The end of June already???

Hurray, we have permission from the City to replace the roof! Since we’re replacing a cedar shake roof with a cedar shake roof we don’t need to get the approval of the full Historic Resources Commission; the Executive Committee has approved this. We’ve hired Sprick Roofing who said they’ll buy the cedar now because the price has been going up, and it should be lower now than it will be in a couple of months when they replace our roof. Every little bit helps and we appreciate their forethought.

Our Project Managers jacked the house up to level it so we can also have the windows reglazed and replace the broken panes. Then we’ll weather-strip them and put storm windows on the inside for energy efficiency.

The open house was a lot of fun! We had about 70 people come through including a few who think we’re seriously nuts for taking this project on. Everyone else was having fun making lighthearted jokes about our sanity and the condition of the house. Yup, it’s in BAD shape!! The most interesting attendee was 96 year-old Marion Gathercoal (Paul couldn’t attend, unfortunately) who bought the house in 1940 and lived in it for about 4 years when they sold it to Paul’s brother & sister-in-law. She had lots of information & stories about the Caton House. She told us that when they bought it there were no indoor bathrooms so they lived in their camper in the backyard until Paul could install a half bath upstairs and a full bath on the main floor.

We’ll be working with Citizen’s Bank to get the funds for the renovations. They’ve been very helpful and we’ve liked working with them in the past. We have no worries about their end of things!

Brian removed the supporting beams (see photo) from under the 1948 addition making us wonder what was holding the place up. As someone once said to us the termites & carpenter ants were holding hands!



We’re having Beth Young Garden Design do the landscaping plan. We want the landscape to be easy to maintain, and not distract from the main purpose of the building. She and I haven’t had a discussion about specific plants yet, but I’m looking forward to that.

Terry Johnson is drawing up the plans, and doing a fine job, too! You can learn more about him at www.shelterwoodhomes.com. Terry is an excellent designer who we have hired for jobs in the past. Our clients speak very highly of his work and his professional approach.

Oh my aching back!

The house is officially ours, break out the champagne! Brian took this week off so we could get lots done in and around the house. I’ve been cutting blackberries, edging the lawn, and trimming overgrown shrubs. I found an interesting plant (photo) called a Voodoo Lily or Dragon Flower (Dracunculus vulgaris). I plan to dig it up before the excavator starts and save it for the final landscaping.

Brian had to dig a hole near the foundation and found an old chamber pot lid, still in one piece. Maybe we’ll find the rest of it later! The only other treasures we’ve found have been botanical, and many of those are beyond help because the landscape has been neglected for so long. Near the lilac is a rose bush that is fighting the blackberries for dominance. It has small flowers and a soft scent.

We’ve been pulling a lot of old lumber from under the house. Some of it we can use but what we can’t use we’ve been piling near the street with a “free” sign on it. It’s been disappearing along with other items we’ve found: an old chicken coop or maybe rabbit hutch, and the old kitchen stove. We’re glad that stuff won’t end up in the landfill. One man who stopped to get some pieces of the newer siding said he has the same siding on his house and needs a little more to repair damage!

The open house is on track and we’re really looking forward to seeing everyone. I’m having a “future home of...” banner printed at AlphaGraphics as well as some posters for the open house. They do a great job and offer good customer service.

We're Having an Open House!

Many of the people we've told about our purchase of the Caton House have expressed an interest in seeing the interior before we start working on it. So we're having an Open House (or Before Renovation Tour) on June 10 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. We hope lots of folks will bring a friend or neighbor to see the house before we start our work.

We've met with the City inspectors to get an idea of what they'll require, and we're starting to put together the information we'll need to meet with the Historic Resources Commission. Brian is taking the bottom of the siding off in preparation for fixing the foundation problems. And they are many! First there are the rats - yes, rats!! They've been living under the house and in burrows under the blackberry bushes. We've set some traps, but eventually we may hire an exterminator. I've called several to ask questions about how they do it; we don't want to just poison the whole place! We're looking for an environmentally friendly solution which some of the companies offer. More on that when we get to that point. Brian also discovered that the 1941 addition just south of the carriage house has a foundation under only part of it. We can't figure out what's holding it up! There are apparently no headers above the windows or doors, but there are long turnbuckles stretched across the room in 2 places from wall to wall. Brian explained that they're holding the walls up. It's going to be a real challenge to restore that part I think!

I'm posting a photo that will give you an idea of the number of additions this place has had. Some of the dates are guesses but they should be close to the real date.

Wood rain gutters

I promised a photo of the old wood rain gutter I found. Apparently they were made from either cedar or redwood. They would have been oiled in the center where the rain ran through, and had a piece of tin nailed to the end.

