The Historic District

Chris from LH has a set that looks similar, I also thought it was much older than it was. It has a gangster connection. Maybe he’ll tell the story for those who were not with us in the OHW period. Boy, Gothic, you do have a good memory! Yeah, I have a similar parlor set that I bought off of the eld...

Hi Gina, That's an older "Heatilator" design. The Heatilator company used metal fireboxes, but I've seen the same idea using masonry fireboxes. Anyway, the idea is that cold air is drawn in through the lower vents, passes the firebox which heats the air, and expels it into the room through...

Hi 1918, The system is modular, so in your case you would only need the AC portion of the air handler. The good news is that if you are only doing the first floor, and putting the air handler in the basement, there should be very little (or no) wall-fishing necessary. If you would be bringing AC to ...

Hi 1918, We installed the system you are describing 14 years ago - it's called a "High-velocity mini-duct system", and at the time, there were two companies that manufactured the components: Unico and SpacePac. There may be others now, not sure. Anyway, the system is similar to a conventio...

Hi Taylor, Welcome! We did not stain the douglas fir. It's a beautiful wood that is rather sensitive to light - as your contractor said, it will darken and turn more red with age. IMO, this is when it's the most beautiful - un-stained fir with the deep red/orange glow. But, this will still happen un...

Hi Matt, I saw that, and had the same thought! I really hate a TV as the main visual centerpiece of a room... much like I hate the giant garage door as the main external visual centerpiece of a lot of modern home designs. Your also right about the conventional method to hide a tv: I built a cabinet ...

Hi Greenwood, Sorry to hear about your contractor troubles. That sounds awful. Regarding HVAC, we have a 90+ year old home that we added a two-story addition with a basement onto about 12 years ago in New York's lower Hudson valley. At the time, I wanted to preserve and add to the steam rad system f...

DJ in his favorite spot!

Chris

Looks good Mick! I have the exact same wallpaper border in MY dining room. I was able to fudge it a bit where my ceiling has sags by bending the wallpaper slightly during the install, and by painting the little strip of wall that extends above it in places the same color as the ceiling (I installed ...

Beautiful house! The tile work is especially great!

My Dad grew up on 9th and Federal.

Chris