The Port Royal cottage project is moving along nicely. The objective was to be able to own a second home in a place we enjoy without breaking the bank. The operative word here is "own". We are renovating out of pocket to avoid a mortgage. It takes time, but in the end we'll have a charming little cottage nestled in the oaks with a beautiful view of the Port Royal sound. Its also twenty minutes from Hilton Head Island, so it has significant rental potential; not that we would rent it outside of family. At any rate, it has been quite some time since my last post chronicling the progress, so I have taken the time to upload some images of the work accomplished this fall. We are very excited to have the kitchen and bedroom nearly complete. I would actually estimate the kitchen to be 95% complete. We want to tile the back-splash, but decided to live with it a while before selecting anything in particular. We are leaning toward glass mosaic, but haven't quite settled on a color. The laundry room is complete, with the exception of a little trim paint. The Bedroom is about 85% complete, with the only remaining work left being to hang the closet sliders and entry door. The bathroom still needs tile, but it is fully functional. Tons of work remains on the exterior, but I have big plans to knock much of that out this spring. I plan to screen in the front porch and add a pair of large Bermuda shutters for a little privacy. It will also get a durable ceiling fan, I'm still looking around for a model that wont so easily succumb to the salt air. Landscaping is also on the agenda this spring!
The Port Royal cottage is getting her kitchen. All of the appliances are in except for the microwave - we had a snafu with the vendor - but we expect that to be corrected this week. We're really pushing to get the place livable because we intend to spend our first vacation down there the week of the fourth. It should be great. We spent four days down there this month, so I think most of the kinks are worked out. I have the hot water heater working properly and the bathroom fully functional. We also have the bedroom finished. Ill attach some photos of the kitchen work in progress as well as the master bedroom. We may splurge on a grill this weekend so that we can cook out next week. Having ice cold beer in the fridge is a real bonus. It feels less like camping and more like home. Last trip down I even took a stack of my favorite paperbacks. I still have all of my tools piled up in the laundry room, so rebuilding the shed has become a top priority. If all goes well, hopefully I'll tackle that this weekend too. I've been able to get a lot of work done and still get out in the boat in the afternoons. Its been great so far, more than I could have even hoped for. I enjoy my mini-vacations down there so much that I find myself eagerly watching the clock on Fridays. I just can't wait to get down to the cottage on weekends - even if its to work!
Its been almost a year since my last post on our cottage project. I wish that I could report that it is complete and we are using it every weekend, but unfortunately that is not the case. Work and life compete for our time. We have had some bumps along the way, but overall, it is moving in the right direction. We lost our general contractor as he struggled through a nasty divorce, and the project stalled as a result. I spent a few solid weeks down there this winter just trying to ensure that we completed front facade. The natives were getting restless while the house remained in a perpetual state of disrepair. As you can see from the attached photos, it really does look great. All of the appliances have been purchased as well as the base cabinetry and kitchen pennensula. They are being installed in the next two weeks. The tub surround will also be in during that same time. From this point forward, the only remaining big-ticket items will be completing the AC install (we're using a window unit right now), and interior trim and hardware. Everything else is done.
The central AC work...
This 1/4 ceiling use to support 12x12 tiles. Landon pulled every one of those staples out by hand.
The cupola before siding
The cupola before siding
Front porch under construction
Metal roof installed.
Tub installed
Washer and Dryer hook up and rough plumbing complete
Columns in
Windows trimmed
Drywall going in
Furring the exterior block walls
Hardie-Plank siding and first coat of paint
Drywall finished, electrical going in
New cottage toy, this may help get me down there more often!
Bee loves her hens. So, for her birthday this year, I got her these Japanese Silkie Bantams. I also built this Taj Mahal coop. I spent three weekends on this, and Bee actually got to help. I gave her a hammer and let her go. She stayed out back with me the entire day, in the heat, with no complaints. Lucy and Ethel have settled their differences and are roosting together again, and Lucy is laying eggs again. I have grown rather fond of the hens. It's a real treat to see them greeting me in the morning before work. I know it sounds strange, but I have my coffee with them while they feed on scratch grains first thing in the morning.
So the metal roof is finally up. The porch is completely framed too. Oyster shell concrete is going in this week for the porch and outdoor shower. The windows are in, the soaker tub has been delivered, and the AC is being roughed in over the next few days. Rough plumbing is all that keeps us from getting the drywall up. On the exterior we are going to fir out the block and side the lower half with Hardie-plank lap siding and the upper half in a board-and-baton style. It will look very nice when it's all said and done, but the dream of being able to use the place by Memorial day has came and went. We're now shooting for the Fourth of July. Keep your fingers crossed...