Yardwork Day

We spent most of today doing more yardwork. We rented a chipper to take care of the piles of blackberries and limbs - that's Brian in the photo feeding the hungry chipper! We got it almost all done so now it's time to get back to cutting blackberries. A BIG thanks to our friend Shawn who spent the morning helping us and getting skewered by thorns! We got a lot done.

We take possession in a month and Brian has been creating a "chain of events" checklist. He has submitted plans to the city; they called with some questions so we know they're working on it. The other photo I'm attaching is the CAD rendering Brian drew - doesn't look like the same house! Last week while cutting blackberries I uncovered a section of what we're guessing was the original wooden gutter! I'd heard of wood gutters before but I'd never seen one. I'll post a photo of it soon, it's pretty cool!

Corvallis has a Spring Garden Festival tomorrow where folks can buy & sell plants, planters, and other garden supplies. I always get there early and buy plants for home but this year I'll want to buy things for the Caton House as well! But until I have the landscape design finalized I guess I'd better not buy too much. I had a landscape contractor walk around the house with me last week - he had lots of great ideas! We're also considering hiring him for long-term maintenance. He's starting a new company as soon as his contractor's license comes through so I can't share the name of his company until then. Stay tuned...

Several people have asked me how to pronounce Caton. Without a TARDIS (time machine) we can't ask the original owners! We've been saying it to rhyme with payton, and hope that's right.

And you thought I was kidding about the blackberries!

The Caton House is officially ours! We signed papers the 20th and hope to take possession before the June 4th deadline. The nice folks we bought it from have found some old tile and hardware that they're giving to us! They're really glad that we bought it because they know us and they know we can make the house look beautiful again.

There's an estate sale company going through the inside sorting stuff for the estate sale next month, and our employees and I have been working in the yard. I was there most of the day today and my arms are so sore I can hardly lift them! Take a look at the latest photo, that's John with the loppers. We made a lot of headway, and actually found the magnolia tree that's deep in the blackberries. And that's just one patch of them - the whole alley is lined with a huge blackberry "hedge"! Then there's the bamboo which I'm fairly certain is the running kind which means it spreads like wildfire! Not good. I like bamboo but it can be extremely hard to control unless it's the clumping kind. There are also forget-me-nots (Myosotis) blooming, as well as blue bells (Hyacinthoides) and of course dandelions! So there's a lot of work ahead in the yard as well as in the house! The starlings are raising a family in a birdhouse that's nailed to a huge black walnut tree at the rear of the property so we were being serenaded by the chicks peeping and the adults scolding us.

Brian has been working on the plans to restore the exterior as well as looking for replacement materials that are in keeping with the period of the house. We've found that part of it has wooden gutters! We are also looking into roofing material that will be historically accurate-looking, so either cedar shakes or a composite material that looks like cedar but is far less combustable. I'll post the results of our research as I find out the details.

Now, I'm going to go soak my sore muscles in the Jacuzzi!

Paperwork, paperwork

It's been snowing paperwork here for 2 weeks now. And we haven't even closed yet! We've been meeting with our realtor, attorney, accountant, banker, and city planners. I'm already tired of signing my name and closing isn't until Friday. We hope. The title company has found a glitch in the title: a document that was never recorded. The folks at the title company have been working hard to track down the errant paperwork so we can move forward. We've used this title company before and they've always been great! First American Title if you're interested.

If we close on Friday 4/20 as planned we won't take possession until June 4. The current owners have lots of stuff to sort thru as Bob was a packrat of cosmic proportions! We knew they would need time after the sale so we're letting them occupy the house until then. In the meantime we'll be able to start working on the yard, and do a little work on the outside of the house. The backyard has been taken over by blackberry bushes which are hell to remove. Blood transfusion anyone?

We met with 2 city planners last week to get a feel for the permit process. Because it's an historic building we'll need approval from the city Historic Resources Commission (HRC) before we make any exterior changes. It sounds like the process will take at least a couple of months, partly because the HRC only meets once per month.

I've been doing some horticultural research to find out what plants were popular here 150 years ago. I know the pioneers brought some plant material with them, and I'd like to keep the landscaping historically accurate. I realize that I won't be able to use accurate varieties in some cases but I can get close. I'm not good at waiting, and am itching to tackle the place. Brian has been working with CAD to prepare an "after" plan and images. The elevation drawing makes the place look amazing! I can't wait to see it like that, as it once was.

One of the most inspiring things has been the reaction of friends & family - very happy for us, and encouraging us, and we've had offers of help from surprising places. Our attorney, a young couple we've only known about a year, and an old friend we haven't seen in a very long time may be coming here to pitch in! Although the young couple I mentioned drove by the Caton House today and emailed me "You bought that? On purpose?" Another friend (and our insurance agent) said when he drives past the house he hears the theme song from the Addams Family! I think we know too many comedians...