I guess you'd like to see the front and back, then?

Just realizing that there are no pictures of the outside of the house on here....these pictures are a little dated - the hole in the roof that you can see through the window of our neighbor to the right (2213) is no longer there. Our buddy Rem has purchased this place out of our LLC and is working diligently on improving the property.

Our neighbors to the left (2217) are some small time developer types who have illegally converted this property into three units. We (and the whole neighborhood, really) fought this at the Board of Municipal Zoning Appeals, and guess what? We actually WON! We had TONS of calls and letters to the Board, opposing the waiver to create a three unit building here, and we really appreciate the support of our friends and neighbors! Now this unit will remain a two-dwelling unit. This is not ideal, but it's better than three!



Here's the view from the back. You can see the rear of 2213 caved in there (on the left). This has been repaired, and actually looks great right now! Our backyard is full of construction leavin's, but is otherwise unchanged for now.

Exploring the third floor....

If you stand on the roof, at the front of our house, this is what you see - the street runs south-southwest, and you can see the skyline in the background.


The view if you're looking our the third-floor front windows (from the relative safety of indoors):


And here's what you see directly across the street:


The walls are up on the third floor now, and the crew takes the coverings off the windows to let the sunshine in (those three radial top windows are ridiculously expensive)

The stairs from the second to the third floor, in their raw form. Sean has BIG plans for this custom staircase, including LED lighted risers!

The saw at rest for the first time in a long time. Here you can see the first floor bath, framed out in the left hand corner next to the back door. The saw is sitting where our fridge will be :)


Sean tests the integrity of the stairs from the second to the third level. On the second level, you can see the framing of our master bedroom in the background (with the boarded window):

Fruitless safe-cracking

As some of you may know, our house has a safe that is built into the front brick. Its contents have been an enduring mystery....until now:


Disappointingly, the safe was full of nothing but dust. However, judging by the pristine condition of the interior, that dust was at least 105 years old! Antique dust is better than new dust...

Here is the interior - you can see the date on the backplate - Oct. 14 '02 (that's 1902 for you young'ins).

Our stairs, and the men that built them

Our visit to the Ikea kitchen planner

Framing progress...

Check it out! A lumber delivery for our framing! I don't even have the words to describe how exciting this is!

And - look at this:
TOOLS!!! LOTS AND LOTS OF TOOLS -- INSIDE the house -- ready to work! Unbelievable!

It's FINALLY HAPPENING!

We have CLOSED THE DEAL! We are the proud new owners of 2215! Here we are at the lawyers office, smiling through the paperwork!


And here we are, about an hour later, celebrating this fateful day with a glorious dinner at Roy's. (thanks, j-cubbs!)