Our house is ninety years old. It was once grand, once condemned, several times remodeled, repaired and always had a leaky roof. I am happy to say that after our 22 years here I think all of the roof leaks have finally been fixed.
The family that built the house in 1921 lived here until all but one died. The last original family survivor here became legally blind, lost his job and could no longer maintain the home. Two short-term owners held title between the original builders and us. They gutted, roofed and started many projects during that time; not nearly all of those projects were completed.
We bought the house when it still needed a lot of finish work. My Mom and Dad enjoyed this place and they visited us frequently. Dad always loved home maintenance, so we did a lot of that when he was here. Our first project was the hand rail going upstairs. There was no rail up the 14 steps to the landing or the two steps to the upstairs hallway and no guard rail for the eight feet to the north bedroom. The condition was such that one misstep from the upstairs hallway could land a person in the downstairs hall. Dad and I designed and built the hand rail and the hall guard rail in a day, using materials I had on hand. Dad has been gone 19 years now, but the rail is as sturdy today as it was 22 years ago and even though I go up and down those steps several times a day; I think of him every time I use those stairs and see that rail...
No comments:
Post a Comment