The work at the Port Royal cottage is moving along quickly. As you can see, its mostly gutted. Most of the work to date has been focused on the infrastructure...running new water and power supplies. We had the services buried so the beautiful oak would be unobstructed. That took some work. We also ran a new water service from the city main and completely gutted the interior space. The guys still have to remove the drop ceiling so we can rewire. We are planning to pour three inches of new concrete on top of the existing slab. That will give us the blank slate we were looking for. We have found (from experience) that it's often cheaper to gut the space as opposed to trying to preserve something not worth saving. I'ts still hard to get excited the project just yet. I have a vision of what I want it to look like in the end, but I get nervous trying to manage the project remotely. I've got a great builder, but when you don't get to see the progress as it's happening, it's just not the same. I've found that i'm spending quite a bit of time lately focusing on completing the cottage. I'm daydreaming at work. Surfing the web for the right outdoor shower , etc..I'm absolutely in love with the area and spend most weekends there as it is - never-mind the two hour drive and the eighty dollars in gas. Bee and I went down this morning. I just couldn't go a week without seeing the progress first hand. It's coming together...both in my mind and in person. I made subtle changes to my vision of the end product, so it wasn't a fruitless visit. We also visited downtown Beaufort for breakfast. I took a few shots of the waterfront park. Spring is definitely in the air.
This is really something to get excited about. It's a shame this hasn't caught on. Municipalities haven't made live-work projects easy. In the Cottage Square project, 19 single family homes are set on a single 2 acre plot. Less really is more, and in a walking community like Ocean Springs this kind of initiative goes a long way to revive economically challenged areas. Would love to see some developer incentives in place to spark some interest in this form of affordable housing in South Carolina.
Well, we've finally come to an agreement. We're closing today at 2:30. We ended up with an owner financing option for the balance of the asking price, although we will probably only finance it over five years. Bank of America was just too difficult to work with. They insisted we make a multitude of repairs prior to closing that I only intended to rip out anyway. They wanted me to repair broken floor tiles even though I planned to remove the floor in the process of renovation. When they insisted we have a licensed inspector evaluate a roof system that we also intended to replace, we knew we had to seek other alternatives. The owner finance option is not for everyone, but it worked well for us. Find below a photo of the currently scary cottage as well as a rendering of what we think it will look like after we get to work.
“Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey.” - Alex Noble We have embarked on another journey, another soon to be chapter in our lives. We are buying a little fishermen's cottage in Port Royal SC. If all goes well we will close on the property November 30th. We have had a satellite office in Beaufort for a couple of years. We leased some space in a mixed use flat in the Habersham community. Although we liked the area, we wanted a place of our own and Habersham was clearly out of our price range as second homes go. We also never really liked the planned community feel. Although Habersham's architecture seems to be period correct and Lowcountry inspired, the absence of the random shanty lends an aire of plastic uniformity that is difficult to ignore. After two years of searching for the perfect spot, we found the Port Royal cottage. Weighing in at a spry 860 sq-ft, we'll need to add on to the existing structure to get the footprint we need. The good news is that the house is solid and the lot is large.
Port Royal is a beautiful area steeped in history and tradition. Most people don't know that it is one on of the oldest continually used ports in the US. The first landing at Port Royal was made by Pedro de Salazar in the1500s. Spain sent other ships to this area in the 1520s and built the first fort in North America in 1525. Most men perished during that first winter. The Spanish, nevertheless, continued to use this area as a major anchorage in their explorations, and eventually made it the center of their North American empire.
