MARBLEHEAD RESTORATION PROGRESSES NICELY!

THE NEW FRONT ENTRY. 

 I recently went back to Marblehead to check up on my friend Jim's project. I must say it is coming along very very nicely. It has been a great deal of work as you can see in the before and after photos. There are still things that need to be finished, such as the landscaping in the rear of the house and also the interior still needs countertops and appliances. The painters were hard at work the day my friend, Pru, and I went to take pictures and see the progress. It was cold and rainy outside so we didn't see how the landscaping was going. The house had sunk into the ground a good foot and a half in the back, over the last one hundred years, so excavating had to be done along with the underpinings. Major stuff!!

My friend, Jim, hired a very talented young man , (and I do mean young , 24 years old) to build a new 18th century door surround. As you can see from the picture on the left , it is very very impressive. Nat is a student at The Bennet Street school in Boston and he has replicated all of the missing original woodwork in the house.  Obviously he will have a great career!
By the way, the steps are white oak and will never rot.  the rest of the photos show several rooms before and after.  The house has twelve rooms and twelve fireplaces, I tried to show what I could. I also want to say that the restoration of the chimneys and fireplaces, was done by Richard Irons , restoration mason. He is the best!!!!!!!
This house has made such an impact that all you have to say to anyone from Marblehead is ," there is this house in Old town being restored", and the response is always "oh I know the house, it is incredible!" There have been many tough decisions along the way such as, where to put kitchen and bathrooms ( there are 3 1/2 baths) , which is not so easy to do if you are trying to maintain integrity . I think it has been done in this house very well. There is still more in this house that I wasn't able to show in this post. There is a wonderful pantry and many back staircases. The bathrooms were done with care and are beautiful .I hope to get back there to take the final finish pictures. If you happen to be in Marblehead's Old Town , it isn't hard to find on Washington street. You might like to stop and take a peak!

FRONT BEFORE RESTORATION 

BACK OF HOUSE BEFORE RESTORATION. 

BACK AFTER RESTORATION

I

WINDOW AT TOP OF STAIRCASE WITH WINDOW SEAT

BEAUTIFUL STAIRCASE

STAIRCASE AND FRONT ENTRY

UPSTAIRS MASTER BATH

BEFORE IT BECAME MASTER BATH

BACK BEDROOM ALMOST DONE

BACK BEDROOM 

This back bedroom is upstairs in the back, and was the worst room in the house. It had been a kitchen when the house was four apartments. The floor had to be replaced because it was almost rotted through.  The fireplace had major work done because at one time there was a stove put in front and it did a lot of damage.

PARLOR BEFORE AND DURING RESTORATION
Notice the painting above the mantel. It was done in the 1940's and was not in a good state. Jim decided to paint over it but kept the one in the Parlor chamber.

PARLOR BEING PAINTED A BEAUTIFUL RICH BLUE

small room at the end of the hallway before restoration

Breakfast room after .

Old kitchen fireplace restored and awaiting it's final choice of paint color. The color chosen is on the right.

Old kitchen fireplace before restoration . Looks grim!

Garret or attic bedroom before restoration and after !

NICE!!!!!

Before restoration. This is where the modern day kitchen is now . This was a room in the 1790 ell , also has a bake oven and was used as a kitchen.

New kitchen with 18th century panelling made by Nat. 

Cabinets being installed .

Dining room making progress. There will be doors and chair rail added to the cupboards flanking the fireplace . There are delft tiles going back along the inside front edge of the firebox. You can see an impression of original tiles in the plaster that remained on the bricks . 

The beautiful rich green in the dining room.

Parlor chamber before.

Upstairs Parlor  chamber getting a deep yellow color.

Dining room chamber with it's original stencil decoration. This room also has been scraped down to see the original paint on the panelling. It looks like cedar graining, which was found in many parts of the house and maybe also some black marbling.  This room will become the Master bedroom. Two small rooms with fireplaces ,have been turned into bathrooms.