Just found out that my house is the “Month of May” in the Winona County Historical Society Calendar. This old inn from the 1850’s was almost wiped off the map during a 1914 flood. The Dorsey Bros. Big Band played in the ballroom. When I bought it four years ago is was “inn trouble” again. Vacant, windows busted out, snow drifts in the parlor. It was condemned and a canidate to be burned as a practice fire for the VFD. I was fool enough to renovate it.
Edited 6/5/2005 4:06 pm ET by basswood
Edited 7/25/2007 9:06 pm ET by basswood
Replies
You Sir, are a King amongst Kings.
A big hat tip to you.
Hey Sphere makes you look like your just resanding the floors and sprucing up the windows,
Shout out to Andy C. Namaste my friend.
http://www.hay98.com/
I'll have to do a search for Sphere's place and check out another insane project. Funny you would mention floor refinishing. Here is a pic of that part of my mission here (and a few more interior photos). It will take a few more years (UGH!!) to get to the end. There is a 2000sf ballroom attached to the house with small, large, and small barrel vaults running the length of the room. I don't have any pics of that but it was the inspiration for the arch I added to the "inntry".
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=59108.6
Shout out to Andy C. Namaste my friend.
http://www.hay98.com/
2000 sf ballroom? You have a very patient wife.
Shout out to Andy C. Namaste my friend.
http://www.hay98.com/
This may sound like a crime, but I'm turning the ballroom into a garage and shop. There wasn't much left after seven apartments got stuffed in that room and then torn out again (by me). It will be a cool shop though.Edit to add: interesting you would mention the DW...she is a bit miffed with me right now. Maybe I should get away from this keypad for a while.
Edited 6/5/2005 8:08 pm ET by basswood
I think it would be an excellent shop. Very unique and lots of room.
Shout out to Andy C. Namaste my friend.
http://www.hay98.com/
Here is a recent photo of the Inn with the ballroom (shop) off the right side. I've been applying a fresh coat of paint. I've been working on the ballroom this week. It is 36' x 60' with a 13' high barrel vault inside. It is going to be a great shop.
Looking good.
Well obviously, you're not having troubles any more<G>Looks pretty danged sharp from my house. "what's in a name?" d'oh!
I like the color combo!
Lets have a picture of that ball room.
Doug
I missed this thread the first time around - looks good, thanks for the story - I'm sure your community is proud -
after these last few weeks and looking at the first picture in your series a question comes to mind -
do you have flood insurance?
keep up the good work -
"there's enough for everyone"
I just checked back on this old thread I started, looking for something else, and saw your post.No I don't have flood insurance. The flood in that old picture was in 1914 and was the result of a combination of plenty of rain, poor land management (clearing and overgrazing steep hillsides, etc.) and a couple of dams failing. The creek that caused that gorge in the photo is typically knee deep. On that day the wall of water was probably 15'.I'm not in the Mississippi River 100 year flood plain. Recently, we had the worst flooding in about 50 years. The water did rise to about 5' below my basement floor (about three years ago), but the Mississippi flood plain is about three miles wide here. It takes a bunch more water to raise the river level much once it is out of it's banks.The little creek is scary when it floods--flash flood style--no time to react. When the Mississippi floods here it is a spring snow melt event and makes headlines weeks before it even happens. It typically unfolds slowly.I may be a bit cavalier about this, but I've heard that if I get flooding into my house from seepage out of the ground, flooding my basement (most likely here) it would not be covered by insurance. It has to be water flowing in above ground, has to effect a neighboring property also, yada yada. I have a park on one side, state land w/ trout stream on another side, railroad property on a third side and a neighbor with a house sitting up higher on the forth side...I'm screwed.
I posted these today in the tavern, in the "Mind in the Gutter--Name the Woodshop Lounge" thread. I was asked a while back to post pics of the ballroom on the side of my house...it ain't pretty, but here it is:BTW the room is around 2000 sf (36x60) & has 3 barrel vaults (w/ spans of 6/24/6). It had 7 motel rooms built into it after WWII that became apartments in the 70's. The narrow strip maple dance floor has hole put in it for plumbing 7 kitchens and baths.I'm renovating it one corner at a time and using it as a shop as well. One corner down 3 to go...oh and I need to hang rock on those barrel vaults...staying out of trouble.
