Construction projects are fraught with many challenges and this grand old dame is no different; but we're done enough for the Open House. The spaces are beautiful and if you squint just right you'll be able to see what she'll be when she's finished.
We are looking forward to celebrating the almost completion of The Big House.
Jeff and Beth
Around noon on October 8, 2012 Jeff and I spoke with the developer Aaron Jones after the SE District Liaison from the City of Portland Matt Wickstrom connected us.
Save a house and move it ~ 2 months.
Oct 8: spoke with developer to explore the possibility
Oct 18: toured the house for the first time
Oct 24: need a creative solution to make the deal work financially
Nov 14: creative solution: unanimous vote by City Council to pass an emergency ordinance to save the Montgomery House
Dec 2- Dec 4: moved the house
The original door had curves with wooden beads, but was seriously weathered and cracked. After a century of gunky finish was scraped off, Jeff gave the "4-foot-only-2-people-can-carry-door" a facelift with salvaged wood from the original fireplace.
During his years making furniture and remodeling Jeff often put secret notes inside wood or building cavities. This time it's not a secret, he put a picture of the family taken on top of the Fremont Bridge during the 2013 Portland Bridge Pedal between the panels. Pedal day is when all 10 Portland bridges are closed down for bikes: http://blog.bridgepedal.com. Seemed appropriate since we've named each of the living spaces after Portland bridges. (Note: Fremont is Garden West in Phelps-Montgomery language.)
The front porch has been an eye sore since the move, but a necessary entryway to the house. After a week of torrential rain and power outages, a sunny weekend allowed for removal of the structure and reframing for the new grand porch (with a little help from Grand Central Bakery goodies, a weekend tradition for the crews).
Oodles of handles went up this week on all the cabinets: 160 to be exact. Someone was a bit on auto-pilot and put the wrong handle on a cabinet door - see if you can find it at the open house...and yes, the cabinet door will be replaced, Jeff wouldn't allow it any other way.
Open House in thirty days. Excited and nervous. Today's another big day - measuring for countertops with the cabinets all in place. The nest looks amazing with maple flooring down. The first space with a completed look sans countertops and appliances. Okay....and doors and blinds and closet systems and sinks and towel racks and pulls and door handles and doors and sprinkler head guards and new front porch and new stairs (to garden spaces, inside the house and up to the front porch) and the trash Taj Mahal and electricity and landscaping and wheelchair lift and mailboxes and final inspections and occupancy permit. Small list. No big deal - we can do that in our sleep - probably will because we're not getting much at night.
On the backside of summer with more sunny days than not, work continues one brush of paint, one piece of tile and one strip of trim at a time. During the last few weeks with most of the windows installed, there have been at least 3 different crews at a time navigating their equipment between levels and living spaces using make-shift stairs and dodging painted doors poised to dry, tile cutting saws with drop clothes to catch water and chop saws working on floors where dust won't interfere.
In between, there are people measuring for blinds, pre-inspection consults, craigslist tours for future tenants (4 down, 3 to go) and Jeff working on the entry tile mostly after hours and weekends.
