Tag: Rehabilitation

Icehouse v2.0

Icehouse v2.0: Looking east toward future loft inside the icehouse while fine tuning remodel proposal for the Town of Essex Planning Board. (Source: Geo Davis)

At long last it’s time to move forward with Rosslyn’s icehouse v2.0 which I’ve been alluding to for a couple of months (including in the July 2 Instagram photo of icehouse interior above.) If this is your first sneak peek inside the icehouse, rest assured that the project is still percolating. When the sweet siren songs of reimagination, rehabilitation, and repurposing merge into a mellifluous melody, I’ve learned to slow down and listen…

In the weeks and months ahead I’ll share with you the reason(s) and vision for this project as well as the cast of characters and the plan. I’m hoping to take you inside this rehabilitation project, joining the team who will transform a 19th century utility building (purpose built to store ice and preserve food) into a 21st century utility building (repurposed as a flexible studio, office, meeting, and entertaining space.) Although the icehouse won’t become the “game room” we once imagined, it will share some overlaps with that early vision.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start in our early days at Rosslyn.

Icehouse v1.0

In 2006/7 during rehabilitation of our home, we began renovating Rosslyn’s circa 1889 icehouse (existing outbuilding located north of existing carriage barn). Top priority was structural stabilization including remediating a collapsing roof and “corn cribbing” of north and south walls by removing most windows to improve structural integrity and simplify reframing and drawing walls back together with cables. The existing stone foundation was repaired and repointed, and roof was rebuilt from within with rough hewn hemlock beams that we had milled locally complement the existing structure. A standing seam steel roof was installed to match our home and carriage barn, and the existing mechanicals were upgraded in conjunction with the other buildings. New electrical supply and subpanel, water supply, propane gas, and septic system were installed and inspected in 2006/7.

And then, the icehouse rehab stalled. Indefinitely.

We mothballed the project, deferring the next phase indefinitely until circumstances warranted moving forward. (Source: Demolition Dedux)

Until recently, circumstances distracted us, and time whistled past without returning to the question of whether or not (and how and when and why) to tackle the conversion of this unique outbuilding.

But the spring of 2020, coronavirus quarantining at Rosslyn, Susan and I spent many afternoons and evenings next to a fire pit just northwest of the icehouse enjoying the sunsets. We’d never really done this before. And it got us thinking…

Reimagination, Repurposing, Rehabilitation

I recount this curious time in other posts, but for now I’ll simply acknowledge that the early weeks and months of the pandemic allowed for a long overdue pause, an extended period of introspection. We were profoundly grateful to be able to quarantine at Rosslyn. It was truly an oasis in many respects. And this time of sequestration and slowing down and introspection opened up lots of interesting conversations.

Long story short, we began to reimagine the icehouse rehab as a slightly different sort of conversion than we’d originally imagined. For one thing, the western views in the afternoon through early evening were spectacular and distinct from one we associate with the property. We became slightly obsessed. And so we pondered ideas for some outside living space, a fire pit, a deck, maybe even a hot tub?

What if we repurposed this outbuilding to meet several of the needs not present in our home? What if the work-from-home model meant embracing the notion of a highly effective dedicated workspace but that could also double as an outdoor, socially distanced socializing hub?

As we courted the siren song our imaginations ran wild. And two years later we’re finally ready to focus the vision and get started.

Icehouse v2.0

We are at last planning to complete the rehabilitation of the ice house, adapting it from a workshop and storage space to a studio office and workshop. Minimalist open plan but integrating a full bath including shower (and possibly a hot tub on exterior deck) creates a threefold benefit: on-site restroom for workspace; a post-swim and soak restroom for visiting friends; and a restroom and wash area for gardening, etc.

Paramount in our plan is repurposing and recycling. We’re hoping to utilize sixteen years of architectural salvage, building materials, and on-property milled lumber to complete this project. I’ll try to document some of the materials we’ll be repurposing soon. And there will be some modern, non-repurposed accommodations as well including modern, energy efficient wood windows and doors that match the historic windows of the barn, foam insulation, and high efficiency mechanicals.

