ModVic - Modern Victorian Home Restoration

Week 2 of the Restoration

Jul 14

Written by: Bruce Rosenbaum
7/14/2007 2:46 PM 

The home’s roof was in desperate need of repair. The slate roof over the carriage house portion of the home was in relatively good shape, but needed about 50 pieces of slate to be replaced or repaired. The main portion of the roof (back) was slate – the front part of the roof was asphalt shingles – both need to be replaced quickly before any finished work to the interior of the house was to begin. Along with replacing rubber roofs, damaged wood, rafters, etc – we needed someone who was familiar with the “lost art” of slate roof repair. We were fortunate to find a local N Attleboro contractor, Eric Ayre from Top Cat Construction to start the work this week.

As the weather permitted, Marcelo and Fernando powerwash the home and start to strip paint off the trim and decorative brackets on the outside of the home. This takes incredible patience from their workers. Using heat guns, special stripping chemicals and the tools of the trade – the guys spend literally hours on just small sections of the front of the home (i.e. a wood rose bud in a bracket). Most contractors don’t have the patience to do this type of work – but our workers all feel like they have a mission to do things right. The future buyer is fortunate that everyone involved with the restoration of their new home is putting their passion into the quality work.

Fernando also starts to remove two floors above the grand turret room on the third floor. We discovered that the owner’s brother Joseph J Freeman had burned his initials “J.J.” into the woodwork near the top of the tower. Over the years – water had seeped through the domed windows on the turret – rotting wood and studs down below the windows. We braced the tower with two temporary “X” supports where the floors were so the tower would hold until we could get a structural engineer to OK plans for improvements

We also remove a wall in the carriage house portion of the home to open up a much larger space for the future large modern kitchen renovation. An obsolete chimney chase is also removed (chimney had already been taken out years earlier) so we could work with a wide open floor plan for the brand new kitchen build.

A plumber, electrician and HVAC professionals come out to give a rough quote on the whole house project. We will need to wait until we have the modified floor plans to come up with specific details on the project’s scope and cost.

We also hire Will Hayward from Eye for Color to come up with our color scheme for the exterior of our “Painted Lady” – using up to 7 colors for maximum detail pop and curb appeal impact. Will is also creating a color drawing of how the home will look with all the colors in place – I can’t wait!

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Location: Blogs Diary of a Restoration 390 Mount Hope St.
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Neighbor Comments

2/27/08
I read about the Houdini thing at the jail in North Attleboro. I was born and raised there in North Attleboro and I remember my grandfather telling me about a magician that had a floating lady in one of the store fronts in downtown for a week. I not sure if that was Houdini, for some reason I think it was Blackwell. Not sure if he was around the same time or not. Just thought I would give you that info in case it helps you out. By the way, what a beautiful job you have done with the Freeman house. If I win the lottery, I would buy it in a second. Keep up the good work there and will come to open house in April.
John Amaral

1/27/08
Hi Bruce and Melanie,
My Great Grandparents were Annie and Herman Theile who lived at 390 Mt. Hope Street (Mt. Hope Manor) in the early 1900’s.  I would love to talk with you and your wife about the house and the history I know from my Great Aunt Mrs. Bell and my mother who was born there.  As a young girl I used to polish the mahogany banister on the circular staircase to the third floor.  I have a lot of fond memories regarding that house, and I would love to reminisce and share what I know about its history.  Sincerely, Donna Jurdak, N Attleboro MA

8/27/07
Just wanted to tell you we are watching your progress with great enthusiasm and excitement!  We are only one house away and my ten year old son is fascinated with your progress and checks on your work several times a day.  We can't wait to come in and see your progress. Thank you for bring this house back to life, I have been waiting for its rebirth patiently for years. Julia Wheatley (juliawh@comcast.net)

7/24/07
Hi Bruce :My cousin Dorothy Forbes just called me to tell me about the Victorian Home in North Attleboro . My great great grandparents owned and lived there many many years ago. Dorothy was thrilled to of had the opportunity to go thru the home. My name is Albert Berard ,my age is 83 and I don't remember too much about the house other than what was told to me by my parents and grandparents on the Berard side.I once had a photo of some relative by the name of LaPlant that was recently discarded because I have no other living sister or brother that could explain to me who the person was . In past years I've seen the house many times and remember the servant quarters and also a carriage house that I believe is no longer there. the years have taken a toll on my memory.I still have an old brownish grey photo of the home .It's been many years since the relatives lived there. I seem to remember something about a Priest by the name of LaPlant living there after his retirement. I'll have to talk to Dorothy about that when I see her in a couple weeks. Albert J. Berard.

7/23/07
I drove by the house on Mt. Hope Street earlier this evening. I read about your project in the Sun Chronicle, Sunday. I am an artist and one of the pieces I did a few years back was a pen and ink drawing of North Attleboro center around 1900. I was going to drop off one of the prints, if you'd like it. I can appreciate your undertaking. A friend of mine and I gutted his Queen Anne Vic close to eight years ago and remodeled it. Neither of us had ever done something that involved before. We have since parted ways. I work for a landscape company now and do some remodeling/ fix up jobs in the winter, if the opportunity comes along. I'd like to see the work you are doing, just curious and if you need a hand (weekends, rain days, evenings) let me know. Learning and gaining experience are always of interest to me. If you'd like the print, free, let me know. Best wishes to your success.
Sincerely, Peter Clarke.
  
 

For further information, or to schedule a personal visit of a property with Bruce and Melanie Rosenbaum please call 781-784-0250 or email bruce@modvic.com. Thanks for visiting!
  
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