In 1562, Capt. Jean Ribaut led a group French Huguenots to the New World. Three months later they sailed up a "mighty" river, the mouth of which they named Port Royal. Ribaut wrote that he had found ". . . no fairer or fitter place . . . the Port Royal." On what is now Parris Island, the French expedition built a fort they named Charles Fort in honor of King Charles IX. Ribaut returned to France for men and supplies and left 30 settlers on the island. When Ribaut did not return by July, the settlers feared the worst. With the help of the natives the stranded Frenchmen built a ship, the first ever known to have been built in the new world, and set sail for home. Although the ship floundered at sea, they were eventually picked up by English sailors and returned to France. In 1565 a Spanish squadron was sent by Philip II to destroy the fledgling French colony. After destroying the French fort, the Spanish carried off the pillar set up by founder Jean Ribaut as a symbol of French domination, and returned with it to Cuba. One year later, they returned to St. Elena (now known as St Helena) to establish their own military port. For twenty-one years, St. Elena was considered the capital of Spanish "Florida". In 1629 Charles I of England granted Sir Robert Heath the region comprising the two Carolinas, Georgia and much of Florida under the name Carolina, but no effort was made to colonize the area until 1663 when Capt. William Hilton sailed from Barbados on the ship Adventure and raised the first English flag over St. Helena Sound. Hilton Head Island was named in his honor. Seven years later Charles II of England gave the territory to eight of his friends in appreciation of their services in restoring him to the throne. The group was known as the Lord Proprietors. The Lord Proprietors began bestowing Land Grants in Port Royal. Union occupation during the Civil War spared the Town of Port Royal from destruction. Gen. Thomas Sherman was quite content to ride out the war comfortably on Hilton Head Island. As a result, with the exception of a few unsuccessful forays a few miles north of Beaufort to attempt to sever the vital Confederate railway from Savannah to Charleston, Port Royal remained a pleasant beachhead for the Union. In fact, it was considered so safe that many Officers' families moved down form the North. The only evidence of war were the wounded who were routinely treated in Beaufort. When the other - the fighting Sherman- came through the area some three years later burning and pillaging, he spared the little historic town, destroying instead neighboring Hardeeville and McPhersonville just to the north. As a result, many of the majestic homes that were built in Port Royal are still in existence and are listed as historic buildings. Two churches were built, both of which still stand; Port Royal Union Church on 11th Street and the Zion Baptist Church on 15th Street. Mercantile buildings were constructed (including the F.W. Scheper store which still stands), two drug stores; dry goods stores; a blacksmith shop; a bakery was located in the Masonic Lodge Building that is now the Last Chance Saloon; and no less than seventeen bars and taverns. Many newspaper articles from the era mentioned fist fights and brawls. Train arrivals and departures were so frequent and the population so dense in Port Royal that pedestrian accidents frequently occurred on the rails.
In 1891 Congressman Robert Smalls was instrumental in having a U.S. Naval coaling station built on nearby Parris Island, complete with a 120 x 150 ft dock. The naval yard brought several ships into Port Royal Harbor including the USS Texas, the USS Indiana, and the ill-fated Battleship, USS Maine. In 1959 the South Carolina State Ports Authority re-activated Port Royal and provided the necessary funding to dredge the ship-turning basin and build transit sheds and berthing spaces. The Port Authority leased the facilities to the Port Royal Clay Company which exported Kaolin, a raw material used in the manufacture of porcelain. Along with the demise of the Railroad, both the Navy Yard and much of the commercial Port business were eventually moved to Charleston. In the 1960 Census the population of Port Royal was registered at less than 750 people. Today the population is around 3000.
I fully intend to restore the little cottage to its former glory. I'll chronicle the transformation on this blog. Photos coming after closing :-)
If you’ve ever said, “Yes, I’d love to go out and spend more time with my wife, but…..” and then you’ve found a hundred reasons why you don’t: too much work, the kids have too many extracurricular activities, you’re on a budget, there’s just not enough time, whatever the reason, the list goes on and on, then you might be heading down a slippery slope. The truth is though, if you don’t make the time for your marriage, you may wake up one morning next to a stranger. I say this because I’ve witnessed firsthand couples whose kids have gone off to college or left the house (and it’s often sooner than you think) and the husband and wife are left behind wondering what they have in common with their partner. A friend who is teetering on divorce told me recently that it wasn’t any one thing that ruined his marriage, just years of neglect on both his and his wife’s part. He said that eventually, they no longer knew one another and their marriage faded into emptiness. So, what do we do?
According to family and marriage expert Dr Joan, contributing writer to The Blog for Effective Parenting, part of the secret is dating. I am a huge advocate of the weekly marriage date, but I know it isn’t always easy to pull off. Nevertheless, do whatever it takes to spend dedicated time with each other. Have lunch together. Take a walk. Go grab a coffee; whatever. The point is, nurturing your marriage with adult time is critical to retaining a strong relationship with your spouse. During this time, limit your conversation to non-kid topics. It gives you the opportunity to re-connect at a very basic level. Sometimes things are so hurried that we don’t know which direction were moving in. Planning a weekly date allows you to slow it down.