And because the eastern façade of this historic icehouse is visible from the road/sidewalk, we propose minimal alteration to this public viewshed. I’ll be posting some images soon.

August 23, 2022
Renderings for Icehouse Rehabilitation 2022-2023

If you’ve been following along over the last couple of months, observing from afar as we rehabilitate and repurpose Rosslyn’s icehouse, then perhaps a vision is beginning to take shape in your imagination? Or maybe you’re struggling to envision the future of this handsome but understated utility building? I’ll be sharing design and structural plans piecemeal in the months ahead, but today I’d like to show you a couple of slightly whimsical renderings of the icehouse as it *might* (see note below) appear when rehabilitation is complete. The work of friend and frequent architectural design collaborator, Tiho Dimitrov, these illustrative previews are an enjoyable way to fertilize the team’s imagination as they progress.

Rendering for Icehouse Rehabilitation, East Elevation (Source: Tiho Dimitrov)

The image above depicts the east elevation, the most visible to passersby who happen to glance west, beyond the house, past the stone wall and the linden tree, to where a pair of “barns” —actually a carriage barn and an icehouse — are backlit by the setting sun. This east-facing icehouse façade was the primary focus in our meetings with the Town of Essex Planning Board. Because of the impact it has on the historic viewshed, we have endeavored to minimize changes, even repurposing/recreating the former icehouse door as a storm door per the encouragement of several board members.

Rendering for Icehouse Rehabilitation, North Elevation (Source: Tiho Dimitrov)

The second rendering of the icehouse as viewed from the north is notably absent the carriage barn (located directly south of the icehouse.) Although this might initially seem misleading, there’s potentially an intentional and beneficial consideration as explained below. Of note in this view (not visible from the public viewshed) is a change to the original fenestration. Only a single window, the one furthest to the left, likely dates to the building’s construction in the late 19th century. This 3-lite window, along with an identical window south side, have served as the template for three windows in the rehabilitation plan. When we purchased the property a massive window had been cut into this wall, but we removed it during the initial phase of structural rehabilitation in 2006-7. It is visible in the photo below, taken by the previous owners’ son, Jason McNulty.

Icehouse, North Side (Source: Jason McNulty)

It’s also evident in the following photo taken by Jason McNulty. Both photographs were recorded on November 8, 2004.

Icehouse, North Side (Source: Jason McNulty)

The three six-over-six double hung windows in Tiho’s rendering have been templated from the carriage barn, and the three small windows above are templated from similar windows in the carriage barn that were originally installed in rack of the horse stalls. They are visible in one of the photos I shared recently in the post, “Local Lumber& Fall Foliage”.

As It Might Appear?

I qualified my statement above about these renderings illustrating how Rosslyn’s icehouse will/might appear after rehabilitation is complete. Why, you ask? Architectural renderings are a powerful tool for visualizing designs and structural plans, but they are subjective. For example, in the renderings above, attention is focused on the icehouse to the exclusion of other conditions (ie. the carriage barn located mere feet to the south of the icehouse). There’s something romantic, even misleading when we isolate a specific subject from its broader context, and that is certainly the case with these delightful renderings. Colorful and capricious, they are extremely effective tools for catalyzing imagination for the future of this rehabilitation project. But there’s much more at stake as we adapt the northwest quadrant of Rosslyn’s public property (as opposed to the meadows and fields to the west of the gardens and orchard). I’ve chronicled in other recent posts concurrent site work to the north and west of the icehouse, removing some of the topographical changes introduced early in the 20th century when a clay tennis court was installed. We will be reintegrating the landscaping in the immediate vicinity of the icehouse with elements already present on the property in order to restore greater cohesion and balance to the landscape design.

November 6, 2022
Redacting Rosslyn v2.0

Boathouse & Sailboat, September 22, 2020 (Source: Geo Davis)

Thwumpf! That’s the sound of a decade being swallowed whole (like a tidy-but-tasty amuse-bouche) by Rosslyn. Or by entropy. Maybe both. Ten sprawling, glorious years after pushing a post entitled Redacting Rosslyn v1.0 out into the universe I’m back on track with Redacting Rosslyn v2.0.

