gallon of paint to give the front a new winter coat.  What you are looking at is a almost completed facade.  There is still crown molding to be made for the window tops, new (or new antique) doors to be hunted for, and a colored stain to be added to the window ledge.  Oh, I guess the brick has to be cleaned off too, I see there is some cement splatter.  Little by little and with each new detail, the front is taking shape.  It will be getting colder and the snow is sure to pile up, so no new details till spring.  The crown molding will be a crowning touch and there will be every attempt to salvage the old shop doors.  For now they have a coat of Earth Matters as they wait for the spring thaw.  Stay tuned!

All In A Day

At about 8:45 a dumpster from Scotty's Roll-offs arrived and at 9:00 the front awning of the building was knocked off.  Then 1 Dad, 1 son in law, and 3 sons later at approximately 4:30 - the last transom window was finished being installed.  You never know when you tear into an old building what surprises you might find lurking, but today went smooth there wasn't any "OH MY GOSH's" or "son of a...", although a couple of times there was an "ouch" or a "look out!".  The only minor irritant of the day was the window guys didn't deliver enough of the window tape so #3 son was sent to Hutch to fetch some.  It might not be finished but it still looks a whole lot better than it did before.  Next up is all the trim to give it that old time shop appeal, then paint, and the front will be done for the time being (minor touch-ups will be taken care of in spring).  There was still all sorts of unsolicited information regarding the old barber chairs with folks stopping in and asking "have you ever heard of the show Pawn Stars?", apparently those people have not read this blog and still think the chairs are worth thousands.  The windows are blocked off as best as possible so no one has to look in at the mess inside.  Better to create that illusion of mystery about what is in there.  There is still much work to do upstairs and down, but a sigh of relief was heard from the Grand Poohbah to have one thing crossed off the list.

NEWS....NEWS....NEWS......

Something unexpected has happened;  New windows have been ordered.  We didn't expect to order windows till Spring, so it is an unexpected bonus.  I'm not sure they will also get put in before Spring, but if so, that will really help with energy efficiency.  The old windows were drafty old single pane glass, and to open and shut them there was a big heavy weight built in to the walls.  The old windows of course had some charm, but replacing them had to be done.

The Barber in action

Check out these photos some friends of ours sent to us.  Little C. is getting his hair cut with all the original barber tools that were left for us so use.  Just as scary thinking of us cutting hair as it was when Cy was in his 80's and still using the scissors.  Look at that sweet little face with the handsome hair cut.

Shower walls go up

There was a huge dilemma about the bathroom.  Barely enough room to turn around let alone for a shower, sink and toilet.  Moving the original doorway seemed to be the only solution, so the door and frame were taken out.  If entry was gained through moving the doorway to the kitchen it would create a corner in the bathroom (where the old doorway was) for a shower.  That is unless that unused corner in the kitchen became the shower instead.  Genius! The walkway from the kitchen would become unusable kitchen space anyway as it could only be used to walk in and out of the bathroom.  The original doorway to the bathroom can now go back in, complete with the transom window above and a normal size new shower will now be installed to the left of the window.  This was a huge relief.  Who would rent an apartment without a shower?  Stinky people or Big Foot probably.

Since there is not extra space any place in the whole apartment, every little bit that can be carved out will be handy.  So on the kitchen side above the shower nothing will be wasted, and storage will be created.  It will be high up, so the occupants will need a step stool.  Oh wait, there isn't any room to store a step stool, just use a chair.

Skyway Outside

Whattabuutie.  Two views of the building showing the skyway (hardly seems like the right choice of word - 'skyway' sounds so modern) and a view from underneath.  Full view is the back of the building, while the other skyway view is what you would see looking down the alley from the front of the building.  The front of the building also has better brick, it is in great shape and more a red and green color, while the Lake Mary brick on the back and side has a very orange look.  As you can see it is a bit crumbly around the upstairs window.  That will be taken care of somewhere in the future when the back gets freshened up.

THE KELVINATOR

The Kelvinator ....... this stove is tougher than the Terminator, Govenator, and Arnold all rolled into one.  It needs a good shine, but when all is said and done this old dinosaur should still be cooking in the finished apartment.  It's worn in a few places like most people in their 50's, but new stoves don't have the charm of the oldies and the Kelvinator's vintage look alone makes it worth the spit to shine it up.  Everything is suppose to work and the owners manual might even turn up.  Arnold eat your heart out, the chrome on the Terminator should look so good.

