First Impressions

When we first purchased this historic house, we knew the front entrance (into the sun room) needed work but other, more pressing issues had to be dealt with first... so for 3 years we endured snow blowing into the sun room and swarms of flies and ladybugs!  In the Spring of 2017 we finally found the people, the time and the finances to rejuvenate the house's main entrance.  From neglected to magnificent!

The entire rejuvenation consisted of four projects:  new steps, a new front door with frame and surrounding panels, scraping/reglazing/repainting the outside of the whole sun room and finally a wired doorbell (the wireless was completely unreliable). 

Project #1:  The Steps.  Our old steps were narrow and there was no landing outside the door, making it very awkward to stand, luggage in hand, and ring the bell.   

So this was the old door and stairs....  

And here are the new steps:

Each step is significantly wider, especially the top landing.  It's Sienna treated planks and hopefully will be easy care.

So once the steps were installed, the door project began!

We were fortunate enough to find a carpenter up to the task!  Rob Dupree took this part of the renovation in hand and masterfully replaced our old door and the plywood panels that framed it.  

Notice the lovely lever handle:  no more scrapping your knuckles on the door frame!

A major issue for us was the desire to keep the concrete sill that runs all around the sun room.  Most of the workmen who came to give us estimates wanted to cut these off, flush with the door opening.  While we were willing to change the door, we were not willing to alter the concrete, especially as this "permanent" feature of the home is in photos of school children from the 1940s (click here to see one).  As you can see in the photo, the sun room at that time was not enclosed, with no door at all.

While the door was being installed, Natalie Simpson and her crew worked on the stripping, reglazing and painting.

Obviously, this part of our home had been neglected for some time and was in dire need of protection!  Especially as this was the front of the house, it desperately needed to be taken care of properly and Natalie did a wonderful job of reglazing the windows and applying protective paint.

And project #4:  the new doorbell!  

When Rob rebuilt the door framing, our electrician Brock from Fergus Electric had already drilled into the basement and left us an electrical line to run all along the outside of the room and hide behind the quarter rounds.  Rob therefore had everything he needed to include the doorbell in his part of the project, with Brock finishing this detail. 

And finally, it was all done!  

And Willow loves being able to see outside!  

Thanks to all our great professionals:  Rob Dupree, Natalie Simpson and her crew and Brock Richardson from Fergus Electric!  If you want contact information, simply send me an email and I'd be very happy to share.

Letting in the light

Over the course of the winter, we decided to change some of the light fixtures in the rooms and hunted for the best options.  First:  Creature Comfort, our "luxury room", needed better than a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling.  We debated the pros and cons of leaving the antique fixture but decided that if we left the two nicer ones (with the dogwood flower design in brass) in the hallway we could switch this one out (of course we saved the old fixture, it's safe and sound).  Hunting locally was fruitless but Amazon.ca finally provided the best solution:  a Savoy House Lighting semi-flush ceiling mounted fixture with a creamy/cloudy marble glass.  

Our Meadow was really the instigator for the lighting changes:  while this fixture was beautiful, our Meadow really needed better air circulation even with the 4 windows and bathroom fan.  Now, with this Kendal Lighting 3-speed fan with seperately controlled fan, guests will be able to make themselves perfectly comfortable.  It runs super-quiet and is balanced just right.  We found this one at Chatelaine Lighting in Guelph.

So where could we put the fixture we removed from the Meadow?  Again, a single, bare bulb was all that our Fox Hole had as a ceiling fixture.  It wasn't enough, the room felt "industrial" and unfinished.  Now, look at it:  this antique light with its old glass looks perfect here and raises the room's overall appearance tremendously, it's really quite surprising what a big deal it is!!

Once again we have to thank Brock Richardson of Fergus Electric.  (Brock may be reached at 519-843-3560.)  In this old house, his expertise was absolutely priceless and his know-how, problem-solving and speed were incredible to witness!!!  Without his help, we would never have accomplished all these changes.  Thank you so much, Brock!