Edited 3/19/2006 5:56 pm ET by basswood
What type of columns are going to go in here?View Image
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Originally they had 4x4 posts on 6' centers between the small and large vaults. There were dining booths under the small vaults, between the posts. To put the motel rooms in they removed a bunch of posts without an adequate fix. I added several temp posts back in. Still need to do some jacking where footings have been driven down by the increased point loads.I had an engineer look at it, and we will need a large threaded rod and turnbuckle in the middle of the building perpendicular to the bearing walls to draw things back in or at least stabilize things, not to mention replacing most of the original posts. The laminated arched trusses are quite strong so things have not splayed out much.
Edited 3/19/2006 8:38 pm ET by basswood
I finally took a picture of my place from far enough away that it looks almost finished.The Inn (my house) is at the bottom center of the image, just the the right of the bend in the road. The right side of the house is still in two different colors of house wrap. The dance hall/shop is attached to the right side of the house behind the not-sided side.We had a little fly-in at the local airport July 2nd, and I got to go up and fly over my small acreage. I own the small wooded area behind my buildings. Neat to see from 1000 feet up.
Since my last posts in mid-summer, I installed an oak floor in the dining room/family room and baseboards and window casing in those rooms and in the kitchen.I also put in a new set of stairs to the basement.Over the next few weeks I plan to install a sliding wall/room divider for my girls to let them have one large or two small rooms as they wish.I also really need to finish a second bathroom...too many little women.Here is a pic of the window trim (already posted in some other thread):
dang, you have time to breathe inbetween the projects:o)well, let's play it again then, sam.
I'm burned out on renovating...and trying to get a life. Been doing stuff with the family more, and being lazy more weekends.I've limited the renovation to about one weekend per month. One or two months of the year I hit it pretty hard. I'm generally too tired to do much in the evenings.I'll fire up the woodstove in the shop and get some work done in the old dance hall this winter. During the summer I mostly make sawdust outdoors and the shop just gets piled up with stuff.Thanks for asking.
Edited 11/12/2006 9:08 am ET by basswood
Hey Brian,
You know..you're way to modest. You've told me about your little "project" on your house, but I had no idea it was this involved. WOW.
I still think we need to have a big "renovation party" with all the regional folks here on BT at your place...we show up on Wed morning, work till Friday afternoon, and hang out all weekend.
We could call it the "Basswood Ball(room)". Then we'd have a place to have a midwest fest of sorts every couple of years.
I'm sure you'd get a couple of suckers like me to show up! knowledge without experience is just information.... Mark Twain
Politicians, like diapers, need to be changed often...and for the same reason. (bumber sticker)
http://www.cobrajem.com
I'm up for it...might be good to get a kick in the...basswood. I have not posted pictures of much of the ugly and undone stuff. I did get "inn over my head," but I'm not proud.People have been telling me I need professional help. ; )Help is good and good company is even better. I would enjoy just a social visit even.
Bass
Whats the wood around that window? I like the way you used the contrasting element in that cornice detail.
Doug
Thanks Doug,The color combination and materials used were simply dumb luck...just what I had leftover from a bunch of cabinet and trim jobs. In fact the wide range of color and wood species had me thinking I would paint it all, but it is a pleasing combination, even if accidental.The casing is Radiata Pine, unfinished. It has nifty face-grain and shimmers in the light like it has finish on it. Nice wood...for a plantation grown softwood.The dark stuff is a green-glazed maple. It was light-rail for undercabinet lighting. I ripped the ogee detail off the rail for this use.No two rooms in my house are trimmed exactly the same. I'm avoiding spending more money when I can and recycling building materials. I call it "Carpenter Ecclectic."
Impressive results. I remember the original photographs and looked at them again here.
Very nice job!
Thanks for the effort. You can enjoy living in it and all of us can benefit from having you to save it.
I invented Coke with Lime.
