The image says it all

This image from the National Trust for Historic Preservation website says it all. Invest in an existing community today. It makes more sense now than ever before.

We already have roads and utilities. We've got museums. We've got a library. We've got schools your kids can walk to. We've got a great bookstore. We can walk to trendy new restaurants as well as old trusted ones. The Y will be here in less than a year.

Move closer to work and put that SUV up for sale now while you can still get some money for it. There's probably a small commune that could really use that 6000 sq foot house you built, sell it now...

Come on. You know you want to.

Longing for Quality Design of New Construction in Our Historic Neighborhoods

drawing by Nathan Fuchs, Architect, nfuchs@Luckett-Farley.com

Walk down any neighborhood street in and around downtown New Albany and you are likely to see homes representing various architectural styles: Victorian, Queen Anne, Bungalow, Federal, etc. Shotgun’s sit next to mansions. Variety abounds. It’s a housing buffet. Each building style representative of the time it was built and making a statement about the workmanship of that time period. It all works nicely together.

And then we have the more recent vinyl boxes that have been built. I suppose they are representative of our time as well. And the message they will send to future generations? That this was a time of minimum investment for maximum gain? That the same material used for Wiffle balls was used to sheath homes?

I’m not going to start a rant on vinyl. I don’t have to. It’s not a good building material. Period. At least that’s what U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) says in a report released in February 2007. From the USGBC Technical Advisory Committee final report, page 88, “When we add end-of-life with accidental fire landfill fire and backyard burning, the additional risk of dioxin emissions put PVC consistently among the worst materials for human health impacts…”. It’s dangerous stuff.

You can get the other side of the story by visiting the Vinyl Institute.

But back to my original message. The notion that new construction in old neighborhoods should conform to older styles is one I strongly disagree with. Take the walk I suggest above and you’ll see first hand that is not how our neighborhoods evolved. If it was, we’d all be living in homes that resemble the Scribner house.

Will we see contemporary designs in New Albany soon?

Thanks to connections made by Jeff Gillenwater, discussions have taken place with the New Albany Community Housing Development Organization and architect Nathan Fuchs, of Lucket & Farley Architets, with a focus on “green” and contemporary affordable housing designs. While the timing may not be right to proceed with a CHDO project now, at least the connections have been made and the seed has been planted.

In the meantime, I would challenge any developer or builder to push the design envelope when building in our downtown neighborhoods. It is understood that plastic is cheap and easy to use but the list of alternative building materials and methods is long and offers many other choices.

Besides, if the suburban sprawl engine truly is breaking down, then an investment in a core neighborhood could have a nice return on investment in the long-term. Whether for rental or ownership, build with respect for the quality of workmanship and design of what is already here. Buyers and renters will, and should currently, demand that.

And with respect to the compatibility of contemporary design in historic neighborhoods, I believe the debate could be a lively one. But it’s a debate I sure would enjoy New Albanians having to confront.

Further reading:
Three interesting articles from Dwell magazine -

The Green Approach

Green affordable housing and modern design

A Lot for a Little

I borrowed heavily in the above from another article written in the Summer 2007 edition of the Forum Journal, “Obey the Imperatives of Our Own Moment: A Call for Quality Contemporary Design in Historic Districts”, by de Teel Patterson Tiller. The article is not available online but you can purchase it here: Link to Preservation Books - National Trust

Go Green. Be Green. Green this. Green that. Green, Green, Green.....

Everybody and everything is “going green”. I’d be surprised if there’s anyone out there who is not aware of the phrase or who has not been exposed to the concept during the last year. You’d have to have been living in a cave to have not been bombarded with the environmentalist messages (living in a cave, by the way, would be a very green thing to do).

My mailbox has been the recipient of great reading material on the topic, especially related to the connection between preservation and environmentalism. It couldn’t be more obvious – reusing existing building stock is as green as you can get. Every built structure represents an energy expenditure. Lose a structure and you lose the embodied energy stored in it.

Below are links to some great reading on the topic.

As architect Carl Elefante pointed out in an essay written for the Forum Journal last summer, we can’t build our way to sustainability. The role of preservation will need to expand in scope. Make sure you read, “The Greenest Building Is…One That is Already Built”.

