#683 Construction is in our DNA (part 2)

Construction just may be in Kelly's DNA.

Though Kelly and his father Glenn only got to be together for 19 years, Kelly learned a lot from him. Early on, he learned how to wear overalls and how to pose for an adorably cute photograph.

Glenn and Kelly early in their relationship

Glenn worked as a carpenter on many projects in Kansas City and central Missouri.

1971: Penn Valley Community College across the street from the BMA Tower.

1974:  Glenn, on right, works on Warrensburg bank building.

In addition to his full-time job, Glenn built a house for his family.

1966: Glenn painting the back of the almost-finished house in Warrensburg.

1966: Family house complete

Some carpenter/life wisdom passed down to Kelly:

• Give a tool to someone handle first.
• Return a borrowed tool in better shape than when you borrowed it.
• Blunt the point of the nail to keep the wood from splitting. 
• Work smarter by keeping your tools sharpened.
• Go into construction if you'd like, but consider less dangerous jobs that would make good use of your talents and wouldn't be so hard on your body.

Yours in luckily marrying the son of a carpenter,
Mary

#682 Construction is in our DNA (part 1)

Construction just may be in my DNA. 

My parents married in 1951 and soon bought 10 acres way out in Fairfax, VA - far from their city jobs in Washington, DC - and started construction on their first home.  Dad and Mom were both working full-time jobs.  Yet with the help of their friends, they built 'a little house' just across the road from some woods that would later become George Mason University, founded in 1957.    

My Dad really was a super man.

Dad on top of the 'little house' ceiling joists

Shortly after I joined the family, my mom wrote this in her scrapbook about starting construction of the 'big house':

 "Jim deposited $100 to obtain the house plans of the Barber and Ross 52-foot Sun Valley house on November 22, 1958, so we are now in the building business again."  

The breezeway in the center connects the little house on left with the big house on the right.

We had a large yard in front of our house.  Our garage can be seen at the far left in this 1974 photo.  Then, (l to r) the little house (gray building), the breezeway (behind the car), and the big house. 

My brother and I liked to help out around the house as much as we could. 

Thirteen years and 4 kids later, my parents sold the Fairfax property when the family moved to Missouri.  The little house and the big house were later merged into one house which is still standing today.  Thanks to the generosity of the 2007 owners, I was able to go inside and take a look around my childhood home. 

Fairfax property in 2007

My sister and I take Mom's construction photograph album, i.e. a 1950s blog, to share with the 2007 owners.   

Kelly and I have been involved in some big home renovation projects, but it is still amazing to me that my parents built not one, but three houses in their lives.

Yours in wondering if construction is in my DNA,
Mary

#681 Arkansas Architecture

Frank Lloyd Wright's art inspires us.  We also look to his student, the regional architect Fay Jones for art in architecture. We travel across the state line to Arkansas for some of that Fay Jones inspiration.

On our agenda are the Thorncrown Chapel and the Stoneflower Cottage.  We are inspired indeed.
Stoneflower Cottage was built first in 1965 and served as a model for Thorncrown Chapel built 15 years later. 

Stoneflower Cottage in the woods near Heber Springs

Thorncrown Chapel in the woods near Eureka Springs

"I've always felt that the details, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, are more than just nice things to notice.  They are manifestation and expression, a kind of measure of the intensity of caring." - Fay Jones

Jones clearly cared about the Stoneflower Cottage, a place of physical rest.

loft in Stoneflower Cottage

And he cared about the award-winning Thorncrown Chapel, a place of spiritual rest.

interior of Thorncrown Chapel

Yours in learning what we like from Mr Jones,
Mary

#680 Ozarks Bungalow Design

We've done much research through the years to prepare for our Ozarks Bungalow renovation project.  For inspiration, we like to look at Frank Lloyd Wright's designs.  Yes, it's hard work but we're dedicated.

