There wasn’t much about our old house that was worth saving. We recycled a few light fixtures and saved some of the old windows as art but that’s about it. However, we did manage to pull out quite a bit of really nice old growth redwood. To day we had delivery of an outdoor diningRead more about Making old into new[…]
When we cleared out the bramble that was along our back property line, there was quite a bit of old fence in there, some of it flopped on the ground, some of it buried in the foliage. We saved any of the wood that was not too far gone. Even as bad as some ofRead more about More recycled wood[…]
The house we tore down was quite a mish-mash, having been built in 4 phases over 100 years. When it was built, it was built rather plainly, not at all ornate like some of the other craftsman type homes of the original era the old house was built. At one point we had one ofRead more about Re-purposing an old light fixture[…]
We are adding a small pool house in the back yard. Here it is from the elevations on the plans. It’s not really a house, but more of a covered patio. The only part of it that is fully enclosed is the toilet room. Among the many silly things that the building codes and zoningRead more about The pool house[…]
When we tore down the old house, we kept a number of old leaded glass windows, hoping to use them for something in our new house. We pulled them out today so the interior designer could measure them, and it made a nice picture. Almost all of them will need to be restored; some haveRead more about Recycling old leaded glass windows[…]
Santa Barbara has an interesting architectural history. Of the type of house we are building, Craftsman, there are many fine examples, as well as Victorian, Edwardian, and hybrids of these styles. I came across this interesting one recently. Consider this local restaurant we frequent. Hidden behind that tacked-on first story addition is a pretty coolRead more about Local history[…]
The history of the old house on our lot has always been shrouded in mystery. From the historical report, we knew in general that construction was done on certain dates, and in some cases what in general was done (second story added) but we haven’t really known what part of the house was built when,Read more about The real history of the old house[…]
And old Steve Martin joke … I’m always curious about history and as we dig am looking for any artifacts that I might find in the dirt we uncover. The first one turned up yesterday, an old bottle. Based on the markings on the bottom, I was able to identify that it is likely fromRead more about I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy[…]
Our garage, built in 1942, was close to falling over on its own. It is in the way of the new driveway cut, so it is one of the first things that has to be done before we can start grading the lot and digging the basement. The excavation contractor noticed that the boards onRead more about Tearing down the old garage[…]
In order to dig one of the trenches around the palms, the tree company had to move some of the old building foundation out of the way. Turns out the skirt foundation wall wasn’t very impressive. That’s just three inches into the soil and absolutely no steel reinforcement in the concrete. compare that to theRead more about More history – sketchy foundation[…]