The January 2008 Preservation Magazine (the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation) has been dedicated the Green Issue. Point, click and read.

A New Year and a New Look – Farewell to an Extreme Year

I’ve been making a few format changes recently and will continue to make more. The menu down the right side of the site will have links to older posts that I enjoyed. Links to other websites have also been updated. Suggestions are welcome.

Farewell 2007

What a strange year it has been. I must admit that I’ll not miss it one bit. Elections have come and gone. Great progress on my house restoration. My new roof leaking like a son of a b#tch. Lawsuits. Silvercrest saved. The Daisy Medical Building saved. Another county landmark (the County Annex) whose days are numbered. Losing the Bistro. Gaining a Winery downtown and Scribner Place on the rise. The Ritter house gets a healthy grant from Caesars. Vandals destroy windows at the Ritter house, twice. Greenway progress. Punks breaking the glass of the sidewalk lighting. Heat and drought. Massive amounts of rain.

A year of extremes indeed.

However, there’s reason for optimism for 2008. I’m looking forward to a year of focus, collaboration and moving forward for New Albany.

Happy New Year

It's the Holiday Season in New Albany

Here are some seasonal photographs I snapped during a stroll last year. Hope you enjoy.

DAR to have holiday tea Sunday at Scribner House - Adjust your schedule and go

From the Courier Journal:

The Piankeshaw Chapter of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution will hold its annual Victorian Tea and Scribner House tour from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the house, 1606 E. Main St. in New Albany.

There will be tours every half-hour. Tea and refreshments will be served, and The Underhill Trio will perform. Proceeds go to providing resources for prizes for history projects and essay contests and the patriotic activities of the chapter.

Admission is free but donations will be accepted. For more information, call kkessinger@juno.com or call 987-2132.

Installment: # I've lost track of the numbers - Don't Fear the Windows

The folks in the replacement window industry hate me. They spend millions annually to try and trick me into replacing “my old drafty windows”. They're wasting money on me because I know the truth.

The reality is my 100 year old windows are much higher in quality than plastic replacements and nearly equal in efficiency (in conjunction with an effective storm window).

If all goes well today, I’ll share some photographs with finish coats of paint. I’ll also provide some helpful links for window restoration information.

Twas a night about 10 days after Halloween

It’s Saturday, 1am in the morning and I’m sleeping well, when from the front porch there arose a clatter, I sprang from bed to see what was the matter. What to my wondering eyes should appear? It sure as hell wasn’t Santa Claus….

Pretty Plump Pumpkin Pulverized

It was stupid of me to leave it out past Halloween. I was tempting fate and I knew it. It was such a nice, plump pumpkin. I’d seen the looks on the faces of punks walking past my house. They wanted it. It was the Siren pumpkin, singing to them to be smashed. They could not resist.

This episode took me back in time, to October 2002, when I first moved to New Albany. As a proud new homeowner, I’d purchased a pumpkin and placed it on my front porch. Twenty four hours later, I was shoveling pumpkin innards from the middle of the street.

After five years of intense counseling, I had decided to take the plunge again. I’ve matured in the past five years. I will handle this loss better. That pumpkin had a good run on the porch. It was just his time. It’s just part of the circle of life for a pumpkin.

My porch - a place of comfort for me and skinny inebriated women

In what appears to be an unrelated event (and the reason I noticed my pumpkin was missing) a drunken woman was pounding on my front door at 1am. That’s actually what the clatter on the front porch was.

Police were called. The little lady has been removed.*

Oddly, the skinny drunk chick had initially started pounding on the door and then took a rest in one of my comfy porch chairs. Stunned, I simply gawked out the window for a few moments. But then she started pounding again. By that time, the police had arrived.

It’s been an unusual night on the Bough.

*Note: It was only a couple months ago when my sister, who lives in the suburban mecca of Plainview, relayed a very similar story to me. A distressed woman had awoken her entire family one night banging on her front door. I only mention this because stuff like this happens every where, not just urban neighborhoods.

