We are terrible bloggers....

Two weeks without a posting! For shame!

Anyhoo -- here's the update. Our mechanical rough in is well underway. Our (white, eco-friendly, energy saving) roof is on, and our skylight is in! Check it out:




Oh, and here's the view from the first floor, looking up the light well:


Our plumber is sort of stuck because we don't have our tubs yet. We will not have them until the first week in February, so they're going to take a break and let the electricians come in for wiring until the tubs show.

We're putting this in our master bath:
And here is our smaller guest tub:

We're also shopping like crazy for shower wares, and faucets, and tiles, and flooring, and appliances, and.........well, if anyone knows where we can get a Bertazzoni 36" range on the cheap....we'd love to know.

On an ecstatic note, we seemed to have shaken the right tree, and have EXTREME POLICE PRESENCE on our block and the surrounding areas. No one has ever seen anything like this, least of all, the drug dealers.

They are trying to set up new corners, but because the police are right on the scene, it is difficult, at best. Particularly since the worst corner (where the troublesome tri-fecta of the liquor store-carry out-laundromat live) is now completely indicted (as we like to say around the courthouse - this means that there is a constant and aggressive police presence there).

This also means that the dealers have been driven to corners where their loitering is a lot more noticeable. So, when someone calls 911, the response time is insanely fast, and there's really no where to run.

Hopefully, there is sufficient police presence to prevent a turf-war over the control of particular corners in the neighborhood. The police need to start arresting the buyers so that they'll tell their friends that this is no longer a safe place to score dope. But let's just hope this show of force by the police (and support from our friends at City Hall) continues. We are giddy with excitement about this development!

We promise more soon! Feel free to email us and harass us for updates!

Happy New Year!

On new year's eve day, we awoke to a call telling us that our house had been broken into, and some tools had been stolen (namely, the generator, a pneumatic nail gun, and a saw). Apparently, the thieves were rather ingenious. They built a ladder of 2x4's up to the second floor breezeway window, assuming (correctly) that the upper level windows would be less secure. We were actually lucky - a house up the street had all the appliances stolen!

Our foreman, Josh, assures us that such things happen, "even in rural Pennsylvania." But at least this gave our GC an excuse to buy that new generator he was talking about!

Our (grotesquely expensive) windows have been ordered, and should arrive in 4-6 weeks. The guys at Kolbe have been really great. They have helped us keep the cost of these windows down by making little adjustments here and there - ordering standard sizes where possible. But the cost is still quite outrageous. We need the wood windows in order to be approved for our historic tax credits, and we know that they will look better when all is said and done, but the cost is staggering. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for that historic tax credit!

Once the windows and (yet to be purchased exterior doors) are in, we can get the HVAC up and running and this will give us the requisite environment for floor installation. The flooring needs to be in the place of installation for a few days prior to going down so that it can adjust to the temperature and humidity conditions. It's really kind of a strange thing....treating the floor like a goldfish....

In other news, the group members have now purchased 5 of the 8 houses out of our corporate entity, and the remaining three should be in the works very soon. Our framers are finished and have move next door to work on Remington's house, and our HVAC and plumbing rough-ins are chasing one another around the house. Things are looking good in '08 for Linden. Block warming parties dates are already being tossed about....and we're all holding hands and singing Kumbaya (just like Willy B. always wanted)!