Mud Season!

Front porch and entry way starting to take shape.

Front stoop poured and back filled. Will we ever
find the front yard again?!

Walls for the Basement entry doors are set.

More Drywall, More Taping

Back room downstairs facing the interior of the building


Pretty purple drywall in the bathroom


Taping upstairs on its way

Old stairway needs a lot of TLC!

Pouring Walls

Ramp on the West Side


Bilco door basement entry walls

Here comes the Drywall...

Upstairs front room facing west.


Downstairs back room facing north.

The Big Dig

Without parked cars lining the street, it really is a
Grand Avenue! We are making a mess with the
backhoe to lay down footings for the ramp, bilco door
and front porch.


Forms to pour footings for ADA Ramp.




Forms to pour footings for Bilco Door Steps

Some Neighborhood Buildings

Here's a photo from our West Side Festival which takes place every September. The red building is 70 Beekman St which was completely renovated early this decade and houses an Art Gallery and a very special shop called Mimosa owned by Michelle and Michael LaLonde. One part of the shop specializes in fine craft accessories for home and wear, the other is a painting and art furniture gallery. It is a must-stop on Beekman Street. www.mimosagallery.com




Our next door neighbor on Grand Ave. Needs some TLC, nice Victorian details...




Beekman Artists Co-op at 79 Beekman St.
This building houses clay artists on the first floor and painters on the second floor.
Beautiful outdoor sculpture garden, perfect for pleine air events in the spring and summer. http://www.beekmanartists.com

As requested from one of our followers, here are some other buildings in the neighborhood.

You can see they range from mid 1800's federal style to Victorian to 21st century! It is an eclectic mix which is what we love about the West Side...

Here is the home of Phinney Architects www.phinneydesign.com (built in 2004), Feast Gallery, and on the bottom floor, The Local Pub and Teahouse. http://www.feastgallery.com/thelocal2 142 Grand Ave across the street from us.

Nick works the backhoe to prepare for ramp footings. It's frozen about 2 feet down but he digs a hole about 6' deep along the west side of the building for the ramp footings.

2,4,6,8 Now it's time to Insulate!

Next big step; Drywall.




It has been an entire month since my last post (busy with design work for our trade show in Baltimore.) The wintery month of February has come and gone but the intrepid crew at 143 Grand springs forward...Rough electrics, plumbing, and heating were completed, inspected, and approved. Framing to accomodate the insulation and drywall was finished up.

My Mom and Dad visit from Skaneateles. Having been through old house reconstruction themselves they are very encouraging and supportive of our project... They have already volunteered to help paint trim and plant gardens this spring!