Haunted Houses are Historic

At work I get teased a bit about my passion for preservation and historic homes. It’s playful stuff. Like anytime I take a vacation day, the assumption is I’m going to chain myself to a building. It’s amazing how much funnier that joke gets every time I hear it (not!).

So it was no surprise when I came in to work this Halloween and saw this:

I thought it was hilarious.

Input for Preservation Month Requested

Each May communities across the country celebrate preservation and history. It’s a national effort, led by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The New Albany Historic Preservation Commission and local preservation partners have been organizers of many events in the past few years.

*Walking Tours
*Workshops for Window Repair, Painting, Masonry Repair, Researching Historic Homes, etc.
*Public Forums for discussing issues in our historic neighborhoods
*Nationally recognized speakers discussing preservation related topics

Planning for these events is a year round job and it really heats up in November. Now is your chance to provide input and suggestions.

Are there topics you’d like addressed? Issues in our historic neighborhoods you’d like to discuss in a public forum? A particular workshop you’d like repeated or a new one to add?

Post your comment here or email me directly at the address listed in my profile.

Does this house look familiar to you?

A friend sent this to me about a year ago wondering if I knew the location of this home. The photograph was purchased in an Antique shop near New Albany.

It sure looks like it could be New Albany to me. But I've not been able to locate it. Email me or post a comment if you can identify.

Installment 14: Long hot Summer and long hot Fall

This has been quite a gap in postings. When I last reported in, I talked about how fun painting can be. After painting five days in a row, it wasn’t so much fun anymore.

I’m a really slow painter and freely admit to driving myself a little bonkers. But I’m usually pleased with the result. The front of the home (porch, columns, foundation, entire façade) is done. If all goes well it will be 10 to 12 years before it needs painting again. The exception is the concrete porch floor – which will probably get a touch up every couple years.

At the end of a long hot summer I can reflect about significant events and plan for the future. Roof and box gutters are done. The verdict is still out on their ability to repel water since it only rains once every five weeks now. It’s going to take some hard rain for me to gain confidence.

Roughly one third of the house remains untouched – in the original condition it was in when the vinyl came off two years ago. The entire south side of the home needs some final prep work and then the finish coat of paint. Just about all the windows require some TLC. So there’s still plenty of work to do.

I’ll also admit to feeling a just a tiny bit of listlessness and even occasional annoyance as the summer has ended. The listlessness is the result of being tired. The annoyance is the result of my poor organizational skills. For example – over the span of two years I’ve purchased four tape measurers. Every time I need one it seems the tape measurer black hole has swallowed it up.

The need for one usually results in the search, which can range from five minutes to thirty minutes if I’m feeling really stubborn. It usually starts in the garage, where any sensible person would store their tools. I check in boxes, on shelves, under the lawnmower, etc.

Can’t find it in the garage? Did I take it inside the house for some reason? The search turns to kitchen drawers, the basement, the attic, etc.

Sometimes the search is successful. On four occurrences the search has failed and I’ve made the short trip to ACE and/or Home Depot and just bought another one.

There’s a reason for this painful routine. It’s all in how my work day normally ends. I get tired and all I want to do is take a shower and drink a beer. Whatever I’m doing at that particular moment ends. All the stuff I’ve taken out of the garage during the day gets taken back in as few trips as possible. It gets dumped in the first empty spot I can find.

It’s a problem and I am working on it.

Installment 13: Progress Report on the House - Painting is fun

There haven’t been many updates on the house because there’s not been much going on. Finally, the weather has gotten somewhat normal. Some vacation time will be spent soon doing something I don’t really do that often – paint.

So much time goes into prepping an area that painting can be quite the anitclimax. It’s the easiest thing to do in regards to the restoration work. It's easy and I find it relaxing and enjoyable.

One interesting tidbit that I can share is a connection with the Cardinal Ritter Birthplace, which is two blocks down the road from my house. Earlier this summer I was desperate to find crown molding for the exterior of my house. I had some small areas that had rotted and were not salvageable.

The crown is not stock stuff and I could not find a match anywhere. Weeks went by. Enter Greg Sekula of Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. During work on the Ritter house, they’d removed some of the exterior crown molding. He’d told me I was welcome to what they had if it was the right style.

