Bringing Back Holleywood
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    • open house 10/27/12

tree time!

12/13/2021

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When your gutters need a cleaning and a lift has to be hired and there's an opportunity to make it do double duty. May your holidays be luminous and bring in a lighter, brighter new year!
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bringing back the gazebo

5/14/2014

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We tracked down the gazebo that Governor Holley gave to his wife in 1859! As you can see in first two photos, from the 1860s, formal gardens were created around it. It was sold in the tag sale before we bought the house, but Peggy O'Brien connected us with the buyers who kindly allowed us to buy it back. Rob, Matt, Bill and Larry worked yesterday to piece the parts together, like a puzzle. Today, Matt cut out diamond shapes in a new plank to match the old, which was rotted. The gazebo is only halfway up but already looks magical.
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how does our garden grow

7/27/2012

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Ellen and Larry designed the garden. After plot was dug and leveled, Larry worked the soil. (photo credit: Ellen Burcroff)
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He plotted out garden paths with rolls of black plastic. (photo credit: Ellen Burcroff)
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And brought in organic soil from McEnroe's.
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Rob dug out deep trench for fencing. (photo credit: Ellen Burcroff)
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Trench was backfilled. (photo credit: Ellen Burcroff)
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6 foot high cedar post fencing was added, to deer-proof. (photo credit: Ellen Burcroff)
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Fencing went two feet down to make garden rabbit-proof.
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Rob, Matt and Bill helped Larry finish the job. (photo credit: Ellen Burcroff.)
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To maximize plant productivity, not to mention aesthetics, Matt designed trellises and cages that fold flat for winter.
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Showing garden off to admiring friends.
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And family.
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Harvest! (basket credit: Ellen Burcroff)
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installing a kitchen, the non-ikea way

6/11/2012

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#1 Start with wood from old factory. Mill it yourself.
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#2 Assemble tools they don't sell at Home Depot.
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3. Forget instructions. Use your instinct. And little slips of paper to hold alignments.
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4. Add soapstone counters over two inches thick. Commission a few burly guys to help you lug them into your kitchen.
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5. Dovetail drawers instead of nailing them.
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6. Oil them with three coats of non-toxic stain.
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7. Add appliances.
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8. Enjoy the fact that you'll never, ever have to renovate a kitchen again. Photo credit: Cynthia Hochswender
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knowing the angles

6/9/2012

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Bill Sigsworth beats the heat in coolness of the basement, working on much needed repairs to windows.
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photo credit: Ellen Burcroff
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cleaning a closet

3/2/2012

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When we bought the house, one of the upstairs closets was filled with bags of insulation. Bill and Rob decide to put it to good use by laying it beneath floorboards of unheated two rooms we're using for attic.
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Bill Sigsworth estimates by the package design that the insulation was bought in the 1970s.
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Rob Anderson, looking for a date on the package.
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history

3/1/2012

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Bill found a Wall Street Journal dated September 18, 1957 stuffed into a wall of the den powder room. 
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evolution of a kitchen

2/12/2012

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The Glenwood stove will be relocated to the breakfast room and replaced with a 6 burner DCS. Bill is building out the wall to accommodate a larger appliance. The neatly stacked planks are reclaimed wood that Rob has milled and will use to build kitchen cabinets. 
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portrait of a craftsman

12/29/2011

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Bill Sigsworth cuts and planes panels, one by painstaking one, for wainscotting in the laundry room.
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ready, aim, ceiling

12/4/2011

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Bill Sigsworth putting up ceiling in master bath.
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<<Previous

    who we are

    We 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
    September 2021
    October 2018
    June 2018
    August 2016
    April 2016
    December 2015
    August 2014
    May 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    November 2010

