One of the very best ways to demonstrate the benefits of historic preservation is to show a bunch of photos of what might be called “hopeless houses,” that were later turned into comfortable and beautiful homes. Thanks to This Old House Magazine, you can see 32 examples of this from all over the country. All of them are surprising and many delightful. Click the link below for the whole set.
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/home-renovations
This Saturday, June 16th we’ll be having a work day at the J.D. Magee house at 1910 North 3rd Street. This is thought to be the oldest house in Abilene that was built with both electricity and running water. As you may remember, it suffered a tragic fire in 2008. The Preservation League has nearly finished stabilizing the house, and will be finding a new owner for the property now that it is dry and safe.
Work day – Saturday, June 16th
9:00 am to 1:30 p.m.
1910 North Third Street
This is only the second time we have had a volunteer work day there… mainly because the framing and a lot of the clean-up was just too much for volunteers. Jeff Luther Construction Co. has done a great job of getting the building stabilized, and now we are going to work on finding a new owner who can finish the job to make the house into a home again with the care it deserves.
Everyone volunteering Saturday: you’ll need to sign a release, and you’ll need to let us know what your skills/interests are. You can let us know that by taking a short survey. Click here to take survey
Rosetyme Priorities list including tools and labor type
1a skilled trim painters with sash brushes and blue tape and step ladders
1b not so skilled painters with 3 inch and 4 inch brushes and step l;adder
1c flexible persons using spray shields or rollers and pan near ground
1d flexible persons using caulking frames, sponges and rags
1e painters using 3 and 4 inch brushes on ladders and at heights
2a handy persons using cordless drills on hands and knees
2b if needed see 1c
3a light to moderate lifting and carrying
3b ladder climbing and chainsawing and stacking brush
3c operate push mower and weed eater or rakes
Volunteers may provide tools for tasks.
Ready to get your hands dirty in historic preservation?
You can help get the historic 1903 J.D. Magee house ready for a new owner. On Saturday, June 16 we are going to have a special Volunteer Work Day to do some freshening up for curb appeal to mark the end of the stabilization period.
If you would like to be included, please take our short survey. Thanks!
As of September 1, here’s the look at 1910 North 3rd. Our mason has completed the reconstruction of the two original chimneys. In recent years only one chimney has extended through the roof, but the column of brick existed for both, plus photographic evidence of the chimneys’ look. Next will be the shingles, going on this week.
J.D. Magee house from southeast, July 22, 2010, showing cypress columns removed in foreground.
The framer has really moved fast, and as you can see from yesterday’s photos, the roof is on–at least the felt part. The wraparound porch has been removed and will be reconstructed to be more like the original. The four majestic columns have been taken down for restoration and the capitals are safely inside the house. We’re currently getting prices on the painting. The new lead paint rules are something we’ll need to learn about. Shingles should be coming before too long.
J.D. Magee house from front, July 22, 2010
This morning took a tour with Blake Riley of Jeff Luther Construction of the fast-moving progress at the J.D. Magee home. The framers are going to town on the roof framing, and by next week the decking will be going on. Here’s some photos of the way it looked this morning. I remember when one of the rooms had 5 feet of debris in it.
We’re finally underway on the stabilization of Rosetyme. We had to remove the back 25% of the house because of the fire damage. When we did, we exposed an interior foundation that wasn’t the strongest, so things started moving around.
Blake Riley (left) and Charles Fowler, P.E. looked at the back wall foundation on March 23.
This will delay the framers starting on the roof for a while, while the engineer designs a foundation wall to go under the back wall (below) that will stabilize the rear of the house.
Now it will be necessary for our engineer to design a foundation wall to replace these pilings along the north side of the house, so the roof plate will be straight.
If you would like more information about this project of the Abilene Preservation League, or would like to know how you can help, please email us.
Here’s a photo of the J.D. Magee home at 1910 North 3rd St as of this morning. The damaged portion of the roof has been removed and the rooms have all been cleaned up. We had to remove the rear section of the house because of structural concerns, but the rest of it is sturdy. The framers will start soon putting a new “plate” around the top of the house to which the roof framing will attach. We’ll be putting some signs up before too long. Already the neighbors are excited about this stabilization… on its way to being a neighborhood anchor again.