Looks like you did a great job on that one.
Hope that you have been able to save some others from the bulldozer.
Dane
I will always be a beginner as I am always learning.
This must have been a great labor of love. Right on!
Very nice, and that is one sizable project for 4 years of work.
What name of double hung windows did you chose?
Ed,Thank you for the kind words. It has been four looonngg years.I am reluctant to diluvge the identity of the windows in the Breaktime arena, as they are not held in highest regard (Pella). My understanding now (well after the fact) is that other windows of comparable or higher quality can be had for about the same price, and with better service. I liked the look and feel (and still do), my brother-in-law liked his and Pella, IA is close by...that's my story. I put in 26 double hung windows and one transom window. That's 53 double-glazed sashes and I have had one seal failure. I have yet to take it up with Pella (10yr. warranty), I'll see how they handle it.
Thanks for the reply. It looks like I'll get Anderson, or possibly even the similar quality Pella line. I was going to go with Marvin for the sake of a little more authenticity but I'm trying to get out of the habit of spending too much. My place is of similar age to yours.
Cleveland,Could your existing windows be restored? If you don't have too much rot, it can be done. If you want pointers, e-mail me directly. I could probably even come up and look.
Hey Bass-
Just found the thread. Excellent work!! I'm also looking forward to more pics. So much character can be found in these old river homes (inns), and the folks who put them back together. I expect to look you up on a trip up river a touch.
Good luck on future household inndeavors! ; )Quality, Craftsmanship, Detail
How far downriver are you?
Edited 6/6/2005 11:14 pm ET by basswood
Do you find doing it in sections, rather then the entire house, helps? My thoughts was to do our house in sections, but some of it will have to stray off into other parts of the house. Things like plumping and wiring along with some of the frame repair.
I thought I would do the front half of the house first making it livable then move from the back of the house into the finished front.
DaneI will always be a beginner as I am always learning.
Dane,I've done it both ways, room by room and system by system.If possible, I'd move out for a short time (RV in the yard, hotel, or relatives). I bought the small house next door and renovated it in six months (3 mos. full-time). Then I lived next door and did all the major systems work on the biginn.
As soon as the walls were painted, and the kitchen and one bath finished, we moved in and sold the house next door. Made 30k on that sale and dumped it into the money pit. Now, I'm doing finish work on a mostly room by room basis. Usually, if I finish work a bit early I plan out everything I am going to do when I get home. Then I get home, have a beer and just think about it some more..."Maybe I'll do that...tomorrow." I make some headway here about every other weekend. Pretty sick of it really.Doing it entirely room by room takes an eternity and is about as much fun as moving, except you don't get to go anywhere. You just move your stuff from room to room. A dusty messy demented game of musical chairs.Cheers Edited 6/7/2005 8:49 am ET by basswood
Edited 6/7/2005 9:11 am ET by basswood
Your two houses demonstrate two distinct types of renovation.<!----><!---->
Type 1: Fix it, sell it, make $$, move on<!---->
Type 2: Fix it, live in it, keep fixing it<!---->
IMHO type 1's are a lot better situation. You have the incentive of $$ at the end of it and can "usually" see the end of the tunnel. Whereas with type 2, you're pretty much just signing on for ongoing repair duty. After "X" number of years, its starts to wear you down. You get tired of spending all your free time/money on the house...not being able to take vacations...not having any real time to relax...<!---->
Cheery, huh? :)<!---->
A friend and her hubby have been renovating their house for about 2.5 years now. By about 1.5 years into it, she was already showing signs of the renovation malaise. When she talks about a trip they had planned, but starts feeling guilty because the trip would equal 6 new windows. And that big screen TV dh was going to get, but didn't because that would pay for 1/2 the new siding. That is a BAD SIGN! That means renovation has taken over your life. <!---->
I've warned her that if it hasn't stabilized by the 3 year mark, they need to take a break from it. It isn't worth letting it take over your life. If you can't stabalize it (to the point of being able to take breaks) in 2-3 years, you should re-evaluate.
