The Loft

Yikers, more stuff!

Checking out the loot

Grant in his weekend uniform

Box of art supplies from 1919

A drawing by Bessie Hammond from 1919

Empty at last!

We tackled the last of the untouched rooms at 1109 Pine, the loft above the garage, uncovering some final treasures from the property.  This was our 6th weekend of discovering, sorting and dumping.  Once again, we had our heros Larry and Lonny helping us with all the trash (there was a ton).  I arrived just in time to sort through some treasures:  a box of art and supplies from 1919 (Bessie Hammond's); two brass beds; a lovely marble shelf; an Elgin pocket watch.  Grant arrived home after 5 straight hours of working, covered in dirt and dust and a bit dazed from another day of sorting other people's stuff.  We shake our heads at the staggering volume of stuff that these depression-era former owners kept (the strangest: a large burlap bag full of red beans; the dirtiest: old mattresses; the coolest: the suitcase of vintage photographs).  Overall, these past few weeks have been a great opportunity for us to get to know this house through the objects kept by the owners, but we are not altogether sad that the dirty and dusty work is mostly over.  Now, we will have time to sort through all the photographs and letters and objects and properly research and understand what is now in our charge.

The Pipe Collection

James Corriell

Pipes

The Collection

Here is yet another collection from 1109 Pine.  This one belongs to James Corriell, who lived at 1109 Pine from 1982 until his death in 1995.  He was the father of James Bonn, from whom we bought the house.  Mr. Corriell came into the picture when he married Liz Kirby, the only daughter of Bessie Kirby and Leonard Kirby and the granddaughter of Mary Elizabeth and W.F. Hammond, the family who bought 1109 Pine in 1919.  When James and Liz married in 1982, he was in his 70s and Liz was in her 60s.  It was the third marriage for James and the first for Liz.  He worked at Boulder's paper, the Daily Camera, for 40 years and was an accomplished editorial page journalist and an avid amateur photographer.  He was a veteran of WWII and an Eagle Scout.  Among his other passions were airplanes, women and alcohol.  And, of course, smoking pipes.  My guess is that he liked his pipes most of all.

The Shed

The Shed

Grant and Carson at work

doors to alley

Grant sorting scat covered subway tiles

the second load

 almost empty

antique windows and doors

window from L.L. Kirby's Prep Cash grocery store?

after

after

We attacked the dilapidated, raccoon infested, fantastically disgusting shed over the weekend.  On Saturday, Grant and Carson shoveled the dirt in front of the doors leading to the alley so that we could give Larry and Lonny access to the shed from the alley to unload the contents.  Based on the amount of dirt in front of the doors, it seemed like the doors had been inaccessible for several decades.  On Sunday, Larry and Lonny worked all day to get all of the trash out, and Grant and I sorted through windows and doors and a few antiques.  We found windows that probably belonged to the grocery store that one of the former owners, Leonard Kirby, owned around 1910.  We also found the pocket door from the living room, which was removed many decades ago.  The doors were cut in half, most likely because they were so huge and cumbersome.  We found dozens of pieces of 2x4 white subway tile from the original bathrooms, and I will ask Joel if they can be cleaned up and used for something.  The raccoons even left us a solid souvenir of their stay:  two skulls, perfectly in tact.  The boys have already asked if they can bring them to class for their share day.  In the end, the shed is still breaking down in every direction, but at least it is organized and a lot less gross.   

