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We mean to screen in the west porch, with old fashioned wood screens. I was born in the South, to which I attribute a lingering affinity for screened porches and davenports.  To put screen frames inside or outside pillars? That is the question.
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 #1 Start with wood from old factory. Mill it yourself.  #2 Assemble tools they don't sell at Home Depot.  3. Forget instructions. Use your instinct. And little slips of paper to hold alignments.  4. Add soapstone counters over two inches thick. Commission a few burly guys to help you lug them into your kitchen.  5. Dovetail drawers instead of nailing them.  6. Oil them with three coats of non-toxic stain.  7. Add appliances.  8. Enjoy the fact that you'll never, ever have to renovate a kitchen again. Photo credit: Cynthia Hochswender These wooden shutters were original to the 1860 renovation when the first floor was enlarged. Oh, the craftsmanship. Both then, and now. Thanks to the dedication of Jason Hanley and his team who rehinged the shutters, repainted and rehung them, they now fold perfectly into the wall just like they did when Governor Holley and Sarah Coit Day turned in for the night.   Friend from Boston, Steve Atlas, surveys progress in living room, next to flowers from Rob and Ellen's garden. Bill Sigsworth beats the heat in coolness of the basement, working on much needed repairs to windows. 
photo credit: Ellen Burcroff
 Painters work together to transform dining room ceiling. Floorboards had been removed in the kitchen in the renovation of 1915 (we think) to make way for stone slab under the Glenwood stove. Instead of finding new wood to replace them, Rob and his team used wainscotting boards from the ceiling to fill in the space. Glenwood is out for repair and will be moved to the breakfast room. DCS stove will take its place. Floors were put down over wideboards during 1860 renovation. We could have pulled up the floors to see if wideboards were intact. But there is a limit to every restoration, isn't there?    Matt Holderman, master carpenter, builds a "house" to conceal outside electrics.   Lantern light fixtures, inherited from friend Kathy Voldstad, throw lovely shadow designs on ceiling in second floor hallway. Glass "smoke chambers" used to protect ceilings from smoke damage when lanterns were oil.  How excited we were to discover, beneath layers of wallpaper and paint in the entry hall, a fresco believed to be original to the house in 1853. The fresco was not in great shape. Nor was it beautifully executed, like the artful job that Bill Sigsworth discovered hidden away in a closet. Still, it was a fresco from 1853! Should we restore it? Keep it as is? Paint over it? We kept going back and forth on these questions--everyone on the job had strong feelings one way or the other. When the floors were redone, beautiful parquetry appeared, but the double whammy of loud floors and loud wall seemed a bit much. We decided, with reluctance, to let the wall go, preserving a piece of it for posterity. We reasoned: the fresco had been painted over in 1860 by Governor Holley and his new wife Sarah Coit Day. If that decision was good enough for Governor Holley, who were we to disagree? We painted it over with the same green they used, remnants of which Lance was able to match.  Mike Zordan, the plasterer, assesses ghost of old doorway for damage and says he'll plaster over only what he has to, for safety.  Newly plastered wall. We still can't decide whether to keep, restore or repaint. We put off decision until floors are redone.  Original floor patterns of ash, hickory and mahogany make themselves known. We decide visual of floor AND wall is too gaudy.  On the other hand, fresco-d walls beautifully set off fireplace in parlor.  The nays have it. Plasterers do their thing, but, at our request, leave a tapestry-size patch of original fresco.  We might frame it. Or not.  Lance glazes around it.  Finished. Larry Burcroff has been clearing, chopping, felling, mulching, seeding, watering, replanting and fertilizing since the restoration began in March 2011. It's because of him that the land is returning to landscape.     photo credit: Katherine Ross  photo credit: Katherine Ross   |
who we areWe are a couple of Upper West Siders from NYC who never set out to buy an old mansion in Connecticut. But the moment we walked through its massive front door, we were smitten. The info on this site is earnestly cobbled from a variety of sources, including the web. Please let us know if we've gotten something wrong, or if there's a story about Holleywood you'd like to share. forewords
December 2021
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