Just my 2 cents worth.<!---->
jt8
Failing doesn't make you a failure. Giving up, accepting your failure, refusing to try again does! -- Richard Exely
John,A few years ago, I realized that whatever is taking up my time or money (which was earned in exchange for my time), is sucking up my life. I am trading away my life, so what I get for my time or money had better be good.This is the premis of the book, "Your Money or Your Life." When I moved here from Colorado it was to get away from the higher prices along the Front Range. Here I have twice the house and 4x's the land (with the apartment income and the ballroom/shop as bonuses) for about the same money/time. I am tired of the project though, and find it difficult to balance, gettin' it done, and gettin' a life. Of course, I knew the scope of this "inndeavor" when I signed on. I've been a serial renovator. I expect this will be the last one.
I plan to complete it soon (in a couple of years) with my dignity and family intact.Inndefatigable
At this point in time our goal is to keep this house in the mountains as a retreat for us and finishing the house in Richmond in three (3) years. Then sell the house in Richmond and moving back to this house.
I am not a city dweller. I told my DW that it was imperative that we keep this house so I could get away from the city on a regular bases. I may do some of the same type of work here at this house as I am doing at the city house but at least I would be doing it here and NOT there.
Time is the only thing that will let us know how it will all turn out.
DaneI will always be a beginner as I am always learning.
My 2c on the section by section vs all at once is:Do ALL of the demolition at the very beginning. Get a dumpster or two to make it easier (in case you have to sort the debris). Forget the van loads at this point. If possible this includes any gas piping, water piping, systems, etc.Try to have at least a half-bath available, even if it is in the basement. A shower there is nice too.If you have to do windows, do them all at once also. At least, do ALL of each window you touch.In a house of multiple stories, try to work on a whole floor and finish it if possible. That way you can tarp it off.BTW, we looked at a house in Delaware, Ohio that had a real ballroom across one whole side of the house on the second floor. Complete with a mural on the wall. I guess the original owners liked to entertain in the old style.
Can't be too awful far from you. I'm just south of LaCrosse. Actually working on a house in Onalaska by the mall right now. Most of the work I do is in the LaCrosse/Onalaska areas.
My brother used to live in Wabasha, so we've made the river trip a few times. Always a great drive.Quality, Craftsmanship, Detail
I'm in the second tiny town upriver from Winona. Work in both the Winona and Rochester areas. Today, I will put the finishing touches on a cherry entertainment center in Rochester (country club neighborhood). I am to wait until the maid is through at 1:00 to show up (I think they got the order mixed up, but oh well). This morning I'm gluing up some maple for a corner shelf and fluting some oak to make 5" Victorian casing for an old house in Winona.That drive from LaCrosse on up to Red Wing is, as you said, a great drive! One of the best on the planet.
That's really great! I love seeing that kind of work done to preserve old places - especially placed with a history. Plus, it makes my house seem practically done!
Wow....Just wow! How long have you been on it? How much work and new parts did you put on it? The first few photos show it seems hopeless to save it but only one photo shows it just as it was built yesturday. There's an old house near us was almost in the same sharp as yours, the owners were going to change it to a bed and breakfast inn. In the newspaper on that house said the owners had so many carpenters doing parts of the house. Most of the carpenters told the owner that this product would run them dry as it does take alot of work. That has been going on for two years now. Two weeks ago they put up "For Sale" sign and the house isn't halfway finished.
Thanks, I think.It has been a long strange trip. Saved most of the original frame and a lot of the sheathing and the roof was OK. Other than that, gutted and all new systems & finish work. I did the gutting with friends and family, did the frame repairs and changes, hired out the systems work and DW, my wife did the painting and I'm still working on the last of the flooring, siding and trim (I haven't taken the boat out in a long time). It has been a financial and time drain. We are turning the corner now though (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can). Having an office and shop and home all in one is good...or is it? Anyway, it is slowly turning into a show home for my business. I have had a dozen customers over to show them things that relate to their projects and they all hired me to do their work.Here is one more photo that illustrates the extent of the renovation:
bass....
looks from your pic that the walls are super thick... what gives them so much depth ?
View ImageMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
The extra wall thickness is from full 1" thick sheathing (which adds 1-1/4" since it doesn't lay quite flat--cupping, etc.) full 4" rough sawn studs and new 2x2's firring added to allow R-19 and shimming to straighten walls, etc. Compared to new 2x6 plus sheathing & rock (6-1/2"), I've got an average wall thickness of about 7-1/4" to 7-1/2". The house feels like a new home in the Minnesota winter, and that is a good thing.
Edited 6/6/2005 11:16 pm ET by basswood
A follow up on the cost effectiveness of such extensive renovation.This one only made any kind of sense because I only paid the price of the land (2 acres bordered by a city park and state land w/ trout stream--remember the flood pic). I also got the house next door in the deal, which I fixed up and sold to get $ for this big project. I also built a small apartment in the back of the inn which is rented out to cover part of the payment. If don't need the money (riiight!!) the apt. will be for our daughters while in college or MIL or guest house or for us, if we want to live in the apt. and rent out the inn, B&B style. If it were a B&B, I would really renovate the ballroom, for weddings, reunions, square dances, etc. Some questions remain unanswered.
That house & acreage too?!?! And you're near Winona, home to my most favorite nursery(Prairie Moon)?!?! Ummm does MN allow polygamy? You DO like dogs too, right<G>?Tomatoes, green but FINALLY forming, SW of Chicago!
Finally found/made time to read your entire thread. Great work. Thanx for sharing.Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Chuck,Thanks for the encouragement. I will post more as I manage to complete various tasks around here or uncover more interesting history.Cheers,Brian
glad this got bumped to the top again - it's nice to review your project -
sure wish I had your ballroom and you had a real garage/shop -
carry on -
D
"there's enough for everyone"
David,I will be as respectful of the historic ballroom fabric as I can...and make good use of the space. I hope to have it in good enough shape for the kids to play basketball in there this winter.Here are a couple of ads for the ballroom festivities in the 1930's.
Did i miss the story on the name change from"Minnesota City" to "Winona"?
SG,Minnesota City is...not...a city...by todays standards. It is now a suburb of Winona and when asked where I live, I just say Winona most of the time. In the 1850's there were 600 people in Minnesota City when the entire population of the state was just 20,000. So back then it might have been a city in relative terms. The founders of the settlement had big plans, but faced harsh winters, crop failures, and illness producing the same mortality rates as in Jamestown settlement.Interestingly, the colonists here were mostly from the the "Big City," New York and included a disproportionate number of artists, writers, dreamers, etc. and not enough farmers and carpenters...hence the lack of food and shelter.Now I am here...both a dreamer and a carpenter...still fighting to survive.
What do you do for heat in there during the winter?
Woodburning stoves in both ballroom/shop and in the house and a NG forced air furnace.
Thank-you, Brian; that sounds like an interesting story. I couldn't find anything on the Net about it, though. What was the impetus for moving out en masse? Was there a cult of personality or...?
Your line about being a dreamer and a carpenter made me think of the union song, Bread and Roses:
One without the other is not half as good. ;^)
All I can say is WOW!!!
My dh and I would fight over what to do with the dancehall/shop. He would vote shop. I would go the other way!
It would be a heck of a place for a fest though! My brain + his brawn = a perfect team
Thanks,I would like to restore the ballroom for wedding receptions, dances & dance lessons, and as a conference hall and run the Inn as a B&B...someday.Now is is just getting fixed up just enough to be a workshop.Charlie the Singing Carpenter suggested a "workfest" here a year or so ago...that would be very nice. It would be sort of embarassing--loose ends all over the place.
Ballroom, receptions and a B&B, sounds like a great plan. I'm green with envy.
