…or: What to do when the stairs in your brownstone are falling off the wall!
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: stairs in older homes always seem to have the same problems. This staircase we encountered on our latest project managed to go above and beyond the normal range of issues.
Not only did we have to stabilize it, repair delicate railings and fix broken spindles, but we had to literally tear the whole thing out and start from scratch.
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Our very good friend and partner Nora Johnson recently completed a stunning scenic mural of the Colorado landscape, and we can’t wait to show it to you! The 8′ x 50′ mural was presented at the 2012 Denver Home Show, but was then donated to Brent’s Place, which is a non-profit home for families with children with cancer in Aurora, Colorado. Such a beautiful mural, and an even more beautiful gesture. Oh Nora, how do we love you? Let me count the ways…
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As you can imagine, we here at HHF have been following the Partners in Preservation contest pretty closely. For those unaware of Partners in Preservation, it is a community-based initiative program that began in 2006. Each year they focus on a different city and select a list of local historic sites to receive grant money to fund restoration projects. And then this is where the fun begins: the list is handed over to the public who then votes for their favorite site to receive funding.
In 2012, 40 historic places throughout the five boroughs of New York City were chosen, the public voted for a month, and now we finally know who the winners are!
While I personally voted for the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx (because I’m creepy like that), I’m still pretty jazzed about this year’s winners:
Ever walk around NYC (or anywhere for that matter) and notice those old, dilapidated brick walls? The ones that seem to be disintegrating before your eyes? Ever wonder why it is that something supposedly so strong not even a big, bad wolf could blow it down now seems to be crumbling like a cookie? The answer is usually Portland cement.
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