A Leather Suitcase

me in the loft

brass beds

 suitcase

Vintage photographs of the Hammonds

Vintage Photograph

My favorite

We found a brown leather suitcase in the eave of the loft above the garage today.  The loft above the garage feels like a time capsule from the 20s.  There are wood extension ladders stacked on one side, brass beds on the other side and pages and pages of stationery from the Prep Cash Grocery Store, a long gone grocery on Pearl Street, littering the floor.  I spotted the brown luggage at the far side of the eave, a spot that is difficult to reach due to the unstable floor and low ceiling.  Well, it was worth the effort. The luggage was full of pictures of the Hammond family, the family who bought 1109 Pine in 1919 from Montford and Mena Whiteley.  William F. Hammond and his wife Mary Elizabeth came to Boulder with their three daughters, Charlotte, Bessie and Isabel, from Pottsville, PA, to seek relief from turberculosis.  Boulder was a known as a health center, and the Boulder Sanitarium, which was established by the Seventh Day Adventists in 1895,  was just up the street.  We also know that William F. Hammond came to Boulder as an employee of retailer F. W. Woolworth and Woolworth's stock supported the daughters after their parents died in the mid 1920s.  We know quite a bit about their family history from the articles and pictures that we found in other parts of the house (basement, garage, bedrooms).  In fact, we know more about the occupants of 1109 than the Carnegie archival library in Boulder, which is, coincidentally, just two doors east of our house.  Once we have gathered all of the photographs and documents, we plan on turning some of it over to the library so that it can be permanently archived.  

Evolution of a Bathroom Gut Job

upstairs bath before

shower with fish tiles

Cole

partial demo

full demo

They demoed the upstairs bathroom this week.  It went in several stages: first, all of the fixtures (sink, cabinets, shower, toilet, light fixtures, etc.) were removed; next, the plaster walls, vinyl flooring, and ceiling tiles were cleared; finally, the lath and remaining plaster were stripped along with all the guts of the plumbing.  You would never know that it was formerly a bathroom.  Like parts of the downstairs, it is now just brick exposed walls and support beams.  Our contractor Joel said it is often not cost effective to try to remodel the old space; it's easier to demo the whole space and start from scratch.  I am just happy to see it go.  There was not one thing worth keeping in that bathroom.  It was probably a 70s remodel.   When it comes time to choose flooring, I will consider putting some white hex tiles on the floor similar to those that I found downstairs, or something equally classic.  We will never roll it back to 1901, but we can make choices that will make it more harmonious with the older details around it.

Landmarks Board Approval!

We received approval from the Landmarks Board yesterday to make the alterations to our exterior, thus paving the way for us to get our permits from the city for our construction. What we received today was a signed Landmarks Alteration Certificate (LAC), which is required if you are in a designated historic area and want to make any changes to the exterior of your dwelling. Fortunately, our changes to the exterior are quite minor and my team (builder Joel Smiley and architect Lisa Egger) are very experienced with the process and our meeting with the two board representatives was smooth. I also learned from one of the board members during our meeting that we may qualify for a substantial Colorado state tax deduction under the Colorado State Incentive Tax Credit for Historic Preservation. It can award you up to $50,000 in state tax credit if your project is approved. I am going to get on this right away, although I also learned that if the state is in a financial crisis (it is), the tax credit can be suspended until the state is fiscally healthy.

On the construction side, we discovered white hexagon shaped tiles underneath the vinyl flooring in part of the kitchen and adjacent powder room. It was so exciting to see the original tiles and the original bathroom footprint, which is double the size than we first thought. Seeing this tile floor helps us recreate the spaces that were original to the house and helps us understand how the occupants lived. We now have conclusive evidence of where the bathroom began and ended, and it makes sense that it was a much more gracious space than the awkward powder room that we originally found. We probably will not be able to save the tiles, and the bathroom is moving to another location anyway, but it may help inform tile choices down the road. Hex tiles are one of my favorite materials for bathrooms. Big or small, they are a classic material for period homes.

View of the Flatirons

This is the view from the front of our house. The house is on a North-South orientation, so we get this view from the porch, living room, upstairs master bedroom and the new master bath. Yesterday was a very crisp and clear day and the small dusting of snow made it extra lovely.