Best way to get that renovation finished is host a fest! How many carpenters did you say you want? Couldn't ask for better than these guys! :)My brain + his brawn = a perfect team
Charlie had suggested people showing up on a Wednesday, work for three days, and then just enjoy the weekend (people could just show up for a day or too even).For those inclined to camp, the large back lawn is level, well-shaded, and on the bank of a trout stream. There is a boat landing 3 minutes from my house for bass fishing, canoeing, etc. in the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge.The river and blufflands here put U.S. Route 61 among the most senic drives in the country. In addition to the Big River and the Refuge, there are several nice State Parks and a State Forest within 10 to 30 minutes drive.Plenty of hotels nearby too.The corporate headquarters of Fastenal and United Building Centers are in Winona...I wonder if they might sponsor a Fine Homebuilding Fest?Work remaining includes loose ends in siding (one gable-end wall), roof repair, some painting, misc. trim. I also have plans for carraige house style door on rollers as a shop entrance on the ballroom. Ballroom needs plenty of help as you saw in the pic.It could be called an "Inn-fest." Everyone will have a ball!
Camping, canoeing,fishing ...... and the chance to see this awesome B&B, sounds like a blast!
The corporate headquarters of Fastenal and United Building Centers are in Winona...I wonder if they might sponsor a Fine Homebuilding Fest?
From my understanding, everyone coming sends you the money in advance for the food, and shirts, so there wouldn't be much to sponsor unless they covered the hotel rooms. OTOH, if a sponsor covered the cost of food, etc. more would probably show up.
We are hosting one in Februrary and are trying to get the downtown merchants to give a discount at the stores for all firefest guests. I too am kinda embarressed to have it here. Our house isn't finished yet and not enough time to complete before the fest. But I guess most of everyone will understand that. Hope so anyway.
About when would you plan on this Innfest? We would love to make it. Keep talking and this thread will need to be moved to the fest site!!!!My brain + his brawn = a perfect team
I think the best weather of the year here is in late Sept./early Oct.--cool, dry and nice fall colors.If I hosted in Feb. it would look like this:
Oh my god, SNOW! We never get snow here! Now I'm really envious!
September October would work! Think 2008?My brain + his brawn = a perfect team
Sept. or Oct.
Hmmm.... could you throw in some Packers tickets for Sunday.
This story is rather dramatic and has enough twists and turns to be fleshed out into a book or movie.Very little of the story has made it to the web. The Minnesota City Historical Society is mostly people in their 70's and older and the website contains little info. The Winona County Historical Society has some info under "Western Farm and Village Association," an emigration society in NYC formed to move settlers to the Minnesota frontier.The story here begins in Feb. 1852 with three explorers on ice skates, venturing up the frozen Mississippi River scouting for a place suitable for a settlement. Unbeknownst to them the river was frozen at flood stage (very unusual, as the river is typically at its' lowest in winter) and the "ideal place" they found was actually not on the main channel of the river, but a few miles away, on a shallow backwater with no landing for riverboats.http://www.winona.edu/historicalsociety/sesqui/settle/#The%20Western%20Farm%20&%20Village%20Association
It's kind of odd to think of people duking it out that long ago for land....seems like it would have appeared limitless then.
Good story...thanks!
The story of this place is very gripping to me. I think I'll wander up the hill to the cemetary and and see if I see some names of the folks I have been reading about.It is a perfect evening for a walk.More later,Brian
Have a nice walk. I used to ride my horse through the little cemetary outside Basin, MT, when i was a kid, pick the plastic flowers to dress up my horse's manger.
I just used Google Earth to take a stroll there again...what a tool...
Brian
I havnt seen this thread in a long time.
We just sold our home in TX last week and bought a new old house to fix up here in the Amana's. Found a 1850-60's slaughter house/house that needs major renovation, man I must be out of my head!
Doug
--"Found a 1850-60's slaughter house/house that needs major renovation, man I must be out of my head!"Doug,Sounds like a job for a "wood butcher!"Now you have to start a thread too. It sounds very interesting.Good success,Brian
We just sold our home in TX last week and bought a new old house to fix up here in the Amana's. Found a 1850-60's slaughter house/house that needs major renovation, man I must be out of my head!
You going to give us a thread? We need lots of pics. Especially 'before' ones. That way we can encourage you while wondering about your sanity :)
I was on Realtor.com looking at SW IA prices. Seems like they've jumped in the last couple years. House w/ 2 acres that used to be 90k is now 130k.
jt8
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
That way we can encourage you while wondering about your sanity
Stop wondering about my sanity - it left the building a long time ago!