Yes, that’s a fairly ridiculous incubation period. A half dozen years of enthusiastic belly button gazing followed by an ellipsis that lingered so long it almost vanished like an old sepia photograph too long exposed to sunshine. Only ghostly shadows and faint silhouettes remain on the curling yellow paper.

But this interstitial reprieve was fecund. An abundance of living and laughter, family and friends, dreams and memories germinated, blossomed, and fruited in Rosslyn’s nurturing embrace. So much life.

Evidently I needed this Rosslyn experience in its voluptuous complexity to begin to disentangle my story.

Interstitial Adventure

Renovating Rosslyn *was* an adventure. Writing and editing Rosslyn Redux *is* an adventure. And Redacting Rosslyn is an interstitial adventure tucked into the folds of both, at once familiar and unfamiliar. And it demands new methods and rhythms, new risks, new exploration. In storytelling and writing, silence and white space are as important as voice and words. (Source: Redacting Rosslyn v1.0)

That wordy bundle first wandered into the world in Redacting Rosslyn v1.0. Little did I understand at the time how clairvoyant those words would be. Nor these conclusions that I teased out of a hand-me-down from Irish writer Kieron Connolly via Avery Oslo.

Each new work is unique, and its creation may well require different routines, different methods and habits and rhythms than previous creations. This will to adapt the creative process per the needs of each new creation is not only more realistic than the systematic, procrustean assembly line model, it’s more exciting. Each new creative experience should be an adventure. A journey. An exploration. This is what makes creating and telling a story so damned interesting! (“The Need for Flexibility)

Connolly stressed the need for flexibility.

“There are many ways to get from start to finish.” — Kieron Connolly (Source: Kieron Connolly’s Newspaper Novel-Plotting Game)

In fact, that was one of the challenges for me. Relating Rosslyn’s rehabilitation story, intertwined with our own attempt at revitalization.

The key is to allow each project to be its own thing and deal with it in the way it ought to be dealt… (“The Need for Flexibility)

Sixteen years after plunging into renovating Rosslyn we are RE-renovating (house deck and the boathouse gangway and stairway) and finally tackling the looong postponed icehouse rehabilitation. Sweet sixteen. But that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Not because there’s a lot more building going on. But because there’s another significant transition in the offing, a transformation wrapped up inside this re-renovation and rehab. I’ll be opening up (hopefully with some thoughts from Susan) in the weeks and months ahead. It’s going to be a big year — no, potentially a few big years — for us. And Redacting Rosslyn v2.0 is in many respects possible because of (and inextricably tied to) our next new adventure. More on that anon, but for now allow me to say that it’s time for a fresh perspective, a new objective, and an urgency that didn’t exist in the early days of this adventure. And I’m confident that at long last I am moving forward again..

September 22, 2022
Icehouse Rehab 02: Adaptive Reuse
The second *official* week of our icehouse rehab project has come and gone. Please excuse the tardy week-in–review. Better late than never! (Did you miss last week? Here’s the link: “Icehouse Rehab 01: The Ice Hook“.)

Hroth planing homegrown lumber (Source: R.P. Murphy)

The idea behind these weekly updates, chronicling our progress on the icehouse rehabilitation project is multifaceted (ie. muddled and evolving.) As I recap the second week, here are few of the underlying objectives:
- recognize/celebrate our distributed team (Trello to coordinate, @rosslynredux to showcase, rosslynredux.com to chronicle, etc),
- transparently map our rehabilitation process, accounting for the ups and the downs without “airbrushing” the journey (rehab inside out)
- document our fourth and final historic rehabilitation project at Rosslyn,
- inspire others to undertake similarly ambitious and rewarding rehab adventures, ideally with an eye to adaptive reuse of existing structures,
- and leverage this current experience as a way to revisit and reevaluate our previous sixteen years of Rosslyn rehab ad infinitum.
Overview

Code officer and carpenters troubleshooting (Source: R.P. Murphy)

In broad strokes, the week started with a site visit from Colin Mangan, the Town of Essex Code Enforcement Officer, included a site visit from John Bean, the sales rep for Windows & Doors By Brownell (who is coordinating new windows and doors), and ranged from prepping foundation for concrete forming and pouring to refastening the existing cladding (two layers s) to the studs. Also lots of small projects and final materials estimates for insulated panels, replacement clapboard, etc.

