guest room windows, day1

The good thing about having misc projects done for you is they get done in a very short period of time. Something that would have taken you 6 months is scratched off the list in a week. For a while I kind of forgot we have this extra bedroom because we almost never go in there. It was nice seeing the dramatic transformation. It doesn't seem like much, but it totally changes the room.

The crappy white moldings were the first things to go. We could finally see what we were dealing with. I immediately homed in on the wallpaper -- that must have looked interesting. In all we were missing three 8 pound weights. Luckily a PO had the foresight to save these in the basement. Each sash was carefully removed and was thoroughly scraped and sanded down. A head to toe restoration of an old window is a multi-stage task, so we had to grow accustomed to having two giant holes in the side of our house for a while. I was surprised a pigeon didn't set up shop in there, as we only had tarps covering the windows.

guest room window madness

Holy schnikes!

What kind of craziness is going on upstairs? Could it be that I decided to give the middle finger to restoration purity and chucked my old sash for some good ol' vinyl? Nah. As much as I wish I could go for the resto glory, I'm having these done for me. My reasoning is simple. I want these done sometime in my lifetime. So here's what we got going on. The guest room is undergoing some long overdue maintenance which includes restoring the interior casing on both windows. I'll finally be able to put the lumber I bought a year ago to good use. This will be stained and poly'd. Since I am adamant about scratching out the last bit of white paint from the interior side of the sash, that part will stay unfinished. Hopefully I will make sure to complete the job later this year.

Both sashes will be scraped, sanded, reglazed, and painted. They will also be rehung with some new sash cord I picked up. The exterior framing will be caulked and painted as well. You might notice the monster windows are looking a little bare as well (hint, hint). This is going to look so awesome -- I'll try to ignore the patchwork quilt of completed windows. Stay tuned for more updates..

vacant wonder

This house has been vacant since before we bought the house. Judging by its look, it's been that way for a while. It seems to be a late victorian design set amongst a street full of bungalows and foursquares. The columns and spindle railing of the porch are still mostly there. It appears like there may have been a bay window where the wood siding projects out on the left. The red brick has also been painted. Nothing a little TLC couldn't cure. Unfortunately we may wait a while.

This house is located across the alley directly behind my house. About four months ago we had a strong windstorm that blew the back door wide open. I've been trying to get the city to secure the building since then. That is, until this past weekend. A crew came out to clean up the back yard (which they do periodically) and put up some plywood over the rear door and the garage (which also happened to be unsecured). My fear was some homeless people would discover the free digs and accidentally burn the place down trying to keep warm. Luckily that didn't happen.

window progress

Check the goods. Beautiful isn't it? The painting under the porch was probably the easiest yet since there wasn't too much damage. I know it looks like I missed a spot -- you can see a thin line of beige at the bottom of each sash. This isn't by mistake. Whoever painted these last painted a bit of the concrete where the sill meets the window frame. Since the paint was in such good condition here it wasn't very easy to scrape off. I'm going to have to come back to this eventually and see what I can do. Since I swore against painting masonry I'll have to suck it up and get used to it, at least for now. I still need a little touch up on the two small windows over the fireplace, but out of my impatience I'm calling these done. Next I think I'll tackle the two front facing windows on the upstairs bedrooms -- my multi color paint scheme will be groovy for only so long.

Reminiscing 1024 oregon

I haven't done one of these posts in a while, so I figured what the heck. This apartment building is on the eastern boundary of sunset heights and is situated within one of the few clusters of old buildings still standing on Oregon St, just north of downtown. Not a very interesting building aside from the neat bay windows. I like how their dark paint scheme contrasts nicely with the lighter brick color. I've found the building was built in 1910. I'm not sure when this photo was taken, but it probably wasn't too long after that going by the adjoining buildings. There's a little victorian house just to its right, which was replaced 10 - 15 years later by another apartment building. The beautiful mansion just behind it hasn't been built yet either. It's interesting how you'll have neighborhoods redevelop from the single family homes of the late victorian era into multi family homes and apartment buildings (and the occasional mansion) just a decade or two later.

This is what it looks like now. Aside from the stunning absence of the bay windows it doesn't look too much different than it did back then. The wooden portico is still there as is the pressed tin cornice. I'd love to see the bay windows make their way back into the building. It was most definitely its defining feature.

I doctored this photo a bit so you can see the detail in the cornice.

demolition averted?

Interesting turn of events this past week. I attended a Historic Landmark Commission meeting to air out my opinions regarding Alamo Elementary. There were others there who had the same idea. Fortunately, the local media took an interest and covered the discussion of the school. The stars aligned for that one evening as the HLC voted to initiate a historic overlay zoning for the old school. It was a spirited discussion and I was pleasantly surprised by the commission's actions. Needless to say I was floored to hear what happened next -- the school district announced it would not demolish the school. Though after the initial elation, I couldn't help feeling a bit of unease. It will most likely take a few months for the HLC to get the designation in place. I'm hopeful the school district will keep its word in the meantime.

alamo elementary

I'm somewhat a fan of old schools. Aside from their architectural beauty, there is a certain comfort I find in them. Kinda like a well worn shoe. Alamo elementary is the oldest school still standing in el paso. Built in 1898 by Edward Kneezell, it is currently under threat of demolition. The El Paso Independent School District got bond monies several years ago to aid in the "reconstruction" of the old school. Apparently, they never really were specific about what that meant. Today that means the school is completely unsafe and needs to be replaced with a brand new school. The segundo barrio icon has been shut down for a few years -- my guess is the construction was put on standby as the surrounding block was rebuilt. There was a large urban housing complex from the 30s across the street that was torn down and replaced with new housing. Only now as that project is coming to a close, is the fate of the school coming to light.

The school district has put forward several weak arguments why the school must come down. For example, the architect isn't well known and insensitive modifications to the exterior have severely cheapened any historic value. A portico has been removed, as well as an alteration to the parapet on part of the facade, but I still think it retains much of its old character. There was also a fire in the basement many years ago. Seems to me that the fire wasn't that severe or else the building would have been torn down afterwards. I doubt EPISD would put children at risk in an unsafe structure.

What bothers me aside from the whole destruction of a historic building thing is that the school district isn't really being upfront about what they're doing with taxpayer money. When I voted for the bond I assumed the main building would be refurbished and the supplemental 1990s additions would be renovated or added on to. I don't get how they can look taxpayers in the eye and ask for more money -- "it's for the kids". I'm all about improving education, but I truly do believe the current building was doing just fine. There was already a significant investment in the school (recently I might add). Use that money to fix the structure and update it as necessary. But here we are again a few years later, time for another bond money handout. What a waste..