I dont have any good pictures yet - soon though.
Doug
John
I have one pic from the outside, all the inside ones are horrible - cant let the wife run the camera!
View Image
I'll take more soon.
Edited 7/30/2007 10:27 pm ET by DougU
Is that Y-shaped thing on the gable end structural or decorative?
Good question, wish I had an answer for you but I dont!
There are 7 villages here in the Amanas and I havnt seen that feature on any other building so I'm guessing structural?
You'd think I would know the answer to that seeings how I bought the place but the simple answer is I dont know!
Doug
Edited 7/30/2007 11:05 pm ET by DougU
"What kinda house you buy, Doug?""Oh, it's that concrete, half-timber, brick 'n' Tudor style..." <G>Looks B-I-G!
The Amanas are an old German comune. Some of the houses have a federal style to them where as most are just German style brick/stone/wood houses, post and beam in most cases, same as the way they built them in the old country.
I own another one in Middle Amana where my mother lives and that one is just a big rectangle with a garge that attaches at the roof but not anywhere else - also brick.
Doug
Doug
camo'd sling shot....
(neighbor control)...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Cow hooves for ammo...
mind ya..
that's there .. "just in case"...
chocier parts other than the hooves..Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I think i ate those when i was in Mexico.
yup...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
What do you plan on doing to it?
be it
Edited 7/31/2007 12:08 am ET by rez
Live there! Do a complete renovation and then maybe sell it, not sure about the second part though.
Doug
Very cool looking building. Hmmm, the baseball cap behind the tall cedar?/arborvitae?, the brick is a different colour. Could it have been added on later?Received & finished Book 7! And a VERY satisfying read it was! Now I have an urge to purchase the Series in the original language.
Could it have been added on later?
Yes, deffinetly added later. Same for the garage on the side.
Doug
Wazzat white doo-dad up there behind the gutter outlet? Thru bolt plate?
An how do you drive in the garge, over the lawn?
And I think the passenger side wiper needs a new refill..LOL
An how do you drive in the garge, over the lawn?
I'm going to guess it is either just a lawn equipment shed, or is a garage with a big door on either end. So car can go into one door and mower in the other.jt8
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Wazzat white doo-dad up there behind the gutter outlet
Without looking at the picture I'd say that its a through bolt, several on the building.
An how do you drive in the garage, over the lawn?
My wife's car(partially pictured) is parked in front of the big two stall garage - the garage on the house was probably the original garage when they got there first car. The bigger garage is one of my reasons for buying!
Doug
Looks more like a church than a slaughterhouse. Also looks like it might be big. Any idea on the sqft?
And since you've got a pic, you might as well start a new photo gallery thread. jt8
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
John
20 years ago I refurbished a church, this looks nothing like them, wish I had one of those buildings, there huge. I had the chance to buy one once but passed. :(
About 3500 sq ft. Plus a huge basement and some other areas that I'm not sure what to do with yet.
Doug
Pics!
be man, wheeeere's the beef?
Patience young man, patience.
I don't have any good pics yet but soon.
Actually the place is livable and we will move into it in the next few months. I'll start working on the place in sections. Not going to tear into the whole place at one time, been there and done that.............. to many times.
Doug
Edited 7/30/2007 10:13 pm ET by DougU
oh,man... the things some people do for love
basswood
Nice job!
Ya done good.
Doug
Thanks Doug, Razz, Gunner, Intrepid Cat, Dane, Quicksilver, and OHF.Posts like yours are food for the soul of the worn out renovator. You knew I was fishing for compliments didn't you.I should get that book, "Gutted," looks like an amusing read...might hit close to home, so to speak.Time to go work on someone else's house.
Edited 6/6/2005 7:52 am ET by basswood
"Innundated", ...."Innforit".....puns intended?......., LOLOLOL, nice work ,repairs AND puns!"If 'tis to be,'twil be done by me."
