Bringing Back Holleywood
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    • open house 10/27/12

floors haven't been this clean in 150 years

6/1/2012

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A century of grime is scraped off floorboards in kitchen and breakfast room, revealing beautiful wood which we believe was installed during the 1860 renovation.
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New counters and cabinetry are veiled for protection against sanders.
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When we bought house, this room off the kitchen was used as a laundry. Avocado washer and dryer stood where new slate sink cabinetry is. We added window above for light and lake view.
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Breakfast room--before. March, 2011.
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the great wall

5/5/2012

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Debate continues about what to do with the front hall fresco. The plasterers repaired the wall where they had to, but left as much of it untouched as they could, without us having to worry about the wall falling down. Some of us want to keep it (I'm in that camp), some of us don't (Donald.) Restoring it would be quite an investment of both time and money. One option is simply to leave the wall as is. We decide to put off a decision until the floors are done. Procrastination is one of my favorite solutions to problems!

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Ghosts of former doorway and wall shelf remain.
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unpinning the floor

4/19/2012

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Floor scraping continues in the front parlor where old paint is peeled back to reveal white ash.
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works of art discovered under foot

4/9/2012

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Beneath years of grime, we discovered gorgeous parquetry in both dining room and tower room off the parlor. After days of hand-scraping, the floors revealed exquisite artistry in white ash and mahogany with a hemlock center left plain for carpet. We'll strip chair rails in the dining room which are mahogany, too. 
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Still wet from coats of tung oil, the parquetry gleams as it must have in 1853.
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Imagine the planning and precision that went into unique floor design in the tower room, off the parlor.
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reviving top floors

1/31/2012

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Instead of repainting wood floors on the third floor, the crew has scraped (hand-scraped in some places) and tung-oiled them, leaving in original marks and fades and indents which gives old wood its personality. The boards were still "curing" this weekend, but Rob supplied doctor's booties so that we could view the transformation.
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Third-floor room leading to tower.
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Third floor "game room". Curved wall is former site of original stairwell.
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Newly polished tower steps.
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Tower steps, before.
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what lies beneath

8/27/2011

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We're installing a bathroom on the third floor, and between boards pried apart, you can see down to the lathing on the floor below. Unlike most pre-Civil War builders, Holleyood's craftsmen didn't skimp on flooring as they went up. These floorboards are hemlock and exceedingly thick. The electrician took time to figure out which floorboards were taken up in 1915 when original wiring was inserted and takes care to pull the same boards to minimize disruption.
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Rob marvels at the thickness of original hemlock boards in third-story flooring.
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    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
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    November 2013
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    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
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    Glenwood Stove
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    Governor Holley
    Gracious Living
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    Helen Klein Ross
    Helen Ross
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    Holleywood
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    Jackie Mock
    James Charlton
    Jane Lyman Holley
    Jason Hanley
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    John Gruen
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    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
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    Mike O'connor
    Miller
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    Momentous Occasion
    Mott
    New England Winters
    New York Times
    Octagonal
    Old Houses
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    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
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    Simon & Schuster
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    Susan Rand
    Team Holleywood
    Theodore O'neill
    This Old House Magazine
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    Time Of Covid
    Tower
    Tower Bedroom
    Town Grove
    Town Historian
    Trade Secrets
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    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
    Xmas Trees
    Zordan Brothers

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