Bedroom

Here is a view from the larger of the two bedrooms, from the front to the back where the kitchen is located.  The doorway however will be replaced with a new sheetrock wall.  Wall space is at a minimum in all the rooms, so having two doorways isn't desirable or needed now that the original entry door to the bedroom is open again.  Likewise, photo #2 shows the doorway that goes in to the smaller bedroom, which will also have fresh sheetrock.  Looking out into the stair well was not possible before as that door opened into one of the closets that was added.  The two large windows over look the bank and the church.  Notice the old radiator, each room has one, they just vary in size.

Treasures Found

An old newspaper is tacked onto a piece of wood.  The advertisment is for perfumes and other smelly stuff, but there probably wasn't any Evening in Paris perfume in the mens barber shop.  Maybe they bought that to take along when they crossed the skyway for their rendezvous?


When early craftsmen sent out new doors they would write the name of the person and the town they were headed too on the door frame.  This one was discovered, can you make out the name?





Here we have an antique dustpan.  It works similarly to the ones the guys in white have walking around in theme parks scooping trash into it.  From the American Furniture company, buy a couch and receive a shiny new dustpan.

The only Skyway in Town

You read that right.  Skyway.  A skyway would be an area connecting two buildings together via a covered walkway surrounded on the outside by, well.... the outside.  There are some very interesting stories about this skyway.  It connects the upstairs apartment with the upstairs apartment in the building next door.  The upstairs of Kegs is (or was) connected to the next three buildings.  One of those buildings, (the old flower shop?) was a brothel.  Yes, a skyway and a brothel both on the same street.  Makes a person wonder how many men told their wives they were going to the dentist upstairs and only made it as far as the top of the barber shop stairway where they took a right instead of a left? Might explain dentures.  Currently the skyway is closed to traffic.  Daylight can be seen coming through the walls and it is unsafe, and the building inspector would like to see it go.  Eventually that piece of building history will come down.  Another bit of interesting trivia, the barber shop in the early days was also a bath house.  People without indoor plumbing could come to the shop, pay a fee and take a bath.  On the main floor were two small "bath" rooms with a tub and sink.  One has since been turned into a closet, however the other still has the original tub and sink.  Do you think there is any call these days for a bath house?  If so it will be added to the list of potential businesses, but a new tub would definitely be needed!

The stairway is big.  Probably because originally it was not the entrance to a home, but to  upstairs businesses.  Many old buildings have steep narrow stairways, not true here.  This stairway is wide with deep treads, an open straight climb.   But if you fall down these steps you will probably roll right out onto the sidewalk.  It still has the original woodwork, as does the whole apartment.

In this view you can see doorways which originally would have been entrances to the different medical rooms.  For family living they were closed off halfway down the stair rail with various closets.  Entrance to the whole apartment was through the kitchen door.  Opening it all up and using the original hallway will create better flow, letting in light and visually increasing the small space.  The doorway in the background (right) in the middle of the wall will be closed off since bedroom entrance can now be gained via the hallway.  The two doors on the left are to the bedrooms, and there is also a doorway between those two rooms as well which will be taken out.  Above the doors are transom windows.  The two here have wood-grained contact paper over the glass.  When that comes off even more light will stream in.  The bare studs leading to the living room will come out and that room will be open all the way to the stair rail.

Here is the opposite view from the bedroom doors down the hallway that had been closed off.  The doorway above the stairway is to the bathroom, one to the left was the main apartment entrance to the kitchen when the hallway was closed and will be taken out, and the door on the right leads to the only skyway in town.                                                                        

The Upstairs Apartment

Above the barber shop is an apartment that has been frozen in time with a great view of the lake. The Seymours lived simply and uncomplicated in their converted offices. Many of the doorways were closed off or unused. For the renovation some of the doorways and some walls will be opened up to create a bright, modern apartment.  Other doors will be closed off in the private spaces.  The old radiators will get a new coat of paint, why cover them up when they radiate (ha ha pun intended)  some of the vintage look.  The old plaster walls will be completely redone with new sheetrock.  In the background you can see the chair lift that was needed the past couple years to help the occupants up to their home.  It will be removed, and the stairway refinished.