Dr Joan stresses the importance of this quality adult time and recommends getting away together, even if it’s just for one night, at least once a year. I know firsthand that this is difficult at best, in fact, I can’t remember the last time my wife and I got away by ourselves without the pressure of work or kids. Nevertheless, I agree with the premise that all of us need to put energy into making this kind of time with our spouse or partner. The bottom line… All parents need a break, and all marriages require work. Avoid stranger-danger by setting aside that time to reconnect.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Go COCKS!!! Saturday is the big game!! I havent given up all hope of scoring a ticket. These were the seats we had for the Kentucky game, and once you've been down here theres simply no going back to the cheap seats. I put my feelers out but came back empty handed. If you guys know of a single ticket available, shoot me an email anytime before Saturday!
I absolutely detest average. Average does not make great societies. Average is mediocre and bland. Average is common, plain vanilla, and middle of the road. Yet average seems to be an increasingly more prevalent state of mind. Slackers and perennial underachievers are commonplace; even where we would least expect to find them. My own son believes that if he makes "decent" grades he should be able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to; as if a C average were something to be remotely proud of.
I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. After all, it took me a while to realize that the world was full of ordinary people. In high school I relished the fact that I could breeze through the state minimum curricula; never bringing a book home and still make passing grades. I knew that with some effort I could ace every course, but I didn't put forth that effort because if average was good enough for everyone else, it was surely good enough for me. No one told me that acing the state minimum curriculum should be considered average, and that excellence was in fact a much higher goal. I didn't realize that if the bar was set at excellence, the world would be full of great minds. Great minds who do great things. Average people only do average things.
When I graduated high school I didn't know what I wanted to do, I just knew I wanted to be done with school. Accepting my diploma I didn’t feel proud or accomplished because deep down in the bowels of my soul I knew I hadn’t really accomplished anything. I felt strangely ashamed of myself, but I pressed on towards mediocrity anyway, following the majority of my classmates into an average and ordinary life. I got a job and went to work. I hung out with my friends at the local bars every chance I got. I lived above the garage at my parent's house. I suppressed my shame and made myself content with an ordinary existence.
Several years later I ran into a kid I went to high school with. I had known him well. However, although we had much in common, I naively shunned him as a friend. A lanky member of the brass section in our school's marching band, he was teased relentlessly. Though we had been in the Boy Scouts together for years, I tended not to associate with him outside of that setting for fear of damaging my already fragile social status. He recognized me right away and came over to say hello. He was friendly and gracious; and considering I was noticeably uneasy and embarrassed about being complicit in his frequent humiliation, he seemed genuinely happy to see me.
We reminisced for a while and went through the whole "what have you been up to" routine. I told him proudly that I was working in the engine factory making good pay, that I got plenty of overtime, and had paid vacation and benefits. I even offered to put in a good word for him, recounting that I had been instrumental in getting Pete and Frankie on full time at the factory too, cautioning that if he were interested he would have to start at the bottom and work his way up. He claimed to appreciate the offer.
So blindly content with the mundane, I didn’t realize that I had just offered a night shift production job to a guy who three months prior graduated Magna Cum Laud from Emory University and was recently accepted into the Medical College of Georgia. I stood in front of him, inglorious in a navy blue uniform with my first name in script on the shirt lapel as the indignity and shame of my underachievement was unveiled for the world to see. For the first time in my life I allowed myself to see who I had become. I finally admitted that I had set the bar so low that I eventually tripped over it.
I immediately changed how I viewed the world around me and vowed to never be satisfied with average. Now, I struggle with my own sons’ insistence on being typical. I don’t know when that moment of humble revelation will be for him. I’m hoping it’s sooner rather than later. Understanding that setting the bar of achievement at your personal best is liberating. It frees us to reach our full potential, live extraordinary lives, and go on to do great things. "There are countless ways of achieving greatness, but any road to achieving one's maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity." - Buck Rodgers
So, Here it is! It's finally finished...well, almost finished. We're enjoying it already though. I would love to take credit for the work, but this craftmenship is the handywork of my friend Smitty. It's all 6"x6" treated stock set in concrete, complete with picture framed decking and a awesome stainless steel wire rail system. We spent way more than we wanted on it, but the results were well worth it... and we don't owe a dime on it. We saved for a few months and paid for the bulk of the work in weekly installments. Smitty was awesome about the project from the begining, and we gave him creative control for the most part. I think we only had three change orders throughout the entire build. I'm most pleased with the beadboard ceiling. We still have to skirt around the bottom and waterseal the top decking, but it's complete enough to enjoy. In fact, I'm planning on having a halloween party back there this weekend!
A running diary of our experiences remodeling a 1908 Carolina Cottage.I use this blog for everything, so if you're just keeping up with the remodel, you may want to filterthe post.The HouseThe Family
