UPDATES    (We try to update every week or two, so check back often):

8/14/10: Working on a page showing artifacts found inside the house. This will be a continuing work in progress as we're finding new things as we work.

8/8/10: Added some pictures taken during the blizzards of the Winter of 2009-2010.

6/27/10: Added scans of a circa 1921 Ten Hills brochure and David Dutrow Thomas's patent

6/22/10: Added a Guestbook and updated several other pages.

5/17/10: The ongoing project of restoring the interior doors.

               The complete history of our house on the "Background" page!!

                     Artifacts found outside the house.

Hello! You have probably stumbled upon this website through a personal referral, through a do-it-yourself restoration search, or just by accident. In any case, welcome! You are about to watch the gradual transformation of a 1915 Georgian style Colonial Revival home from a house that has seen better days to a nicely restored example of one of the most important architectural styles of the early 20th century. We are restoring this house ourselves with lots of help from family and friends. We'll be tackling projects as time and funds allow, so don't expect this to all come together overnight. As these projects take place, we'll be posting updates on the progress accompanied by pictures and descriptions of what we did, as well as any lessons we may have learned along the way.

This project will be a restoration in the sense that every effort will be made to use period-appropriate materials to bring the house back to its former glory. This means that we will be restoring as many of the house's original features as possible using materials already present in the house, original architectural salvage, or reproduction materials that have been modeled after an original. We have seen many so-called "restorations" over the years where people have gutted a perfectly workable old house and slapped in contemporary fixtures, millwork, and windows from their nearest big box store that not only don't look right in an old house, but cause many original features and materials to be lost forever. We realize that we may have to bend a little here and there on originality depending on what is available, but we aren't going to cut corners or make this look like a new house.

The Colonial Revival movement traces its origins to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876. As the decades passed, Colonial Revival architecture took hold across the country and would eventually displace all other American architectural styles as the most popular and the most widely adaptable by the 1910s. Colonial Revival would continue to be one of America's most important architectural styles through the start of World War II.

This site will be under constant construction for the next few years, so have a look around, enjoy, and check back often as we tackle different projects on our Progressive Era diamond in the rough!

Also, feel free to email us at:  tom_and_jada@yahoo.com with any comments!

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