In addition, Hroth was able to begin work first finisher/refinishing lumber that we will be using in the project.

Garapa Re-Milling

We have begun re-milling and re-planing garapa decking salvaged from Rosslyn’s summer 2022 deck rebuild. These sample boards are among the many weathered specimens carefully removed this spring and summer prior to rebuilding Rosslyn’s deck substructure and re-decking with new garapa. Hroth’s patient. Hroth’s patient exploratory experimentation is the first phase in our effort to adaptively reuse this character-rich material in the icehouse. Still preliminary, but exciting possibilities ahead!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cj4hbRIAFlh/

Homegrown Lumber

Another exciting milling and planing project underway is looong overdue. Rosslyn’s carriage barn is stocked floor to ceiling with years and years of lumber grown, harvested, milled, and cured on our property. Two local sawyers, Mark Saulsgiver and Andy Vaughan, labored over the years to transform trees felled by storms (and for reopening meadows) into finish lumber. Well cured and stable, ash and elm is now being planed and dimensioned for use inside the icehouse. That’s right, it was grown, harvested, milled, and dried on site.

Thank you, Hroth, for painstakingly preparing and analyzing this beautiful material to help plan icehouse rehab.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cj4lq46gtoy/
October 18, 2022
Boathouse Repairs 3: Fabricating Post Wraps

Fabricating Boathouse Post Wraps (Photo: Peter Vaiciulis)

It’s time for a progress report on Rosslyn’s boathouse post fabrication. Peter Vaiciulis and Sia Supi Havosi have been beavering away lakeside as autumn blurs into winter. Unfortunately, their decking progress has been stalled because the moisture content of the lumber is still too high. In contrast to the previous contractor whose work required extensive remediation, Peter is prudently allowing the decking sufficient acclimatizing and drying time to rnsure stabilization (and to ensure that we don’t once again wind up with inconsistent gaps ranging from 1/8” to 7/8”). In the mean time, Peter and Supi headed inside to shop-fabricate components for the post and railing system.

Successful repair of the boathouse posts and railings started with dissecting and documenting the existing conditions, deciphering the *how* and *why* of the existing conditions, and executing a meticulous rebuild with discreetly integrated improvements to function, structure, and endurance ensuring safety and longevity despite the challenging location and harsh environment.

Supi Sanding Boathouse Post Wraps (Photo: Peter Vaiciulis)

Supi is sanding a post wrap that will get installed over the structural posts that have already been integrated (correctly this time!) into the substructure.

Peter Chamfering Boathouse Post Wraps (Photo: Sia Supi Havosi)

Chamfering edges along the midsection of the post wraps, Peter has clamped stops on either end to standardize the offsets. He’s replicating the design that we developed about fifteen years ago during our original rehabilitation of the boathouse, gangway, and waterfront access stairway. This subtle but comely detail that we included in similar situations elsewhere in Rosslyn’s four historic buildings, offers a practical benefit in this waterfront location where waterskis, surfboards, windsurfers, etc. are quick to nick sharp corners. The eased edge is also friendlier to shins and knees usually protected with little more than bathing suits in this area.

Chamfered Boathouse Post Wraps (Photo: Peter Vaiciulis)

Up close and personal with the post wraps. Note the chamfered midsections and wood filler curing for Peter and Supi to sand.

Supi Priming Boathouse Post Wraps (Photo: Peter Vaiciulis)

After wood filler cures and sanding is complete Supi begins priming the post wraps. Because of the intense weather changes — from rainstorms and dramatic temperature fluctuations in the summertime to snow, ice, and deep freezing in the winter — that the boathouse gangway posts and railing will endure, two coats of primer (including concealed end grain, etc.) and two coats of exterior paint will be installed in the shop. Although some touchups will be necessary during and after installation, this will streamline the late season installation and improve long term weatherproofing.

