A Tale of Two Doors - Part I

Once upon a Time, our home had two front doors. The house had been converted to a duplex through a series of additions and weird reconfigurations.

This was the front door to our East Wing:

And this was the front door to our West Wing:

Around 1924, the original dining room was bumped out toward the front, probably eliminating a bay window and flattening the facade. We believe this door was original to that period. As a second front door, it faced the porch from the side, rather than directly facing the street as the other door does.

We spent a lot of our last Christmas break looking for salvaged Craftsman style doors. The trouble was, we didn’t want any windows or glass in the door, which kind of contradicted the Craftsman style. At that time we didn't find anything suitable. Then later, around March, K locked himself out of the house and had to break down the old door to get back in. That meant we had to rush find a new front door.

That’s when we came across this beauty at Santa Fe Wrecking Company:

Yes, it does have glass. But the row of glass is up so high, someone would have to be pretty tall to peek into our living room. Plus the price was right. $65. We couldn’t argue with that. Even if it were only a temporary door, it was a good deal.

And the here's the crappy lock set that came with the old East Wing door:

Naturally, it broke in the break-in so we also needed a new lock set. Not that we would have kept the old one anyway.

I found an Arts & Crafts style lock set from HomesteadHardware.com

I could have chosen to buy a similar lock/handle set here for only about $500 more. The difference? As far as I can tell, about $500.

When the new handle arrived, it seemed enormous. Like a door handle fit for a castle. Here's a comparison with my size 5 1/2 shoe:

Pay no attention the the crappy paint on the horrible aluminum siding. That's a project for summer 2010.

K preps the door for a little painting:

We decide on the color that will match our window trim and the edges of our front yard fence:

And here we are!

and the handle doesn't look that big anymore:

For the interior we went with Sherwin Williams' Hubbard Squash because we'd already used it elsewhere in the house.

Tomorrow, front door number two.

Fan Dance

Back when we had the walls all torn out, we made the decision to forgo central air. Cash was flowing out fast and furious in other directions and we thought we would see how it all worked out once we had insulation and decent windows. Plus I'm a little freaked out by duct work.

Compared to pre-insulation days, it doesn't get that hot in here now but it still tends to be a little humid, especially when you first come in from outside. Ceiling fans help, especially when you sit still, very still. But obviously, the more air movement the better. Another ceiling fan is out of the question.

During my bi-weekly stroll through Bed, Bath & Beyond yesterday, I spotted this little table top fan:

It's called the "Otto" by Stadler Form. Isn't it cute? Even though it's on the Modern side, I think it would feel right at home within my new woodsy, Craftsman-y walls (which you'll see soon. I promise.)

I love this little fan. Most fans are too hideous to keep around all the time. This one could stay.

Except it's $200. Doesn't that seem like a lot for a table top fan? It's lovely, but it's still just a fan with some wood wrapped around it instead of plastic.

I suppose if I consider the thousands I saved by not installing AC, I'd be way ahead of the game. And I do have a stack of those coupons . . .

A Story Too Sad Not to Tell . . .

. . . even though I usually resist feeding off other bloggers' topics, because this one relates to both houses and to restoration, I think this story on The Eastsider LA is worth sharing.

If you haven't the energy to click on the story, it's about a woman who loses her home to foreclosure - her home of 30 years - an 1887 Victorian in an historic preservation zone of Angelino Heights. The story describes the woman as a passionate preservationist and an asset to the neighborhood.

Foreclosure stories aren't just about McMansions.

The neighborhood is within (longish) walking distance from my home. I was walking through there just this past weekend, thinking about how much it takes to fully restore and maintain those old Victorians. To do it well takes a lot of money and a lot of vision and either a lot of time or even more money. In some cases, it could be a lifelong project. While there are some spectacularly restored treasures in Angelino Heights, there are also plenty of houses whose challenges appear to overwhelm their owners.

I can't image what financial sins she must have committed to lose a home of 30 years. Doesn't matter. None of our business. Whatever it was, this must be colossally painful.

We've only been in our house for 6 1/2 years. We're not doing a faithful restoration. Even when we're done, there will still be plenty to complain about. But I empathize with her. To have all that work, all that vision, all that commitment taken away to be auctioned off to a stranger must be devastating.

I wish her well. I wish the new homeowners well. Oddly, most of all, I wish the house well.

"Followers" Returned

I put them back. I figured out that if you go to your Dashboard you have the option of blocking the creepier, spammier Followers. I left one that seemed kind of spammy but at least it is a real blog. Just seems like it's kind of arbitrary, like she's following as many blogs as she can to drive traffic back to her. That's the game I guess.

Between our Google apps, Facebook, Twitter and whatever comes along next, soon we'll all be within 3 degrees of Kevin Bacon.

"Followers" Deleted

I've removed my Google Followers gadget. My last three "followers" were basically spam. They were nothing but links to web sites completely unrelated to blogging or to the topics of this blog.

I will continue to follow the blogs I follow but I will no longer provide an avenue for spam on this blog.

Has anyone else had this problem?

You Know You're NOT a Redneck If . . .

Don't ask why, but I get daily alerts on which videos are hot on the web. I want to share this one with you because with the title Rednecks Blow Up House with Cannon it combines two of my interests - houses and class division.



Who determines who is and isn't a redneck? Is that term not pejorative? How is it there are members of that group who embrace the term? What's next, The Cracker Comedy Tour?

Rednecks Blow Up House With Cannon



When I first saw our house, I remember staring up at the kitchen cabinets and the huge vent hood over the range, knowing that it would all have to be demolished. I couldn't imagine how that could be done. (what I really couldn't imagine was how it could be done without making a big mess. It couldn't.) After watching hours of HGTV I learned that for many people, the demolition is their favorite part of remodeling. Swinging a sledge hammer seems to be fun and games for many. For me, nothing involving dust and loud noises could possibly be considered fun.

If the guys in this video are the gauge, I guess I know I'm not a redneck.

A Plague on Both Your Houses

First, a disclaimer - other than the title this post has nothing to do with houses.

In the Great Plague of London (1665) somebody came to the conclusion that cats were the cause of the plague. I heard somewhere that it was believed that witches traveled in the guise of cats, so the natural conclusion would be that cats/witches brought the Plague. As a preventive measure the cats of London were killed. According to this site the author Daniel Dafoe estimated that 200,000 cats were killed along with 40,000 dogs.

Of course, cats/witches didn't carry the Plague. Fleas did - fleas that rode on the backs of rats. With the cats gone, the rats flourished and so did the fleas. The Plague accelerated.

Fast forward 344 years.

Egypt has ordered the slaughter of all its pigs. In this NPR story I learned that some neighborhoods use pigs to dispose of their garbage. Great idea, using the pigs to eat their garbage. But with all the pigs gone, what will they do with the garbage? What about the flies? Yes, I'm sure there are flies with the pigs too, but all cultures will have livestock. There will be flies. Having a huge pile of food waste building up isn't going to help the situation.

Doesn't it seem more likely that flies carry what what is now called the H1N1 virus? Flies FLY for heaven's sake! How is a pig going to efficiently spread a virus? We know the flu isn't food borne. So it's not the pigs, it's the flies. And the origin must have been the flies from the disgusting factory farms in Mexico owned by Smithfield Foods, recipient of the third largest civil penalty ever levied under the federal Clean Water Act.

Can we not learn a lesson or two once every 344 years? Can we place the blame where it lies -not on the poor pigs but on Smithfield Foods? Can we not end the practices of factory farming and treat fellow creatures with respect?