So far, we've stayed overnight in two Wright houses:

Schwartz house in Two Rivers, WI for our 10th wedding anniversary

Penfield House in Willoughby Hills, OH for our 20th

We've also stayed in two Wright-designed hotels:

Wright's Historic Park Inn in Mason City, IA

Wright's Price Tower in Bartlesville, OK

And we've visited about 40 other Wright buildings along the way including the Yodoko Guest House near Kobe, Japan.

We've learned much.  We especially like built-in light fixtures and built-in furniture, open floor plans, and common motifs that tie rooms together such as consistent lighting or continuous flooring.  A house doesn't have to be big if it's designed well.  

Yours in learning what we like from Mr Wright,
Mary

#679 Construction Debris

So far, our home renovation project has generated a TON of construction debris!

For photographic evidence, here's a pile of 6 months of construction debris secreted away in our garage.  Recently, we had the joy of moving the debris (sheet rock scraps, plaster, lathe, kitchen ceramic floor tiles, plywood) out of our garage into a dumpster.

 

And we hauled away our metal construction debris to the local recycling shop.

The cash for the metal is, of course, welcome.

But the biggest reward of all is this spacious drive-in garage!

Yours in loving a good purge,
Mary

#678 Lighting the Ozarks Bungalow

Lighting is important and as we get older, we all need more.

So as you can imagine, lighting is a big topic of conversation around our home during remodeling projects.  Through the years, Kelly has built several stained glass lamps and back in 2001, he even built these rustic metal and mica wall sconces for our friend Joyce's cabin.

But for our Ozarks Bungalow renovation, Kelly does not need to build our lamps.  Instead, our friend Matthew discovered two perfect lamps at Charlottesville's Habitat Restore.  The Deschutes Chandelier sells for $950 at Rejuvenation Lighting, but Matthew purchases two for a tenth of the price and with much appreciation and celebration, we pick them up in Charlottesville earlier this year.     

Some modifications are needed, so Kelly shortens the over-long down-rod and turns the lamps up rather than down.  (I never did care to look at a bare bulb.)

 And Voila!  We now have a classic Craftsman chandelier hanging in our living room and our parlor.

Thank goodness for Matthew or Kelly may have been tempted to recreate this sled lamp.

Yours in appreciation of good lighting,
Mary

#677 Crane Creek to Ozarks Bungalow

We became the fifth owners of our 101-year-old Ozarks Bungalow when we purchased it in 2009 from the fourth owner - local celebrity Wayne Holmes.

"Wayne was salty, opinionated, rough-edged, and devoted to the things he held dear, which included his countryside, his stories, his family, Shakespeare, and good writing." - Steve Wiegenstein

Wayne also held dear the Ozarks Bungalow. In a captivating tale, he told us how he had always loved the house and one day, he just walked up to the front door and rang the door bell.  When the third owners answered, he offered to buy it on the spot and named his price.

Previously on this blog, we've told the story of how we came to own the Ozarks Bungalow: finding a For Sale sign in the yard via Google Street View from 1,000 miles away.  During the purchase process, we had the opportunity to meet Wayne and his lovely wife Mary Lou and hear first-hand their story of how they came to own it. Wayne was the consummate storyteller and we have a copy of his memoir Rocky Comfort to prove it. He passed away in September 2014 but not before he had the chance to live in his dream house and leave his mark upon it.

Wayne and Mary Lou had a country home along Crane Creek.  From there, they transplanted a variety of trees around the yard of the Ozarks Bungalow and installed a bent Osage Orange fence post at just the right angle to be used as a hand rail for the deck.

Wayne saved the green roof tiles from a building being demolished on his home campus of Drury University and reused them as a slate floor in the sun porch.  He added a pellet stove and created another living space to be used year round.  (This sun porch is perfect for our interim living room during our renovation.)

Wayne transported tons of rocks from Crane Creek in order to build a long (100 feet) rock wall along the west edge of the property.   

Wayne and Mary Lou placed a canning bucket along the rock wall to give us a lovely view from the kitchen window.

They also installed a canning bucket for a mailbox at their Crane Creek home.  I love that connection between the two properties.

Yours in appreciation of the great care taken of the Ozarks Bungalow through the years,
Mary