Although historic rehabilitation took place a decade and a half ago, the lakeside location accounts for the accelerated deterioration of Rosslyn’s boathouse gangway, posts, and railings. This go-round we’ve been able to tweak a few mechanics based on previous performance, hopefully improving performance and extending the useful life of these repairs to 20+ years. Even though Opud’s disastrous attempt last year cost us dearly in time, expense, safety, and usability over the summer, Peter and Supi’s rebuild is superior through and through, ultimately affording us solace after a year of headaches.

Let’s wrap up with a mashup of the dissected, well documented prototype guiding Peter and Supi’s repairs.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CllnkXYA6z1/

Thank you, R.P. Murphy, got ace documentation!

November 30, 2022
Preservation by Neglect: Icehouse On Ice

Ice House, West Side (Source: Jason McNulty)

Icehouse on ice. Yes, this tidy clutch of words and ideas appeals immensely to my poetic perspective on living, but there’s more to it than that. Like so many of the posts I’m revisiting lately, the earliest iteration of this originally somewhat melancholic reflection is nearly a decade old. Like many blog drafts it became an “orphan”, put aside for a day when my time was more abundant or my melancholy was less crowding or my thoughts were better gathered or…

You get the point. As with my poems, I frequently launch into a draft with the passion and clarity of purpose propelling me. And then, something stalls. And the initial foray falters. Or, at the very least, the seed for what I envision writing is cast aside indefinitely.

Often enough I circle back, allowing the persistent relevance of the idea, the recurring urgency to undergird a certain confidence that I might be on to something. That I need to revisit the seed, germinate it, nurture it.

This is the case with my work on preservation by neglect. The idea is baked into my love for and efforts toward rehabilitating old buildings, and it’s in many respects more compelling to me than the finished accomplishments of a preservation project. Not sure I’m ready to put my finger on exactly why yet, but it’s akin to my penchant for wabi-sabi. In my perspective there is profound beauty in the imperceptibly slow entropic forces revealed in aging, even failing, man-made artifacts. Sorry, that’s a major mouthful and earful, and it’s a bit of a mind bender. That’s why I’m not yet ready to flesh this idea out. I’m still trying to sort it for myself. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to better articulate what’s percolating in my noggin.

I’m wandering afield, so I’ll lap back to my earlier intentions.

Ice House, Northeast Side (Source: Jason McNulty)

Icehouse Rehab Revisited

Icehouse on ice. Again.

Rehabilitating (and repurposing) Rosslyn’s historic icehouse is an ongoing desire. Has been since the outset. But advancing this desire to rehabilitate the icehouse has been chilling on ice almost as long.

Going all the way back, since the summer of 2006 when we purchased this property, we’ve wanted to transform this obsolete utility building into a relevant-for-the-21st-century utility building. But, alas, we’ve perennially and indefinitely postponed the project for a variety of reasons. Actually that’s not 100% true. We ensured the building’s preservation back in 2006-6 by tackling the most pressing challenges.

We stabilized the failing structure, replaced the failed roof, repaired the crumbling stone foundation and upgraded the mechanicals. But then we mothballed the project, deferring the next phase indefinitely until circumstances warranted moving forward. For several years we’ve used the ice house as a storage and maintenance annex for the carriage barn, but recently we’ve begun to address a sustainable plan for use. I hope to address this in more depth over the course of the next year. But for now, I’ll just say that we understand that simply stabilizing the building is not enough. Successful rehab demands a sustainable plan for use. And we’re working on it! (Source: Demolition Dedux )

But once the icehouse’s structural integrity was restored, we shifted further rehabilitation off the short-term priority list. It could wait. It would have to wait. Completing the house rehab (and the boathouse rehab) had proven challenging enough. Hemorrhaging time and money, our scope of work had been repeatedly curtailed, narrowing to the two most essential buildings.

