Are you ready for this?

The front of the building is pretty much finished. It looks totally different than it did a little over a week ago. At first, I though I wouldn't like it, cause I love the way ivy covered buildings look. But my realtor and contractor/maintenance person finally talked me into pulling it all down. It was actually ruining my building.

The process had been somewhat arduous, but we've gotten through the worst of it, even while continuing business in the bed and breakfast as usual. My guests have been wonderful about it. In fact, many of them were totally interested in the whole project. And, everyone seems to like the finished product...at least the part that's finished. Here's a picture of the facade taken on the day it was finally done.

No more ivy

They're working on the sides now, scraping and painting the *soffits and the around the windows. It has taken nearly two weeks of pounding, scraping, loud music, and workers in and out of my yards and house to do this much. Needless to say, I'm a little on edge...but trying to just go with the flow. The final project will be the back wall off the deck. It has to be completely tuck-pointed and all the soffits and windows done. I'll post more pictures then.

FYI:
Soffit (from French: soffite, formed as a ceiling; directly from suffictus for suffixus, Latin: suffigere, to fix underneath), in architecture, describes the underside of any construction element. Examples of soffits include:
The underside of an arch or architrave (whether supported by piers or columns),

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To paint or not to paint

Work continues on my 125-year-old Victorian home. This is day six. I think they're painting today. It's awful quiet out there. I know they're here, but can't hear a single brush stroke. I will be taking more pictures. I want to hear what you all have to say about the color.

I don't like painted bricks, but the ivy ruined the facade. They did their best to repair the bricks but they have to be painted. I'm a little nervous about the color I picked out. It's so red! well actually a rusty, brick red. I'm hoping it won't look too gaudy.

Contrary to what the Victorians used, we decided to paint the trim white. Another necessity due to the ruination of the wood, and metal window frames. Wow! I will never sanction English Ivy again. Posting pics later.

This is not my house; neither is it in the same architectural style as mine.It is much larger and more ornate and has elements of a Queen Anne style. But the photo shows well how the Victorians liked and used color.

  I've posted a link here to a video which explains and shows the Victorian Italianate style in which my house was built. At 4500 square feet, my house was built straight up and is quite narrow but deep. Built in 1882, it has three floors and is topped off with a flat roof.

Italianate Architecture

      According to Douglas Trattner at FrontDoor.com, this style has symmetrical front bay windows and tall chimneys."Italianate buildings tend to be characterized more by their ornamentation than by the structure itself," explains Gerald Foster, architect and author of American Houses: A Field Guide to the Architecture of the Home.

     Most of these homes were constructed in the mid- to late-1800s and can be found nationwide, primarily north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Although loosely modeled after the villas of Italy, the style became so popular in the U.S., Foster says, that it was sometimes referred to as American style.
Italianate structures ranged from modest row houses to grand mansions. But what ties them all together is elaborate ornamentation, primarily with respect to cornices, windows, porches and doorways.
"After a period of picturesque architecture, Italianate reverts back to a tighter symmetrical floor plan of an earlier time," says Foster. "Basically, it’s a simple box with a lot of ornamentation."

Victorian Italianate row houses, built in San Francisco, 1875

Brick Victorian Italianate row houses in Boston

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And so the saga continues

 Well, the lvy is almost down. It's taken three days. There were two kinds, Grape and English, clinging to all four sides of the house, but mostly in front. The English Ivy was the worst, with very strong tentacles that pulled off the tuck pointing and paint and destroyed some of the wood around the windows, etc. Right now, it looks pretty bad. 

They put up scaffolding yesterday in order to reach the ivy at the top of the building, scrape and burn of the tentacles, and start painting the facade. The facade had been painted before I bought the building almost 20 years ago. Although I don't like the idea of painting the brick, I've decided to do so because otherwise, we would have to tuck point at an expense of thousands. It's very common to see buildings here with painted facades. I am going to take pictures today and try to keep a photo log of the rest of the project.

Well, the lvy is almost down. It's taken three days. There were two kinds, Grape and English, clinging to all four sides of the house, but mostly in front. The English Ivy was the worst, with very strong tentacles that pulled off the tuck pointing and paint and destroyed some of the wood around the windows, etc. Right now, it looks pretty bad.

Right now, the guys (three of them) are way up on that scaffolding scraping, torching, and working their way down. What a job! This is the fourth day. It's be at least three more before they finish.

Now that the ivy is down, I see that it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. I'm so hooked on ivy covered cottages (altho my house is definitely not a cottage) that the thought of having the bare brick exposed struck me as not being aesthetically as pleasing...but I think it'll be okay. I think we do have to paint the facade though. The ivy ruined the bricks and the tuck pointing. 