The Tool Room

On Sunday, we headed down the to the basement at 1109 with Larry our handyman to deal with cleaning up the tool room. Since we first toured the house, the tool room was something of a marvel. Since Grant and I have never owned more than a couple of small boxes of tools and only one power tool, this room both fascinated us and perplexed us. I don't know if the pictures can capture what we found, but here is an abbreviated list: boxes and boxes of pipes and pipe fittings; chemicals and powders of no known origin (one was labeled "green mineral"); hundreds of electrical sockets and electrical related components; auto parts, including 4 rear view mirrors; irons and toasters; dozens of jars of screws and nails and hinges of every size and shape; antique anvils and planes; antique drills and saws; jars of rubber and felt washers. I was completely out of my league sorting this stuff. Grant brought his usual let's-just-get-it-done-so-we-can-deal-with-the-next-project energy and got excited about all the old packaging (he is a marketing guy, after all). Many things were still in their original packaging, with prices still attached. In the end, from a room barely 12x12, we managed to carry out and fill the back of Larry's large truck with hundreds of pounds of scrap metal. We also left the already full dumpster in the driveway bulging with 12 additional large cans of trash. The room is hardly empty. Grant is planning on keeping it as a tool room with a large part dedicated to all the antiques and nifty items in their original packaging. My day ended on a high note when I found what had motivated me to come help in the first place: the missing brass handles from the window sashes in the living room. We knew they were somewhere, and I found them in the deepest part of a closed cabinet. I can now feel fairly confident that if an architectural detail is missing, I will find it. Eventually.

Sconce project

While Grant was sorting through boxes and boxes of garage junk yesterday, I was washing, inventorying and packing all the lighting fixtures we found in the basement. I hope to use some of them in the house, adding touches of the past and blending them with some additional contemporary lighting. Cole (he's 11) commented that he didn't want any of "those ugly old lights" in his room. I think he will be a convert once he sees them juxtaposed against our modern pieces of furniture and art. Indeed, he is partly right. When we get around to decorating, the house will need a counterbalance to all the beautiful old architecture, and lighting will be a crucial element. Some of these light fixtures seem cool, but I honestly can't tell if some of them are cool or just "ugly old lights". And just because we pulled them out of the basement after 80 years does not mean that they are something we should absolutely cherish, use or hold onto. No doubt they will all eventually find a home.

Kitchen demo con't

Joel's crew demoed more walls in the kitchen today. With the appliances gone and soffits and cabinetry removed, we can see a lovely space unfolding. Like a raw loft, there is a simple beauty to the empty space, helped by the 11 foot ceilings. Most of all, I am thrilled that we are revealing a very well built house. Joel, our contractor, says that the thickness of the brick construction is unusual. There are three layers of brick. One to two is usually enough. After all the kitchen demo is done, we may have to revisit integrating some of the brick into the kitchen design. I didn't realize the house was going to have all this red brick under the lath and plaster. Wow.

A few words about lath and plaster (thanks Wikipedia!). Wood laths are the narrow strips of wood nailed horizontally across the wall studs. It was used in construction up until the 195os in the US and Canada. Post 1950, plasterboard was used. Each wall frame is covered in lath, tacked to the studs. The lath is typically about two inches wide by four feet long by 1/4 inch thick. Next, temporary lath guides are placed vertically to the wall, usually vertically at the studs. Plaster is then applied, typically using a wooden board as the application tool. The applier drags the board upward over the wall, forcing the plaster into the gaps between the lath and leaving a layer on the front the depth of the temporary guides. A helper feeds new plaster onto the board, as the plaster is applied in quantity. When the wall is fully covered, the vertical lath "guides" are removed, and their "slots" are filled in, leaving a fairly uniform undercoat. It is standard to apply a second layer in the same fashion, leaving about a half inch of rough, sandy plaster (called a brown coat). A smooth, white finish coat goes on last. After the plaster is completely dry, the walls are ready to be painted. Eventually (around 1950)the wood laths were replaced with "rock lath", which is a type of gypsum wall board.

What is really cool about lath and plaster is that it incorporated horse hair as a binder for the tradional lime based mortar. Interestingly, throughout our house we can see evidence of the horse hair fibers. Lath and plaster construction was a labor intensive process, but it was clearly a durable method of construction as evidenced by the walls that were revealed today at 1109 Pine.