Porches ... ahhhh!

There is just something about front porches. They induce feelings of nostalgia, relaxation, friendly neighbors and idyllic neighborhoods, family, happy times and they are so Southern.

 

This little girl is certainly happy! That's me in about 1963, three years old. The photo was taken on the front porch of the house my family lived in on Colonial Avenue, here in Ghent. This was the last time I had a real front porch.

 

Maybe I have wanted to do those memories justice?
Well, I think I am finally finished tinkering with our new/old front porch.

We have added a few new things. Some new flowers (McDonald's Garden Market, Poquoson):

Two more rocking chairs so we can sit with friends!

 

And a couple pics for you of the back of the house ... before ...

 

On the right side, top you can see that plywood was covering the glass blocks on the inside.

That was in the old laundry room now the master closet.

 

After:



It was our contractor who insisted on making the windows symmetrical, and I'm glad we did!

 

And, did someone mention porches? I love that there is a lot of space between the first floor windows and the second floor windows. It would be totally easy to add a covered porch one day?

 

I said, one day!

Just an average weekend night in Ghent

Recently, on a Friday evening, we hopped on our bikes and

rode to Ghent for a casual dinner.

On this particular night we stopped at Dog-N-Burger on Manteo where they have outdoor picnic tables. The sign says they have been open since 1969? Wow! They have really good cheeseburgers and hot dogs! At last count we are up to trying 25 of 55 restaurants on our "to go" list.

 

Then back on our bikes to burn off some of those cheeseburger calories! South through Ghent and around Mowbray Arch to the foot bridge over the Hague.

 

 

 

Then into downtown Norfolk on the Elizabeth River Trail that runs past Nauticus and through Town Point Park.

 

Back to Ghent and Colley Avenue for some froyo at The SkinnyDip.

 

Then back home. This is what I love about living here!

 

 

 



Mystery of the Reclusive Rafter Tails

Our American Foursquare house the day we purchased

In my second blog post, The American Foursquare, I mentioned that Foursquare homes usually have a colonial or craftsman influence. I've even seen some with Spanish colonial elements. Foursquares vary a great deal even in one neighborhood! I am hoping do do a future post about Foursquares in Ghent. But, I digress ...

Back to the mystery at hand!  I said that our house has some Craftsman elements like exposed rafter tails on the dormers.  In the photos above, if you look at the dormer windows on the third floor you can barely see the ends of the rafter tails under the roof eaves. They look like little white decorative blocks from the front.

Well, when we were planning the renovations of our house, we discussed the possibility of there being exposed rafter tails hiding under the vinyl that is covering the soffitt (underneath portion) of the main roof. You can see (above) on the right side that the roof overhangs quite a bit. We were sooooo hoping that we would uncover and restore a treasure under there!

 

And there they are! When the crew began removing the siding we could see that, indeed, there are exposed rafter tails on our house. At least, they exist in the back of the house?

 

 

Then we got a peek at the side overhang and, yes! Mystery solved in the affirmative! Turns out they are in pretty good condition. I think we have to replace one or two on the whole 91 year old house! But, what you might be able to see below is roofing nails that come all the way through the soffit boards - UG-LEE! After some considerable back and forth between owners, contractor and painters here is what we decided.

 

 

 

The nail tips would be snipped off as best they could be. Then the remaining wood would be scraped and sanded, primed and painted, the best it could be. Everyone promised it would look amazing!

 

 And it does! So far, anyway.  This is the right side after scraping, painting, priming and two coats of paint - finished! Now, imagine THAT all the way around against blue-gray siding and pristine white trim. Perfection ... keep viewing Mission: Foursquare to see!

 



 



Welcome to our neighborhood, West Ghent

After almost two weeks in our new/old house, here are some impressions I have of the neighborhood.

We live in an urban neighborhood in Norfolk, Virginia called West Ghent. As you might imagine there is also a Ghent neighborhood or "Ghent proper." There is also an East Ghent and a Ghent Square - don't want to leave anyone out! The original Ghent neighborhood began being developed in about 1890 for Norfolk's upper class.  Many business owners, heads of industry, veterans of the Civil War, lawyers, doctors, ministers, folks like that built the homes there. It is a beautiful neighborhood and still has mostly original homes that were built between 1890 and about 1910.  When we were looking at homes to buy many that we looked at were built in 1908 - that must have been a boom year for building in Ghent!

 

West Ghent, as you might have surmised, is to the west of Ghent proper and it was built a little later. I'm guessing between 1910 and about 1940 with the occasional newer house thrown in.  Both neighborhoods have homes next to apartments next to old apartments that have been turned into condos.  In some cases huge old houses have been turned into condos.  But what is also great is that it has streets that are primarily commercial areas. 