I didn't want to have to paint the facade, but I finally came to terms with it. The bricks were in such bad

shape that we had no other choice. I picked out a red brick color and decided to stay with white for the trim. Actually, the Victorians didn't use much white on their houses. Thy liked muted rust, cranberry, bluish-green, gold, and tan. I was going to go with tan,  but my trim had been white before and it went well with my Azur blue tiled porch and my urns of colorful flowers. So, I decided to use white again.

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The Saga of the Falling Leaves" (Oh the misery of it all...)

 September 2, 2013
"I'm having an anxiety attack. My contractor is tearing down the ivy on my bed and breakfast property Monday...that is tomorrow. I have loved that ivy for the nearly 20 years I've had my bed and breakfast. But it is causing havoc with the bricks, the wood, and the tuck pointing so it has to come down. Can't imagine what it will look like after we rip off its clothes!! : =(

Well they came today and started ripping the damned stuff off. I was making breakfast for my guests when I heard a loud scraping noise outside my kitchen door. I opened it and there they were, Richard my close friend and contractor, and Wendell a cracker-jack worker and tuck-pointer, hard at work.
The two of them looked sort of funny, cause Wendell was up high on a steel ladder killing himself yanking off the lovely green stuff while Richard was just standing there doing nothing except leaning against the ladder with both hands.

     "You must be exhausted," I said to him, flashing a broad sarcastic smile. "Want some coffee to keep up your strength?"  I knew very well he was holding the ladder to keep Wendell from falling.

Then I remembered, there was a couple in the room above the kitchen in which there was a window facing the garden. Wendell probably had snatched all the clingy vines from around that window. Hope my guest weren't too alarmed, thinking he was some kind of "peeping Tom."

Anyhow, this is the way the morning started. It's well past noon now and they have worked their way around to the side of the house nearly to the front, my heart beating faster with every falling leaf. My house is going to look so naked without all that ivy.....
(cont. tomorrow.....)

Make fresh Berry Jam with an automatic Jam & Jelly Maker

I know this is a advertisement and I usually don't post them on my blog, but this looks so intriguing, I'm even thinking about getting one. And the video itself is charming.




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Great Mildew and mold killers for bed and breakfast owners

I found these great tips on-line. As an innkeeper and owner of a 125-yr-old historic home, I have to fight both Mildew and Mold continually. Rather than wait until it overtakes my five bathrooms, we jump on it right away. So when I came across these tips on killing the ugly stuff with little white, fluffy, cotton-balls, I got very excited. Furthermore, I decided I had to share it with the rest of you; not just you innkeepers, this is for anyone who does housekeeping.

Four Cunning Uses for Cotton Balls

by Jessica at Brightnest

Cotton balls may be fluffy, but it’s time to take them seriously. These little round wisps of cotton can be lifesavers around the house. Here’s how:
Kill Mildew Naturally. Mildew and mold aren’t polite: they don’t always grow in accessible places. If your bathroom or kitchen have developed minor mildew or mold issues in tricky places – like the very back corner of your under-the-sink cabinet – you can reach them easily with cotton balls. Soak a cotton ball in tea tree oil or white vinegar, and then place it on the problematic spot (this may require a well-aimed toss). Let the cotton sit overnight. The tea tree oil or vinegar will kill the growth.

 Freshen a Room. Here’s a philosophical question: if a carpet doesn’t smell great after it’s vacuumed, is it really clean? Avoid this quandary entirely by spreading your favorite scents at the same time you vacuum. Simply moisten a few cotton balls with your favorite cologne, perfume or essential oil (we like eucalyptus) and then drop them into your vacuum bag. As you vacuum, the scent will fill the room.





Organize Jewelry Chains. If you ever want to test someone’s patience, hand them a few tangled jewelry chains and tell them to fix it. To avoid testing your own patience every time you need some jewelry, use cotton balls to store necklaces and bracelets. Unroll the cotton balls, and then wrap them around the chains. (If your chain is long, use more than one cotton ball.) The cotton works as a buffer, so when chains are stacked on top of each other, they won’t tangle. Tip: This is a great packing technique if you’re traveling.

Deter Mice. Fall is coming. And the colder weather means Chai lattes, sweaters and mice infestations. Yikes! To deter mice from moving into your home this fall, soak a few cotton balls in peppermint oil and place them around common entry points for mice. Mint smells like wet garbage to mice, so they’ll stay far away. Every few days, replace the cotton balls so that the minty smell remains potent.

Check out Brightnest for more great household tips


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