Rosslyn Redux

Tag: Renovation

  • Redacting Rosslyn Redux

    Redacting Rosslyn Redux

    Rosslyn Boathouse in Essex, New York, May 1, 2011
    Rosslyn Boathouse in Essex, New York, May 1, 2011

    What happens when a storyteller writes a book? When a talker becomes a typer? When the audience’s laughter, sighs, snoring, heckling and applause vanish? When margins and page count provide only the most porous parameters?

    I’ll tell you what. Story glut. Plot inflation. Unchecked character sprawl…

    What: Redacting Rosslyn Redux
When: 8:00pm, Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Where: The Depot Theatre, Westport, NY

    For the past year I’ve been writing and revising a memoir about the four years that Susan and I spent renovating the W.D. Ross property in Essex. I’ve discovered that building a book is a bit like rebuilding an old house. No matter how great the bones, how stunning the view, how well preserved the architecture and design, and no matter how clear and enticing the goal, you can’t do it by yourself.

    In the case of our home it took the world’s most intelligent, beautiful and stubborn wife plus a vast community of contractors, carpenters, advisors, family and friends to rebuild Rosslyn. In the case of my book it will take your laughter, your sighs, your heckling (and even your prodding and booing and advising) to build Rosslyn Redux.

    Please join me at 8:00pm on Wednesday, August 3 at The Depot Theatre in Westport for a solo performance of Redacting Rosslyn Redux, an evening of readings, storytelling and vignettes ranging from a wader-wearing Amazon named Rosslyn to a perennially pickled bathtub yachtsman. I’ll poke fun at the idiosyncrasies (and absurdities) of renovation, marriage and North Country life while plunging you into the creative process. Are you ready to help build a book?

    You are invited to a reception in the lobby following the performance. All participants will be entered into a drawing for Essex gift certificates and Rosslyn Redux swag. All proceeds from this performance will be donated to The Depot Theatre. Here’s how to get tickets:

    Depot Box Office:
Call: 518-962-4449
Monday, Thursday, and Friday from 10am-10pm
Saturday and Sunday from 12pm-10pm
Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am-5pm

Depot Online Ticket Sales:
http://depottheatre.org/tickets

    Thank you. I hope to see you!

  • Carriage Barn Renovation: Stall Walls + Floor

    Carriage Barn Renovation: Stall Walls + Floor

    Carriage Barn Renovation: Floor
    Carriage Barn Renovation: During the winter of 2013-4 we undertook the long overdue project of rebuilding the carriage barn floors, stalls, walls, etc. (Source: Geo Davis)

    We’ve been slowly working forward on the carriage barn renovation. Yes, a looong time ago our historic rehabilitation morphed into rehab ad infinitum!

    Our most recent focus is rebuilding the floor in—and in between—the stalls, and the “floor-door” that allows access to the hay mow. The project may never end.

    This afternoon, instead of a detailed review of progress-to-date and a slightly discouraged look forward, I submit to you an imaginary conversation inside my head.

    Me: I’m overdue for an update on the carriage barn.

    Other Me: You mean that’s not done yet?

    Me: No. It’s still ongoing. May always be.

    Other Me: You guys are slower than molasses in January.

    Me: Yes, but it’s February. Almost March. And, before you get your knickers in a knot, I’ll admit that a year from now there will still be some carriage barn projects ongoing…

    Other Me: Procrastination?

    Me: Maybe. Or maybe just insanity prevention. When you own an old place, renovation is ongoing. It’s never done. We’ve learned to pace ourselves. Fast enough to keep ahead of entropy, slow enough for it to be enjoyable. And affordable!

    We’re pacing ourselves.

    But that still doesn’t explain why the initially quite finite scope of work with which we initiated this project has metastasized toward the infinite.

    So many little steps. I just ordered finish material for the walls: 800′ total of v-groove Douglas fir (10′ x 6-5/8″ x 3/4″). The materials drop on time. But the work never ends…

    If you’d like a peak inside, here’s a slow-poke slide show of the work so far.

    More Carriage Barn Renovations

    Ongoing carriage barn renovations that might interest you:

    I’ll try to update this page as additional carriage barn renovation posts are published.