Ice House, East Side (Source: Jason McNulty)

Icehouse On Ice, Hurrah!

Let’s step back a moment, before moving onto the exciting update (in the next section as well as several other recent posts) about the looong neglected icehouse rehabilitation coming to an end at last.

This handsome little outbuilding has endured for six score and more — probably about 130 years or so, but how could I resist the chance to borrow that linguistic artifact when polishing an aged subject?!?! — rugged winters and sultry summers. And looking around it’s pretty evident that most icehouses haven’t endured. They’ve largely vanished from historic view-sheds throughout the country. But this well built, classically proportioned addition to Rosslyn’s timeless property remains with us, ready for a new chapter.

Although various reasons likely underpin the icehouse’s endurance, and the attentions of previous owners are no doubt high on this list, I would suggest that one of the reasons we’re now fortunate to undertake a purposeful re-imagination of this building is that it’s been preserved for more than a century, in large part, by neglect. First and foremost it wasn’t demolished to make way for other needs (such as the clay tennis court that adjoins its west and northwest flank). And it wasn’t adapted into a chicken coop or conjoined with the carriage barn or… It served a limited functional purpose for at least two previous owners that I’m aware of (one as part of honey-making accommodations and another as a woodworking shop), but the building wasn’t irretrievably bastardized to fulfill its temporary needs. And this, as mentioned elsewhere, so forgive my repetition, is the best argument for preservation by neglect.

Ice House, Northwest Side (Source: Jason McNulty)

Icehouse On Ice No More

After sixteen years, we’re finally moving forward. And not just baby steps this time. Building on the original infrastructure improvements from 2006-7 and drawing upon a decade and a half of perspective gained from actually living on this benevolent property, we’re now ready to rejigger our original vision, tempering the lofty, grounding the capricious, and infusing new relevance into this landmark utility space.

Ice House, North Side (Source: Jason McNulty)

I will be sharing new plans as we move forward, showing here what we presented to the Town of Essex Planning Board last month. There are still some adjustments to be made following our public hearing and project approval last week. I’ll delve into those details separately as well. But in the mean time I’ll like to honor the beginning of the thaw, the un-icing of this too long postponed project. And it struck me as a poignant opportunity to showcase images that were gifted to us by Jason McNulty. The photographs taken by him on November 8, 2004 and were sent to us on July 6, 2010 following his first return visit back to Rosslyn, the house where he grew up. There is a personal appeal for me, glimpsing the property well before we owned it. And the gratitude we felt upon receiving the images a dozen years ago is rekindled now as we initiate our preliminary stage of rehabilitation.

Ice House, Southeast Side (Source: Jason McNulty)

August 25, 2022
Icehouse Rehab 6: Framing Windows

Hroth Framing Windows in Icehouse (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

Although sourcing and designing the new windows and doors started this summer, the order wasn’t finalized until late autumn. Rosslyn’s icehouse is a small building, but there were many details to dial-in before production could begin. Precise pitch of the roof (echoed in several windows) and structural integration with windows and doors (especially in the west elevation where the fenestration-to-wall ratio is atypical) were among the challenges that delayed the process. But once the deposit was paid our focus shifted to framing windows.

Icehouse Window Framing Plans with Notes (Photo: Hroth Ottosen)

Starting with the north elevation, the constellation of six windows — three small upper windows echoing the horse stall windows in the carriage barn and three, six-over-six double hung windows, templated from the majority of the windows in the carriage barn — has been framed in. Especial gratitude to Hroth and Eric for jumpstarting this process so that cladding, siding, insulating, electrical installation, etc. can soon follow. Window framing would normally be an exciting step toward natural lighting, but given the lengthy production time on our windows and doors, the rough bucks (window and door framing) will serve as opaque placeholders for a few months longer.

Video Mashup of Framing Windows

Time for a quick zip through framing windows — precisely the first six windows — in the icehouse.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ClGfJ26Av7v/

Hat tip to Hroth and Eric.

