Woodwork – Cynthia Reyes

A Good Home, Electrical wiring, Family, Home, Home Decor, Life in canada, Photographs, Renovating, Restoration, Restoring old houses, Woodwork

Down to the Wire – John’s House Pt. 4

April 18, 2014April 18, 2014 Cynthia Reyes

I have not had the nerve to ask John THE question:

“Will the work be finished by April 30?”

Now that the electrical wiring is all done, John’s been working hard to meet his self-imposed deadline. But I know he’s had a couple of major life events to deal with recently. So I waited a bit before checking in.

I find John working throughout this Easter weekend. For him, this is not a time to kick back and rest for the holidays.

As usual, he’s well prepared for this phase of work — the plastering and painting. He’s stocked up on supplies……

For patching holes in walls and baseboard ….

Repairing the plaster around the new light switches ….

Priming walls and painting the woodwork….

And the most delicate work of all:

The walls and ceiling of this room.

See that thing in the ceiling? No, not the black thing – the white thing, to the left. It’s a finely crafted medallion – a gem rarely seen in houses today. This medallion – along with the plaster ceiling and crown molding, was badly damaged by a water leak from the floor above some years ago. John, intrepid soul, decided to repair them both. But first, he had to stop the problem from recurring:

“A new eaves trough and downspouts solved this, which is what I did just after taking possession of the house. Since then there has been no more water leaking into (the house).”

The features in this room are remarkable. The high ceilings. The medallion. The deep crown molding. The leaded windows.

Is there progress? Heck, yes.

Have a look at this:

And this:

And this too.

Plus, John also finished up the wood flooring on the third floor.

Seems to me like John just might get to keep his promise to Ann – that they’ll move in by month-end. After all, he’s been working like the dickens. But I don’t have the heart to ask him this, on top of everything he’s gone through lately.

So we’ll just have to find out together.

Stay tuned.

Photos by John Garside.

A Good Home, Couples, Following your dreams, Home, Home Decor, Homes, Inspiration, Interior Design, Life in canada, Lifestyle, Prince Edward County, Renovating, Restoration, Spring, Woodwork

Part 2: John’s House in Prince Edward County

March 27, 2014February 11, 2015 Cynthia Reyes

TACKLING THE GREEN ROOM

John Garside and his wife Ann sold their home in big-city Toronto last year and bought a house two hours away in Prince Edward County. They’ve been living in a condo nearby while John renovates the house.

Prince Edward County is known for small towns, farms and lakeside living. In the last decade, its vineyards and wines, fine cheeses and restaurants have also become popular. The County is a well-known mecca for artists and weekenders.

John has bravely promised Ann that they’ll be able to move in by the end of April.

But their “new” home is more than a hundred years old, huge — almost 4,000 square feet — and needs repair. John, who has never taken on a project of this scope, is doing almost all the work by himself.

The first room he tackled was “The Green Room” on the main floor.

“It was the worst room in the house, ” he says. “A water leak from the 1980’s had caused a great deal of damage to the plaster ceiling, walls and the crown moldings.”

John took on the challenge –– very carefully. He rebuilt ceiling, walls, and even the crown moldings.

“I repaired what others would have scrapped, and I did it all by myself! And I had never done anything like this in my life!” You can hear the joy in his voice.

Every time he looks at the room, John feels “a glow of satisfaction and a sense of oneness with the house”.

The house is full of beautiful features worth preserving. John has to proceed cautiously.

He says, “You think about each action a great deal before you act. That way the unpleasant surprises are held to a minimum.”

The skills he learned from his grandfather — extreme patience, careful planning, attention to detail and observing safety rules –are all essential right now. ‘Measure twice, cut once’ is the rule.

“You must understand,” he says, “that the project you are working on is not modern, but 100 years old. So you must take time to think about what you are about to do, and plan in detail how you are going to achieve success.”

John puts in 8 hours every day — and no slacking off. After all, the end of April is just around the corner.

Will he make the deadline? We’ll keep checking in.