    glossary

    All
    2101
    Acorn Lights
    Adrian
    Aimee Davis
    Arnoff Moving
    Art
    Attic
    Avocado
    Balcony
    Basement
    Bathrooms
    Bathtub
    Bathtubs
    Bauer Park
    Beatrice Sexton
    Beaux Arts
    Before And After
    Bell Butler
    Bell Register
    Bernie
    Bill Sigsworth
    Billy
    Bird's Eye View Of Holleywood
    Boathouse
    Bookcase
    Boot Scraper
    Breakfast Room
    Bricks
    Bringing Back The Gatehouse
    Bunny Williams
    Cappy Tatsapaugh
    Carpentry
    Charles E. Rudd
    Charles Keil
    Charlie
    Chimney
    Chris Brennan
    Cistern
    Closets
    Colors
    Cost Of Oil
    Cousins
    Craftsmanship
    Crew
    Crook
    Crops
    Ct
    Cynthia Hochswender
    Dean Meadow
    Decorating
    Decorating 70s Style
    Details
    Dining Room
    Discovery
    Dock
    Doors
    Dreams
    Driveway
    Dumpster
    Earthquake
    Easter
    Electrician
    Emma Rudd
    Extruder
    Fear Of Heating Bills
    Fear Of The Unknown
    Felling A Tree
    Fireplace
    First Thanksgiving
    Floors
    Frank Garretson
    Fresco
    Front Doors
    Furniture
    Gallery Books
    Garage
    Garden
    Gatehouse
    Gateposts
    Gazebo
    Geoff Rosano
    Geronimo
    Ghosts
    Glass Etching
    Glenwood Stove
    Gold
    Governor Holley
    Gracious Living
    Grand Entrance
    Gravestone
    Greek Revival
    Green Restoration
    Groundhogs
    Happiness
    Helen Klein Ross
    Helen Ross
    Hidden Histories
    Hinges
    Historical Accuracy
    Historic District
    Holley-Williams House
    Holleywood
    Hot Air Balloon
    House Closing
    Housewarming Present
    Hurricane
    Ice Carving
    Insulation
    Italianate
    Jackie Mock
    James Charlton
    Jane Lyman Holley
    Jason Hanley
    Jay Rudd
    Jinny Rudd
    John Gruen
    John Krom Rudd
    Jp Newton Market
    Juliet Balcony
    Katherine Chilcoat
    Katherine Ross
    Kitchen
    Kubota
    Kyle And Lindsey McEvoy
    Kyle McEvoy
    Lakeville
    Lakeville Ct
    Lakeville Journal
    Lakeville Lake
    Lance Middlebrook
    Landscaping
    Larry Burcroff
    Lathing
    Laundry Room
    Laurie Warner
    Lead Paint
    Leon Mcclain
    Lifetime Roof
    Lighting
    Lindsey McEvoy
    Living Room
    Locke Brothers
    Louise Hannegan
    Lucky Break
    Malcolm Day Rudd
    Margaret Ross
    Mark Niedhammer
    Masonry
    Matt Holderman
    Memorial Day
    Memory Lane
    Metal
    Middle East Uprisings
    Mike O'connor
    Miller
    Mini-museum
    Modern Realities
    Momentous Occasion
    Mott
    New England Winters
    New York Times
    Octagonal
    Old Houses
    Old School
    Old Stone
    Original Doors
    Outer Space
    Painting
    Peggy Obrien
    Plaster
    Plumbing
    Porch
    Pulley
    Pw Vintage Lighting
    Radiators
    Real Estate
    Restoration Holleywood
    Riley's Furniture
    Rob Anderson
    Robinson Leech
    Ron Carpenter
    Roof
    Roof Raking
    Rudd
    Rudd Family
    Salisbury
    Salisbury Association
    Sarah Coit Day
    Scaffolding
    Scoville Library
    Seeing The Light
    Shutters
    Sign
    Signature
    Simon & Schuster
    Sink
    Skeptics
    Snow
    Snowplower
    Soap
    Spiral Staircase
    Spirit Ballooning
    Staging
    Stairway
    St. Charles Cabinets
    Stilts
    Stove
    Stumps
    Susan Rand
    Team Holleywood
    Theodore O'neill
    This Old House Magazine
    Tiles
    Tower
    Tower Bedroom
    Town Grove
    Town Historian
    Trade Secrets
    Tree Climber
    Trees
    Troy Tatsapaugh
    Turret
    Upstairs Downstairs
    Vernal Pond
    Vernal Pool
    Vernal Pools
    Vintage
    Vintage Dollhouse
    Voldstads
    Wade Warner
    Wall
    Wallpapers
    Walls
    Wall Treatment
    Wall Treatments
    Welcome To Connecticut
    What-was-mine-book
    White Hart Green
    William Taft
    Windows
    Wononscopomuc
    Wood Burning Stove
    Woodchucks
    Writer's Hack
    Writing A Novel
    Writing On The Wall
    Xmas Trees
    Zordan Brothers

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