November 20, 2022
Icehouse West Elevation Rendering

Rendering for Icehouse Rehabilitation, West Elevation (Source: Tiho Dimitrov)

Hat tip to Tiho Dimitrov for yet another whimsical rendering of the soon-to-be icehouse v2.0, this time imagining how it will appear (mas o menos, as we say in Santa Fe) from the west. In other words, this is what you’ll see as you come in from harvesting dinner in the garden!

Because this view is hidden from passersby we were able to modify the facade to showcase Rosslyn’s magnificent sunset views. The afternoon and early evening will be stunning from this hidden oasis.

Icehouse, West Elevation, November 11, 2023 (Source: Eric Crowningshield)

Progress: Icehouse West Elevation

As of yesterday this is what the icehouse’s west elevation looks like. Lots of structural work has been taking place in the interior to make these visible changes possible. I’ll post an update on those soon, but for today just a short sweet look at where we’re headed and where we are today. Exciting times! Thanks for joining us during this adaptive reuse adventure.

November 12, 2022
Icehouse Rehab 3: Ready for Rebar

What a week! It’s been another productive stretch in the early phase of Rosslyn’s icehouse rehabilitation project. While site work ramped up outside, sculpting existing conditions into the vision percolating in my head, the icehouse’s interior underwent final preparations for structural steel, forming, and concrete. And, as of today, we are ready for rebar.

Icehouse Ready for Rebar (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

In the photo above Hroth and Peter are double checking footer depths and dimensions, checking levels with the laser, and putting the finishing touches on the dirt work in order to begin fabricating our rebar “cages”, etc.

Icehouse Ready for Rebar (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

Resembling an archeological site with pits dug deep into the old icehouse floor, the trenches and holes are actually “forms” for integrated concrete footers, curbs, and stepped slab.

Icehouse Ready for Rebar (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

Next, steel rebar and remesh will be cut, shaped, and structured per instructions of the engineer to meet or exceed structural demands of the rebuild.

Icehouse Ready for Rebar (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

Once concrete is poured and cured, the substructure (consisting of new concrete footers, curb, and slab integrated into old stone foundation) will provide stability upon which to frame the new interior. The resulting monolithic foundation will enable us to confidently proceed with building the next first floor.

Icehouse Ready for Rebar (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

Now that we’re ready for rebar I’ll add a new post when cages start to fill in the footer holes…

October 28, 2022
Icehouse Rehab 2.5: Site Work Begins

Icehouse Site Work Begins (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

Icehouse site work is underway! Bob Kaleita, Phil Valachovic, and Scott Blanchard made great progress this perfect October Thursday, carving out new grade for deck and landscaping.

Icehouse Site Work Begins (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

Per an anonymous member of our team this morning, “Scott Blanchard is in the excavator… He’s one hell of an operator!”

Icehouse Site Work Begins (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

After days of perfect dry conditions, Mother Nature threw a curve ball. Rainy conditions overnight saturated the ground and contributed to muddy, less-than-ideal excavation circumstances but the team persevered.

Icehouse Site Work Begins (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

Because much of this site is an old clay tennis court, dating back to at least Sherwood Inn days if not earlier (perhaps Hyde Gate?) The surface of the court long ago was scraped and allowed to grow thick with grass, but the resulting ground consists of a lot of class which becomes sticky and exceedingly messy after a rainstorm.

Icehouse Site Work Begins (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

It was somewhat slow going, ensuring that appropriate cuts were made for transition from upper lawn (a future volleyball, badminton, and croquet court) to lower lawn where the deck deck will be built. But the plan is in focus, major progress was made, and tomorrow we’ll finish up the week with significant accomplishments behind us.

Icehouse Site Work Begins (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

In the photo above, the perspective of the icehouse’s western facade is for the first time in a looong time (about a century?) rising yo it’s appropriate stature above grade. The fill that was added / altered many decades ago to accommodate a tennis court is now partially removed, and the well proportioned icehouse has begun to emerge from the semi-entered conditions it endured for far too long.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkPDHcDg25d/

Xxxx

October 27, 2022