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15152. Ms. No - 5/25/2005 11:13:53 PM AC,
Right now there's demolition happening. They've gotten the 8 layers of roofing shingles off and layed the....crap, I can't remember what the stuff is called but it's a self-sealing roof cover that will last up to two years of winter. We'll put the roof on long before that, but while the weight is off the house they're going to jack up the house in order to pour a concrete foundation underneath.
Once the foundation is poured and the back corner of the house is brought level then they'll finish the interior demolition of the lathe and plaster.
I've been promised pictures of the progress so far, but I'm not holding my breath since it requires my dad getting the film developed and then emailing me the pics from the disk.
Talked with a neighbor yesterday who was practically giddy over the exterior work that's going on. This is primarily cutting down rampant plant overgrowth and clearing out some tree stumps, but it apparently makes a big difference when you're driving through the neighborhood. Whit said that he'd completely forgotten the house was there and nobody really thought about it much since there's other construction going on.
The really cool thing is how familial the entire project is. Whit's the guy I originally bought the place from and he's building new houses in the neighborhood. His web designer contacted me and asked if they can put up pictures of my house or link to my site because we're all in the same Chicken Hill district. The guy handling the reconstruction loan is a long-time friend of my dad's and his father insisted on doing all the electrics. Titus just retired after some 50 years as a licensed electrician and we had to threaten not to let him do the job if he wouldn't let us pay him for his work. I get random emails from people I've only met once or twice asking me when I'm coming out to see the place, when I'm moving to Asheville, when it'll be done and they can see it. Or telling me they've driven by and seen what's going on. It's like the entire community is supporting the reconstruction of the Hen House.
Whit says he'll send me some pics from his digital camera so I'll likely see those before the ones my dad and his crew are taking. 15153. thoughtful - 5/25/2005 11:19:14 PM cool but what a lot of work! Yikes!
Arky, if you don't want to go with mazie, how about molly? don't know why but mojo and molly is cute and it reminds me of good golly miss molly....and i have a sneaking suspicion bob doesn't know anyone named molly! 15154. Ms. No - 5/25/2005 11:37:37 PM Yeah, it's a lot of work but we should be mostly done by the end of October --- it depends a bit on how much other work my dad has. Summer is his busiest time and winter is pretty dead so most likely he'll be doing interior carpentry like cupboards and countertops and bathroom tiling then if his schedule delays him over the summer and fall. 15155. arkymalarky - 5/26/2005 1:24:14 AM Ha! But Thoughtful, *I* used to have a dog named Molly! Molly Bloom. She was a sweetie--a literal pound puppy who survived distemper with some nerve damage. My family also used to have a beagle named Blossom, and I loved that name--it was well before the sit-com, though.
15156. arkymalarky - 5/26/2005 1:25:36 AM That's really exciting, MsNo, and just too neat how everyone is so involved. 15157. Magoseph - 5/26/2005 1:34:29 AM I think you should call her Motie, Arky. 15158. judithathome - 5/26/2005 1:43:23 AM I think Bob might have a cow if she did that, Mags! 15159. Macnas - 5/26/2005 8:15:50 AM You could call her Madra, pronounced "mod-dra". 15160. Macnas - 5/26/2005 8:16:17 AM Or maybe Biddy. 15161. thoughtful - 5/26/2005 1:28:53 PM Oops Arky, I missed that. 15162. Magoseph - 5/26/2005 2:49:39 PM Ms. No, is there a chance that we can see the house pictures on Whit’s site? 15163. Ms. No - 5/26/2005 5:18:52 PM I don't think they've got any pictures of the Hen House up on their site yet. I've only got the old pictures --- the first ones we ever took before any demolition or clearing away of debris.
I've been lame about re-doing the site I started too. I mean, so long as we weren't doing anything with the place it just didn't motivate me to resize the picture files and fix margins etc. Now that the work has started, though, I need to get off my ass and get the site fixed.
15164. Ms. No - 5/26/2005 6:30:10 PM Here's Whit's site --- they get a little New-Age for me, but it's got some good info on the history of the area and some neat pictures.
Chicken Hill Online 15165. thoughtful - 5/26/2005 6:58:08 PM like that house! 15166. Ms. No - 5/26/2005 7:24:50 PM Which one? The Red Roof or Hanger Hall? The Red Roof and the house currently under construction are both Whit projects. I'm not sure who is buying the Club House but it's a recent thing so no work will have begun on it yet. The Parsonage was restored a few years ago and is now a bed and breakfast. Their back decks face a central green area that my house also backs up to. There's been talk of having a little park there or something, but I know there's a contingent that's pushing for car parking since it's very limited in the neighborhood.
I hope they go with a real park, personally. I think as they build they can accommodate garages on ground levels or park platforms against the sides of houses to relieve some of the street parking congestion. What would be kind of nice would be to have a central parking area and then just make it a walking/biking neighborhood but I know that probably won't fly. 15167. thoughtful - 5/26/2005 7:26:39 PM the red roof...1 park ave north 15168. Ms. No - 5/26/2005 7:47:49 PM Yes, that's really come along nicely. It's been a long slow process, but that's mainly because the builder was living in the place and you've heard the old saw about how the cobbler's children go barefoot.
15169. Magoseph - 5/26/2005 7:57:21 PM I like the picture showing Daisy Jo' who is "...mad because Jim got to wear Freds cap and she didn't." Anyway, I’m now going back to the site, so much more to see.
Here is the Hanger Hall
This spectacular two-story brick house, home of Hanger Hall School for Girls, is the most lavish house that remains in the Chicken Hill community. It displays elements of the Queen Anne, Italiante and Eastlake style common to the late nineteenth century. Notable features include the elaborately detailed wraparound front porch, corner tower and richly detailed interior woodworking.
The house was built before the 1890 development of Prospect Park, as the neigborhood was called at the time, by Russian-born immigrant Peter A. Demens. Demens owned a sawmill on the French Broad River and it is likely that the woodworking for the house was produced there.
15170. PelleNilsson - 5/26/2005 7:58:12 PM Whereabouts on that map is the Hen House? 15171. Ms. No - 5/26/2005 8:09:50 PM If you are looking at the Red Roof house from the front the Hen House is behind it -- on the street that runs behind it. If you were to draw a line from your view point at 45% on the left side you'd hit my house on the block behind although I'm I little bit downhill from there.
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