It was. So I grabbed two six foot sections. A small part of the Ritter house is now permanently attached to mine. This section of crown (what is white in the photo) is from the Ritter house. It’s a little beat up and dented. I could have spent time filling in the divots, making it look like new. But instead I left it exactly as is.

I’m pleased with it and will make sure I bore everyone who comes by with the story of my piece of the Ritter house.

2nd Annual New Albany Historic Home Tour Concluded

It was a terrific day. We (tour coordinators) and homeowners were thankful for no rain. The forecast was not a promising one. We were fretting. In the end we fretted for nothing as the rain never arrived.

We were definitely on the north side of 250 tour goers. Foot traffic downtown was high. Jazzy tunes filled the air. Eateries were full at lunch time.

While selling tickets, we met folks from all over, including some that had flown in from out of town. We got a lot of direct feedback and it was all good.

Thanks homeowners and volunteers. It’s a lot of work but well worth the effort.

Mark your calendar now for September 13th, 2008 for the third Annual New Albany Historic Home Tour.

**********************************
Sadly, although I had my camera with me, not a single photograph was taken.

Dedication of The Floyd County Historical Society Padgett Museum

Seating for 150 people wasn’t enough for the dedication of the FCHS Padgett Museum. It was standing room only this Saturday.


The dedication committee of the Historical Society did a fantastic job. There were a lot of highlights – an energizing speech by Society Vice President Vic Megenity, accolades for Beverly and James Padgett and their generosity and a resounding group singing of New Albany’s official song “Indiana, My Home Sweet Home” led by the local singing group the Silvertones.

Did you know we had a song? I sure didn’t.

My Indiana, my home sweet home
I’m always dreaming day and night of you
The old Ohio, your silv’ry moon
Your hills that seem to kiss the skies so blue,
Your gorgeous autumn I’ll always love
No matter where it’s mine to roam
The place that I love is New Albany;It will always be my dear old home sweet home

View the entire gallery of photographs here: Floyd County Historical Society Dedication

Picking the wrong week to live without AC – Exposure for New Albany

Occasionally I take stock during my home restoration because not everything has gone wrong. For example, at least my air conditioner has worked well. I’d been able to work hard on hot days and have comfort in the fact that I’d have refuge in a cool home.

It worked swell until last Friday, when it stopped working. It’s been hot. A part was in transit. It was Wednesday at 7:30 before we had cold air flowing again.

I can’t complain too much. Thanks to a lot of travel during past jobs, I’d accumulated massive reward points for Marriott hotels. For a couple evenings I made the short drive to downtown Louisville and slept comfortably in a “chilly” hotel room.

I was downtown Sunday as Ironman triathelete’s were finishing the punishing day of swimming, biking and running. It was an electrifying experience. I even had trouble sleeping that night. I wanted to start training for something immediately. Another marathon may be in my future. And to think I have my broken AC to thank for it.

Back to the house – I’m running out of things to be thankful for. I guess I can be thankful the refrigerator has continued to perform well. It keeps my beer cold. Beer has never let me down.

****************
Pick up a LEO this week and you’ll see a spread on New Albany eateries on page 26. Flip to the back page and you’ll see an ad for HistoricNewAlbany.com. That’s some darn good exposure for our sleepy little river town.

HistoricNewAlbany.com hits its stride

It’s been a while since the numbers have been shared. Visits have leveled out and are consistent. Preservation events sponsored by Develop New Albany have helped raise money to place ads in the LEO and print two thousand post cards promoting the website.
It’s working. That fact has been slammed home to me in the last two weeks. 844 Cedar Bough Place was recently listed on the site (the home is next door to me). It’s a HUD foreclosure. The home has been vacant for well over a year.

There has been flood of interest. I’ve witnessed a dozen showings, and I’m not at home that much. I’m certain there have been dozens more. When I see people looking at the house I usually run out to introduce myself. I’ve met folks from the Knobs, Jeffersonville and Clarksville. Most have been aware of HistoricNewAlbany.com. It’s how they found out the home was for sale.

