The Ideas That Spring From A Restoration
Projects and Stories
Every house requires maintenance. A house that is over 100 years old reminds you every day that it needs your attention. “I could use some paint here”…”This roofing isn’t as young as it used to be”…”I feel like I’m not shedding water the way I should anymore”. So, you plan projects to make your house feel better. And if you spend the time with your house and look carefully, you’ll hear the stories your house can tell you.
This project is supported in part by Arlington County Government through the Historic Preservation Program and received public funds from the Arlington County Historic Preservation Fund, Thanks to the grant and inspiration from program we have combined the restoration of the signature porch and restoration of wood windows with researching the history of the home ownership, stories of the residents, historical restrictions in Deeds for this home and the neighborhood, along with outreach to the community.
The verification of racially restrictive covenants still in the chain of title have led me to read and try to understand more about their history and continuing impacts. See the link button below, “More On Restrictive Covenants” for links to a Podcast (or click here) on this subject and a website created by Marymount University and University of Mary Washington scholars - “Documenting Exclusion & Resilience”(or click here).
If you have more information that may flesh out the story of the house or if you have any comments or questions, feel free to type them into the Updates and Comments Blog linked at the top right corner of the page.
Click play on the link to hear a podcast about how the project was inspired by a grant from the Arlington County Historic Preservation Fund and how we are exploring the history of our home and community.
The Project Scope
The project can be summarized in two basic features:
1) Restoration of the Wrap-Around Porch
2) Restoration of Wood Windows
The porch extends the living space of the home (which was a blessing during the COVID days) and helps define the appearance and massing of the house. The project includes repairs of the porch roof framing and rework of the flashing down to restoration of the decking and skirting.
There are ten tilt-out windows in the attic and three original double-hung windows. The project includes restoring these windows to good working order. At some stage thirteen double-hung windows were replaced with vinyl windows. This project restores these windows to wood.
The Team and Progress
In this section, meet the team performing the work and view progress photos and commentary. Regular updates will be posted.
Inevitable challenges and unknown conditions arise during a restoration project. It is much easier to maneuver through them when you have a trusted team of craftspeople. We’ll highlight how a diverse team works together to create solutions. Click the links below for more:
Exploring the History of Your Home
“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” - Rudyard Kipling
A 100+ year old home has a lot of stories to tell, but it takes some effort to coax them out. The Arlington County government website includes an excellent section on Historic Preservation including some guidance in researching the history of your home. There are a number of resources including the US Census, Land Records, Arlington Historical Society, the Arlington County Local History Room, and sometimes, your neighbors can help fill in the gaps.
In this section, I map out how I am going about the exploration and note some of the things I’ve discovered:
1) The first deed of sale includes a racially restrictive covenant.
2) 3 of the first 5 owners were single women covering 40 of the first 50 years of the home ownership.
3) The home served as a Foster Home for a period of time.
4) One owner was very involved in fighting the encroachment of I-66 in hearings, meetings, and demonstrations.
Racially Restrictive Covenant in Item 2 in the first Deed of Sale included by reference in all subsequent Deeds
Records from the 1950 Census that include three foster children as well as the homeowner listed as a Foster Home Manager
1982 Washington Post quote from homeowner Ned Helf, who was credited with saving many of the trees in Thrifton Hill park