Lots of ladders on the front porch -- Jon installed new ceiling.
New tongue and groove to cover holes in old tongue and groove ceiling.
Here is our house and front porch. Second gal from the left is Mabel Wrolstad, (1887-1969), daughter of our house buider/owner John Olsen Wrolstad. In 1902 Mabel would have been 15 years old, so I think 1902-1907 is a possible range for date of this photo. In 1907 John Olsen Wrolstad passed away here at home, and his wife Mathea died in 1909 in Gillette, WI. at the home of their eldest daughter Sina Wrolstad Johnson.
During the summer months of 2008 & 2009 while scraping, priming and painting the house I found traces of dark red (burgundy) in the ceiling molding of the Juliet balcony. I wonder what was the body color of the house. During my scraping/priming/painting of the exterior during the summers of 2008 and 2009--nothing but white appeared on the clapboards--and there wasn't much paint on the clapboards either.
Photo taken of our house from the street the week we had the driveway regraded and rebuilt with recycled asphalt mix. Jon promises me that next summer we can take down the ugly leaning tree. We decided for every tree we removed we'd replace it with another tree.
To the left of the house is the new garage with second story studio (my girl cave). Since this photo was taken we painted the garage/studio barn red. Ok, ok. I know--you would have liked me to paint it same as the house, but I have my reasons. To the left of the two-story garage/studio is the old two-story barn that I'll be painting barn red also. (Scraping and painting barn is next summer's work--as we now have a 45ft. Cobra lift).
Back to the story of Jon's new front porch ceiling . . . more photos.
There is a Juliet balcony above the porch roof. Jon laid down new floor on the Juliet balcony above, and sealed it with a rubber membrane to stop water leak that was destroying the front porch ceiling.
Since these last photos were taken I painted the new steps.
It looks wonderful. And covering the hole(s) will deter pests from turning the space into a home of their own.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see such nice progress is being made on your porch. A lot of the charm of old houses is lost when maintenance shortcuts obscure or remove details like these.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Thanks for your round of applause at Jon's new ceiling installation. Now I must do my part to get on the ladder this spring and get it primed and painted.
ReplyDeleteI've been working long hours in the studio with long arm quilting, and basket making. After a qhile we get tired of working on restoration projects. It's been five years since we scraped and painted the Exterior. I was just noticing the other day, that there are areas to be re-done (scrape and paint again). Ugh!
Dear Anyes,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure John Wrolstad and his daughter Mabel would be very pleased to see that their house is not only well-cared for, but that it has also remained so true to their own time. It looks great!
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words about our Miss Mabel and her father John Olsen Wrolstad. It is a pleasure for Jon and me to restore and live in their Queen Anne Victorian.
By the way, I'm Mrs. D from Wisconsin. I made you a Ruffnerian tote, and sent you a book about old Florida postcards.
I so admire the great care you give to this home, restoring with love. It is a true beauty!
ReplyDeleteYou must be proud of that home. We are porch contractors in Massachusetts and take as much care into building new or existing Colonial and Victorian porches.
ReplyDeleteAs you would know through experience it takes a lot of time to restore an old home that was built in that era. The craftsmanship was far superior than the current standard.
I will make sure to watch for updates at Blogger: 1893 Victorian Farmhouse.
Hello, Mrs. D. from Wisconsin,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about that slip a while back — I see that I wrote it in the early evening, and I must have been in need of some sleep!
I'm just checking in because you haven't posted in a while. I hope you and Jon are OK, and surviving the winter well.
Sending you best wishes, Mark