What’s the point? The home didn’t move through the foreclosure process in obscurity. It wasn’t only questionable investors, ready to pounce on another old home and make minimum investment, who had interest it. We’ve got a process in place that I assure you is envied by many other communities.

Thanks to Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, Halo Applications, Develop New Albany and the New Albany Historic Preservation Commission. The site requires a lot of maintenance and attention. The work is paying off.

Learning more lessons the hard way

Why aren’t you supposed to paint in direct sunlight? This is why:

That’s my finger pointing to a blister. When painting in the sun, the paint dry’s fast on top while it still wet underneath. That can lead to puffy little air blisters. I’ve got a couple to fix.

I can imagine myself in the future as a one of those know it all old guys giving unwanted advice to a novice home restorer; “Hey young fella, you shouldn’t be painting in the sun like that, you’ll get paint blisters. Why I remember way back in 2007 when I was restoring a house on Cedar Bough and it was hotter than the dickens, blah, blah, blah…”.

I don't want to play anymore

This posting contains language that may offend some. If you are one of those people, don’t read it.

Restoring an old home is not easy. That’s not new territory for me to cover on this web log. I know that most people reading this have probably had experiences much worse than mine. Feel free to share. I’m sure sharing in your misery will make me feel better.

Interior waterfalls. Broken windows. Falling off ladders. Smacking my head on things. Getting stood up by contractors. It’s all par for the course. I know this now. I knew this when I got started.

But there’s only so much that I can just shrug off. Everyone has a breaking point.

I think I hit mine this morning at 4:00am.

The Breaking Point Setup:

Removing artificial siding from a home is no simple undertaking. You just don’t know what you’re going to get until you take it off. When mine came off there were issues. Trim had been hacked off. Crown molding had been removed. Wood was rotted in places.

To be frank, the house was full of holes. Because of this, I’ve been battling birds and squirrels constantly in my attic. But there’s only so much I could do. The approach to my restoration has been slow but steady. One section at a time.

The Meltdown:

Fast forward two years after removing the vinyl. Progress has been made. I’m generally pleased. The end really is in sight but there are still many miles to travel. I’ll admit getting a little tired. The bank account is getting lower. There are second thoughts being thought.

Then it’s 4:00am Thursday morning August 2nd. I’m sleeping soundly but suddenly startled by a fluttering sound. I think, “Is there something wrong with my ceiling fan?”. “What the hell is that sound?”. “What’s that dark object doing laps around my bedroom ceiling?”.

It’s a f-king bat. In the absence of coherent thought (remember it’s 4am) I pull the covers over my head.

What am I thinking then? I just don’t want to play anymore. I’m done. I just want all this to stop. What’s the starting price for a home at Norton Commons?

Long story short, I get up. Open the front door. I think he flew out. I’m not really sure. At the time, it really didn’t matter. I just started slamming coffee and watched news about the bridge coming down in Minnesota.

I went to work and the day sucked. But as the day wore on, settling took place. I’ll not be deterred by one flying mammal in my bedroom. In fact, I love f-king bats. They eat a ton of bugs. That's great.

Based on research I did on the internet, I’m prepared to live with bats in my attic until September, when the young ones are able fly. Only then will I take steps to remove them.

I broke, temporarily, but now I’m back. And tonight, if a bat buzzes my head, I’ll smile knowingly that his residence is temporary and I’ll have a great conversation starter the next time I get together with friends.

Installment 12 – progress report on Ted’s house – Doing battle with a gable - update on 1746 Ekin Ave

The gable on the south side of the house is finally getting some attention. It started last weekend, when my carpenter replaced clapboards that were unsalvageable.

My job? Make it look pretty.

It takes time. Removing failing paint. Repairing damage. Sanding. That’s how I spent a large part of this weekend. We’re almost ready for priming.


If you’d read my previous update on the house, I had said I’d be working on windows next. In case you haven’t noticed I tend to get sidetracked easily. So the windows will wait. They’re not going anywhere.

Update on 1746 Ekin Ave:
I just had to share an updated photograph of 1746 Ekin Avenue. The exterior looks great. Click here for the rest of the story originally posted in June.

Here was the starting point: