See the Project/ Meet the Candidate

The plaster work will be finished this week, and to honor this historic moment in the history of the Cheney Cottage, we're having an Open House on 62nd Street on Sunday, September 30th.  Since I'm also running for City Council in Berkeley, it will be a chance for people to come by and meet me and also to see the Cheney and Delaney houses.  The Open House will be from 1 to 4. 

If you're a loyal blog follower, or a resiodent of District Three - or if you are just curious - come on by.  

The address is 1632-34 62nd Street, between King and California. 

I hope to see you there.

Before and After

A picture is worth 1000 words - so here are 2000 words on the dining room:

Before:

And After:

Upstairs and Downstairs

The second floor of the Cheney Cottage has been re-plastered. All the trim is back in place, and the bedrooms and hallway are ready for paint and floor sanding. The plumbing in the bathrooms needs a little more work, and then they will be ready for painting and floor refinishing as well.

The contrast between upstairs and downstairs is striking. There are two wall sconces in the Cheney Cottage, one at the bottom of the stairs, and one at the top. This is a picture of the downstairs hall:

And this is the upstairs hall:

More developments coming. Stay tuned.

Looking more and more like a house

It's amazing that things are happening so quickly on 62nd Street. We have the hydronic lines in for the radiators upstairs - they aren't connected to anything yet, but they're in so the walls can be closed up. The plasterers are moving along: all three bedrooms are done, and today Jorge was working on the hall, stairwell and WC. On Monday, they're coming back to finish the upstairs! Tom is doing final scraping on the last of the woodwork in the front hall, and then we can finish the alcohol wash. So Tom Pedemonte should be heading our way soon, to stain and shellac the woodwork.

But the most dramatic change is out back, on the Delaney House. When we took down the old basement, Tom and I saved all the siding. Jimmy, Tom, and a host of others have worked on scrapping and sanding it, pulling nails, prepping it for reuse. Then Dan had the crew prime both sides of each piece, to keep it in good condition. The wood is old growth redwood, and when you look at the edges where it's been cut, it still looks brand new - the grain is tight and the wood looks good

So this week Dan worked on putting it up on the front and the east side of the house. It's not all up yet, and the water table between the first and second floors isn't in. But with the windows all in and the siding mostly up on two sides, it looks incredible.

More progress tomorrow.

The east side of the Delaney House, with the old siding reinstalled