A Note at the End

Four years ago (almost to the day), I posted the end of the story - the Cheney Cottage and the Delaney House were both finished and occupied.

For the last four years, those houses have been lived in and loved by a variety of tenants. We have maintained the houses, and enjoyed seeing people living in them.

But now, Rockhead and Quarry has moved on to other projects, and we made the reluctant decision that we needed to sell the 62nd Street houses so we could finance our next projects. Tomorrow, the closing happens and the houses will no longer belong to us.

The Cheney Cottage (front) and the Delaney House

As part of preparing for the sale, we cleared out the back yard, and finally used all the bricks from the chimneys of both houses to create beautiful patios behind the Cheney Cottage.

The back door of the Cheney Cottage and the Delaney House

The patio, with lemon tree and plum tree

Looking toward the back of the Cheney Cottage

The Cheney Cottage, which was vacant when we sold the property, was staged, and looked really beautiful:

 The living room of the Cheney Cottage

 

Another view of the living room

 

 The stairway and front hall

The dining room

 

The dining room, looking toward the kitchen

 

 The kitchen

The master bedroom

The back bedroom

The front bedroom

So now we have gotten out from under a mountain of debt, and freed up some funds to finish other projects.

And what exactly are those project? Well, there is the house and storefront on MLK - the duplex we moved from Walnut Street, and the 1916 building that was already there (that had to be moved out of the way and then put back):

The duplex and storefront, both on wheels

And there is the six unit building on Walnut Street, which we are moving down to Fifth Street. This is a pretty amazing house, with high ceilings, wonderful period details, and great bones. Eventually, it will be six apartments: a three bedroom, a two bedroom, two one bedrooms and two studios. Two of the apartments will be on the ground floor and will be universally designed and totally accessible:

The Walnut Street six-plex

And there is the Kenney Cottage, an 1887 kit house that we will soon disassemble and move to storage (until a suitable lot is found. Yes, it looks like a complete wreck, but underneath that dilapidated exterior is a jewel of a house:

The Kenney Cottage, patiently waiting on University Avenue

And there is the house in Hercules, which has already been cut in half and is waiting for a lot so it can be moved:

"Historic House 54" in Hercules, before being moved off its original site

So we have our work cut out for us. These four houses will also be restored and will one day be as beautiful as they were when they were built.  Stay tuned.