Post 60: Stairway to Heaven

It’s not ideal to move into your new home before the contractors are finished their work but sometimes, as they say in England, needs must. So this week we’ve been on site while six different crews have cycled through. We get up before (or just as) carpenters and painters roll in. The first arrive shortly after sunrise, coffee in hand. I think they come early to enjoy the view!

Sunrise this morning was misty.

Being here allows us to observe these talented craftsmen as they meticulously measure and cut, prime and paint, mix mortar and set tile, hang lights or install bathroom ceramics.

After weeks of being shooed away from the ash stairway being built by Ed, a finish carpenter, we were gratified to be there to see it completed. Simple and solid yet elegant, we think it is a masterpiece.

Outside on the back deck, while Nick and Al and Josh install decorative grey slatting, Adam works his magic on top, creating a cedar structure to support a cable railing.

Nils and I have been drawn deeper into design choices. While we are happy with most of our selections, some we’ve had to change. and some are happy accidents. When the carpenters rehung the old doors in the upstairs hall, we were surprised how much we liked their red color. So we are keeping them red. Thanks to the paint department at Ace Hardware, we were able to match the color to freshen them up.

We enjoy making such decisions that both honor the past and establish an aesthetic for our new home. So it was true joy to move into our modern kitchen in the space that was once the “keeping room.” Our kitchen still has the same beams that held up the ceiling when Esther Trull Nevers cooked there two centuries ago. I wonder what she would make of our new induction stove? Even the antique faucet and sink we repurpossed for the butler’s pantry would have shocked her; indoor running water was not common until the 1930s.

Speaking of modern innovations, ReVision Energy came this week, and in just two days, their crew installed 36 solar panels on our south-facing roofs. They worked safe with harnesses and sun protection and FAST.

As happy as we are to be living in the farmhouse, I must report that not everyone is pleased with our family’s arrival. Caper’s new nighttime activities have sent a few former residents heavenward before their time.

One of four former farmhouse residents. RIP

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