Skip to main content

Dream With Me

I've been thinking a lot about the amount of imagination it sometimes takes to see what's possible in this house we bought. By that I mean, it can be easy to get caught up in processes, problems, and what needs to be fixed next, and lose sight of what we're working towards.

So, in this post we'll be looking at a few of the projects in process and dreaming of successful resolutions. Unfurl your imaginations then, and join me!

A vintage cast iron radiator sits beneath a tree in a front yard.

Imagine this 900 lbs radiator carried up two flights of stairs and into a second floor bedroom. There it is connected to a boiler system, successfully holding water and heating the very room it occupies. It could happen!

A raccoon trap hangs from from the rotting eaves of a 100-year old house.

Dream here that this wire enclosure will trap any and all raccoons that would cross its threshold. Dream away too the trees and branches that make it so incredibly easy for raccoons to get up there in the first place. Imagine the exterior carpentry repaired and a new happy home for all raccoons; one that is far away from this roof and house.

The back of an older home is viewed across a yard of leaves.

Here, imagine a backyard, lush with ferns, azaleas, hellebores, and maybe a dogwood or two. Dream of a woodland garden featuring a soft, wood chip path, a sun-dappled bench, and a variety of tasteful garden ornaments. If you can dream it, you can do it!

A recently dug up flower bed is next to a house and awaiting new plants. 

What better place to dream than in front of a recently cleared bed. Imagine the plants, the colors, the textures! It will be a feast for the eyes, and for the pollinators too (but hopefully not for the deer). And while you're at it, dream that the metal awning might one day have all that mold removed, perhaps with a good powerwashing. What a good and glorious future.

Plant matter grows from a residential gutter on a house that really needs a new roof.

Given the copious amounts of plant matter in these gutters, it's almost impossible to imagine a time when they might carry water, but it will happen, and soon! 

A woman and a toddler are playing with bubbles in a wooded backyard.

And easiest of all? Imagine the adventures these two will have when all this is done and we can enjoy this house together! That's exactly the future we want!

 




 

 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ohio Historical Center: A Defense

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by Carrie Ghose at Business First to share my thoughts on architecture in central Ohio. The recent controversy surrounding the new Student Union at Ohio State had apparently sparked a number of conversations regarding what constitutes "good" building design. Carrie was following that story , and developing a second piece to get feedback on other notable Columbus buildings. At the time I offered a staunch a defense of what I believe might be the most maligned and misunderstood building in central Ohio, the Ohio Historical Center. Business First wasn't able to run the whole piece, so I've decided to turn it into a blog post. photo courtesy of OHS/ www.ohiomemory.org The refrain is a as old as the building itself, "It's ugly. It's just a giant brown box. It doesn't even look like a museum". Sadly, it's that exact line of thinking that poses the greatest threat to the building Architectural Record referre...
7 comments
Read more

Some "Before" Pics

I noted in a previous post that we bought a house. Now that the ink has dried on our closing documents, I feel like I can share a bit more about that. While my wife and I currently live in Columbus, we've got family in the greater Akron area and had been looking to move there for a while. There were many houses we looked at, and many houses we could have bought. The one that we ultimately landed on though was 1925 almost mansion in north Akron. If I were to describe it in the parlance of real estate listings I'd say, "This spacious home in Akron's historic North Hill neighborhood boasts wood floors, radiant heat, loads of period details, a stunning ravine view, and...racoons. Two people stand in a snow covered yard in front of an older home that is overgrown with vegetation. They hold a sign between them that says "SOLD". An interior picture of an empty dining room in an older home. The room has wood floors, dated wallpaper, and wainscoting. Yeah. Racoons. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hashtag WIP

After spending much of the last six months negotiating work, planning for work, talking about work, scheduling work, rescheduling work, and waiting for weather that might accommodate work, I'm happy to report that work has commenced. The Akron almost mansion has recently enjoyed the fruits of many a laborer, and the results are becoming almost photogenic. So, in no particular order, here is an update of what's happened since my last post. A wooden door with a crystal doorknob is pictured against a light blue wall. We have removed more wallpaper. This picture is from an upstairs bedroom and is notable as that means all the wallpaper on the first floor has been removed. I like the color and composition here, and offer this as a good example of how most of the interior rooms were handled. Trim throughout the house is painted that creamy white, and all interior doors have maintained their original finish. Remember pals, these houses are only original once. A pink bathroom sink hang...
Post a Comment
Read more