Fireplace

Today we worked on the fireplace hearth. Clearly, I had lots of help! The brick mortar was crumbling and the bricks were sagging so we removed all the bricks and the sand and concrete beneath them. My intentions are to replace the hearth bricks with tile and continue the tile on the surround right over the existing brick. Someone painted the mortar on the surround a sparkling silver, probably because it had blackened with age. It's not very appealing so instead of trying to remove the paint and repair the brick we'll go with a nice tile.

Arts and Crafts Movement ~ 1890-1920

In researching the era of this building I came across a quote by William Morris who is often credited as the founder or at least major practitioner of the Arts and Crafts movement. The movement was largely a response to the extravagance of the Victorian era and objection to the industrialization of society. Morris desired a return to simple but good design and craftsmanship. This is my motto as we renovate and design the space. Since this building was a public space there are elements that are substantially more ornate such as the columns and the fireplace which reflect another style at this time which was the Classical Revival style.

Work in the lower level

I spent most of the Easter weekend gutting these old men's and women's bathrooms that were back to back. We left one toilet and sink to use while we continue working. This will eventually be one large bathroom. We also moved a wall and removed carpet in what will be one of the bedrooms. Elianne and Anna loved helping, while William was off watching his Cars movie. We also stripped out a closet that was damaged from termites and water. The mold and mess was overwhelming but it's done!

I'm afraid my pace of remodeling is a little too fast for my dad who likes the retired man's pace. He tried to keep busy with various tasks so he wouldn't have to watch the destruction. Upcoming tasks include repairing a great deal of plaster and removing peeling paint.