On Summit

The refrain we keep repeating as we continue the work of  reviving our Akron almost mansion is "one step at a time". In this context one step could mean anything from one purchase, to one phone call, one project, one payment, one trip to the hardware store, one meeting with a contractor, one online order, one decision, or even one well-deserved break. The point being, this work isn't so much a big project, as it is a thousand little ones. It's the accumulation small efforts, applied consistently with the goal of mostly just keeping things moving forward...one small step at a time. So today, we'll celebrate some small steps and small wonders along the way. A pink toilet is pictured with a pink sink and in a bathroom tiled with vintage pink tiles. The pink Kohler toilet has a assumed it's rightful position next to the pink sink in the pink powder room. I mentioned previously that this was clearly a 1950s remodel. As you can see, it's an aesthetic that we...

After spending much of the last six months negotiating work, planning for work, talking about work, scheduling work, rescheduling work, and waiting for weather that might accommodate work, I'm happy to report that work has commenced. The Akron almost mansion has recently enjoyed the fruits of many a laborer, and the results are becoming almost photogenic. So, in no particular order, here is an update of what's happened since my last post. A wooden door with a crystal doorknob is pictured against a light blue wall. We have removed more wallpaper. This picture is from an upstairs bedroom and is notable as that means all the wallpaper on the first floor has been removed. I like the color and composition here, and offer this as a good example of how most of the interior rooms were handled. Trim throughout the house is painted that creamy white, and all interior doors have maintained their original finish. Remember pals, these houses are only original once. A pink bathroom sink hang...

I've been thinking a lot about the amount of imagination it sometimes takes to see what's possible in this house we bought. By that I mean, it can be easy to get caught up in processes, problems, and what needs to be fixed next, and lose sight of what we're working towards. So, in this post we'll be looking at a few of the projects in process and dreaming of successful resolutions. Unfurl your imaginations then, and join me! A vintage cast iron radiator sits beneath a tree in a front yard. Imagine this 900 lbs radiator carried up two flights of stairs and into a second floor bedroom. There it is connected to a boiler system, successfully holding water and heating the very room it occupies. It could happen! A raccoon trap hangs from from the rotting eaves of a 100-year old house. Dream here that this wire enclosure will trap any and all raccoons that would cross its threshold. Dream away too the trees and branches that make it so incredibly easy for raccoons to get up th...

I mentioned in my previous post that our Akron almost-mansion was built in 1925 by Akron entrepreneur and wallpaper baron W.D. Turner. And while we appreciate that Mr. Turner was willing to put his money where his house is, the wallpaper selections he made those 100-odd years ago will likely not be accompanying the home into its next century.   A hole cut in the wall shows off our brand new PEX plumbing supply lines as well as 2.25 square feet of wallpaper that won't have to be removed. Win. Win. So, we continue to remove wallpaper. It's slow going, messy, and not particularly glamorous. Favoring the "kitchen sink" approach, we're tossing everything at the removal process. That includes steam, scoring, fabric softener, more steam, sharp objects, still more steam, and good old elbow grease. With a bit of perseverance, we've got two rooms done and maybe three to go.  I know I said this work wasn't glamorous, but I do like how the window, the diagonal light, ...

Myself, my family, and what is now feeling like a small army of contractors have begun the process of prodding our recently acquired and long vacant almost-mansion into a state of habitability. And while we've only just begun, I'm already sensing that the house has the upper hand. That's not to say I view the house as an adversary (or my relationship with it as adversarial), but rather that the house and I are currently working across purposes. The house, left to it's own devices, would prefer to follow the path of least resistance and continue it's slow march towards entropy, disorder, and decay. I obviously have other plans for it. I'm no physicist, but I know enough about physics to know that the way one combats entropy is with the application of energy. In the case of this house, that energy comes in the form of manual labor. So labor we do, often in fits and and occasionally in starts. Sometimes we take a step forward and sometimes we take a step back. Some...

I am not a gamer. That's notable since I came of age during the time a lot of people consider the golden age of arcade games. I was teen at exactly the moment Space Invaders, Asteroids, Frogger and Pac-Man were revolutionizing video games. That I did not embrace games or gaming at that time can be attributed to a near-comical lack of hand-eye coordination. My general ineptitude ensured that games were not a great value proposition for me, and I quickly learned that my precious quarters were better invested in other pursuits (scale models and tabletop board games for example). That preamble aside, I do occasionally play games. In that capacity, and because my hand-eye coordination has not improved with age, I favor only the most gentle of games; that is, ones that don't involve a lot of skill or dexterity or particularly sharp reflexes. One of the games that fits the bill is called Kind Words. (and in this instance we are using the word "game" in only the most generous...