Innsanity...just thought of that one : o )
So, when you think you'll be ready for the next one? :o)
"next one?" What do you take me for? Wait, don't answer that ; > )
There's really a book titled "Gutted"? Never heard of it.
Tell me more.
bt
Ps very impressed
I'm just impressed by how much I still have to do. 8>{Thanks though.Here is a link for "Gutted":http://www.amazon.com/Gutted-Down-Studs-House-Marriage/dp/B000OV16T4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-8363798-5668704?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185638422&sr=8-1I'll do some work on the house this afternoon...right now I'm gonna go wash the dog.
That book looks like a good read.
Thanks for the link.
Rez,You are welcome.I have not read it, but have heard that it is good...at the current price, it seems a bargin. Might hit "close to home," so to speak.
but I gotta tell ya...
does anyone read the white here?
IT WON'T GET DONE SITTING BY THE COMPUTER!
be hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
sorry, must be the weekend:o)
Edited 7/28/2007 1:58 pm ET by rez
True Dat.Just finished the dog wash and lunch...I'll spend the afternoon in the ol' dancehall...dancing with salvaged lumber and cabinets.
Ought to read this book.
A humorous story about a guy renoing in the Hamptons.
snorK*
Hey! we live just across the river from ya! We're coming to see ya sometime.
RJTSounds like a plan. Try email from here or you can find my Basswood biz card at the contractors desk at Menards or Tri-Mac in Winona.
Are you in Fountain City?
Fountain city No. We live in a town dubbed "the garden of eden". Another Menards fan here also. I just picked up a great deal at Menards' in Winona; saw horses marked down to 16$ a pair from 32. There is a stack of them in cardboard boxes, as well as a set on display back in the tool dept where they have sawhorses. I find them cheaper than building my own. It appears you are a restorer of old buildings? I've got some old 4 panel doors I just can't junk, other old house stuff. We've been living in an oldie for the past ten years restoring it as we go.
"Garden of Eden"Galesville? Trempeleau?
Really, really, really nice.
Thinking about a dance studio perhaps?
Dance studio? Perhaps, someday. You might even be able to play tennis in there. Here is a pic the shows the ballroom on the side.
Congratulations for rehabilitating your home, it looks beautiful.
Nice work. Jay
I've been doing some research on the history of my Inn. A few things are interesting enough to post. The flood pictured in the first post prompted a "Filling Bee"...this event was like a barn raising, but with dirt shoveling to fill the washed out road back in. The "Filling Bee" was announced in the local newspaper.
The ballroom seated 200 at the 20 large booths around the perimeter, lighting was multi-colored and on a series of dimmers allowing gradual fading from one color to another color of light for the mood. The lighting was also indirect (using the large barrel-vaulted ceiling as the diffuser).
The place was air-conditioned in the 1930's using cold well water and a heat exchanger cooling the dancehall to 20* below the outside temperature.
The chef was Chinese and the bar tender from a well known Chicago hotel bar. Lobster Chow Mein 75 cents. Entertainment included "girl bands" and "Colored" acts before it was common and Slot machines.
Two thieves stole a slot machine in 1935 by pulling their car up to the Hotel door, ordering a sandwich, and then carried off the machine while the help went to the kitchen.
"Two thieves stole a slot machine in 1935 by pulling their car up to the Hotel door, ordering a sandwich, and then carried off the machine while the help went to the kitchen."
We do work occasionally with convenience store owners in bad neighborhoods. More than once i've heard of thieves who'll bring a chain into the store to tie it around the ATM machine and attempt to drag it out with their car. Regardless of whether anyone is watching or not.
How times have changed.
You my friend, Are going straight to heaven (Carpentry heaven that is) Nice Thread and nice job. I would have hung myself on that one!!!!
nice work, Lou
Thanks Lou,I have to say I have been very impressed by your work...nicer work than I usually get to attempt even.Leaning into the wind,Brian
Wow! Great job!
(I feel your pain...mine was not that bad, & I'm still at it...)
Kate,I recall that your place goes back much farther than mine.Thanks for the nice words,Brian
1695-ish...I hope to have photos eventually. Just think "house-shaped pile of debris..."