 



The north-south artery that divides West Ghent from Ghent is Colley Avenue.  Colley Avenue has multiple restaurants, bars, coffee shops, a running store, a bike store, an antique shop, a pottery making studio and an historic theatre, etc, etc.  All of that is a 14 minute walk from our front door.  And, to say that Colley Avenue has energy is probably its most accurate description.

 



                               

Another north-south artery, one that runs through West Ghent is Hampton Boulevard.  Hampton Boulevard gets all the traffic (not a great thing) - I don't think trucks are permitted to drive on some of the other main roads.  But also Hampton Boulevard runs north through the Old Dominion University campus and on to the Norfolk Naval Air Station.  Old Dominion has been around since 1930.  My Dad attended ODU for a time in the late 50's when it was still an extension campus of the College of William and Mary. ODU has grown like crazy in the last 10 years.  They used to have a top women's basketball team and they're still very good. They have added football team in recent years that seems to get better and better each year and they have a huge conference center that draws all kinds a great concerts. ODU is a 5 minute drive!

Alex Palmer's Natural History Notes and Thoughts
 



Also there is this cool walking and biking trail (one of the Rails to Trails Conservancy projects), the Elizabeth River Trail that runs along the perimeter of our neighborhood (maybe a block from our house) all the way to ODU and beyond. If you go the other direction on the Elizabeth River Trail you go through downtown Norfolk along the river and on to Harbor Park where the Norfolk Tides baseball team plays.

How could you possibly NOT love living here!

For more information about Ghent, West Ghent & Norfolk you might enjoy some of these:
Ghent Business Association
West Ghent Civic League
Ghent Neighborhood League
altdaily.com
City of Norfolk
Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce - Norfolk
Insider's Passport Norfolk Blog

Bathroom Tile: Vintage with a Twist

A few days ago, while my daughter was home during her spring break, we went tile shopping. She always offers a different perspective and great ideas so I took advantage while I could.  I have decided to keep things very simple in our new/old master bathroom. I would like to use period-inspired details but with a little modern twist.  

I was inspired to use small hexagonal (hex) tiles for the floor while watching an episode of DIY’s Rehab Addict:

 

DIY Network's Nicole Curtis, star of Rehab Addict

 

I have a vague memory of very similar hex tiles from when I was a little girl. I think my memory is of tile on the entry-way floor of the house we lived in on Colonial Avenue in the adjacent Ghent neighborhood of Norfolk.  We lived there during the time when Norfolk's urban neighborhoods were in decline and many of the amazing old homes had been converted into multi-family housing.  My family occupied the first and second floor of a three story.  If that memory is accurate, I could use similar tiles in our bathroom and they would be both period and locally appropriate. 

So, we set off to ProSource Wholesale Flooring to go tile shopping. My contractor and I have both worked with ProSource in the past, so it was a natural place to start. We had great success!

 

 

I had come up with an idea for a black and white pattern of the hex tiles after seeing something similar in the Better Homes and Gardens, Bathroom Idea File. We discovered that the pattern I saw is a standard pattern, so it should be easy to install and less expensive (a big bonus!). We are planning to use white subway tiles on the shower walls. Subway tiles are basic 3 x 6 tiles that were also used in 1920s homes. You can see both types of tile in this photo (the subway example is brown):

 

We decided on standard 2x2 square white tiles for the shower floor. The 2x2 size was better (vs. 1x1) because the size was not similar to the sizes of either the hex or the subway tiles and they compliment rather than compete. 

But that is where the authentic 1920s tile stops, and the twist begins. I have chosen Carrera marble for a classic vanity countertop with white cabinets.  What about adding a Carrera marble mosaic detail at eye-level in the shower to tie it to the vanity and add some visual interest? Maybe put the mosaic between two narrow rows of decorative trim?  We ran across a few black and Carrera patterns, and I liked the addition of some black but these weren’t quite right.

 

Then as we were about to leave the store, this caught my eye.

 

I think it is perfect. I plan to use five rows in a horizontal detail, which will leave the white marble to create a natural border, avoiding the need for a trim piece. I love it! And, it should also save a bit of budget (another big bonus!).

It was a successful and surprisingly quick shopping trip. That left us the rest of the afternoon to work on the blog and pack for the big move! 

For more examples of hex and subway tiles in 1920’s homes see Good Home Construction

For some modern uses of hexagon tiles check out this post in Apartment Therapy