Original Photos by John Garside

A Good Home, Architecture, Canadiana, Country Living, Couples, Daydreams, Downsizing, Dream Kitchens, Farm house, Following your dreams, Home Decor, Homes, Interior Design, Kitchens, Lifestyle, Renovating, Restoration, Restoring old houses, Wood, Woodwork

House Proud

February 9, 2014May 24, 2015 Cynthia Reyes

Every house has a story, and so does this one.

“I walked through the front door”, owner Beth says, “and, without seeing the rest of the house or knowing anything about it, I burst into tears and said ‘We’ll take it’. The realtors replied: ‘But you haven’t seen the rest of the house’. I didn’t need to.”

Beth was immediately drawn to the “magnificent staircase”, the sight lines from the front door, and the kitchen’s stained glass window.

Set on 5+ acres, this large brick house north of Cobourg, Ontario, has been beautifully renovated and lovingly cared. Beth and her partner Gerry were enthralled with the original features throughout the house: the woodwork, the 18- inch baseboards, the stained glass windows in 4 of the main rooms, and the back staircase that leads up to the bedroom once used by the household staff.

The house goes back to 1892, one of several built by the Atkinson family on “crown land” (deeded to them by the government). Descendants of the Atkinson family still live and farm nearby today.

But in the 1970’s, the house was in such sad shape that it was slated for demolition. Then a family bought it and lovingly restored it over 20 years. Next, the house was sold to professional renovators. By the time Beth and Gerry came along, it was already in great shape.

Beth has a passion for Victorian homes, and while some of the woodwork is painted, most of it has been kept original. “I have a mission to preserve old houses from being ‘painted’ – as so many of the décor magazines seem to advise right now, e.g. ‘Paint that staircase white’. Or, ‘get rid of that ugly wood trim’.”

It’s been a good home for Beth and Gerry.

With 5 bedrooms and spacious common areas, the house accommodates their large family gatherings and also provides separate office spaces for this couple.

They love the views. The sunsets from their west-facing living room. The trees. The fields. And the “free horses” – two Belgians belonging to their neighbours – that come to live in the field from May to October.

Realtor.ca — Photos by Steve Leach – Realty Services

A favorite space is the screened- in porch/sunroom.

“It’s heaven. Listening to the sounds of nature. Enjoying the fresh breezes. From the first minute the temperature rises to +5 in the spring, we are sitting out there for three seasons. In the mornings with our coffee, at lunch taking a break from work, and after work with a glass of wine.”

But the time has come for Beth and Gerry to downsize. Their lovely house is for sale. And though there’s the inevitable sadness when leaving a cherished home, they know that others will enjoy it for years to come.

For more information:

A Good Home, Birdfeeders, Birdhouses, Birds, Furniture, Garden, Recycling, Woodwork

You’ve Never Seen Bird Feeders Like Jean Long’s

January 11, 2014August 30, 2014 Cynthia Reyes

Imagine yourself a talented creator of furniture, wood furniture made mainly of pine and cedar. Beautiful benches, chests, cupboards and armoires furnish your home.

You end up with smaller pieces of wood, left-overs from those bigger items.

If you’re Jean Long, you use these pieces to make birdhouses and feeders.

An astonishing variety of birdhouses and bird feeders – most of them whimsical, each of them well-made, each unique in some way.

Although I’ve known Jean for years, and have been lucky enough to own a Jean Long birdhouse, I start to smile the moment he opens his studio door for the latest tour: I never know what to expect, but I know it will be fun – a journey of discovery!

Over the years, Jean has built hundreds of birdhouses.

Roughly half of them were given to friends or donated to organizations for fundraising purposes.

Many are scattered over his 10-acre property.

A former educator in a demanding leadership role, Jean found building birdhouses a form of stress relief. Retired now, he still has birdhouses on the brain.

Since each creation is an original, the challenge (and joy) is to keep creating new designs.

Some ideas come to Jean in his dreams. Some come from the sheer drive to find out how many objects he can use in his birdhouse designs.

“I use old rubber boots, watering cans, old lamps parts, hub caps, old metal roofing , scrap metal, old nails, old frames, old windows, barn wood, etc…. to build my birdhouses,“ Jean says.

Today, Jean is working on his 867th birdhouse. It’s a large, very complex one that takes much time and patience – he calls this kind his ‘’Xtreme Birdhouses’’.