A series of entries designed to capture the ongoing adventures of NINA! See how we came to be where we are today, and follow along as we enter the new century of social media!
New framing in the ceiling of the kitchen. The staircase into the basement. Framing on the second floor. The remains of the kitchen bay window, from the exterior.
Third floor. Ernest Brown at work on the second floor. First floor.
The addition at 285 Farmington as viewed from the northeast corner of the building. Looking from the lower soffit, just below the higher soffit on the main house, you can see a straight line that definitively demarcates the addition.
The addition was constructed in the late 1980s by TSK Group, when they had their offices here. They did an excellent job matching the brick, not only in terms of color but also in terms of levels – the bricks line up almost perfectly between the main house and the addition. The main difference between the two sections is the lintels: one solid lintel in the main house, a row of bricks in the addition. We believe that the porch wrapped around the corner of the building, although we don’t know how far along the east side of the building it went.
Our plan is to demolish the addition. It isn’t quite historic, clocking in at about 35 years old, but it was structurally devastated by a whole in the roof, which has been there for at least 10 years, if not 15.
Public utilities that tear up our streets and sidewalks are supposed to put them back the way they were. This is the corner of Sargeant and Garden, and the work was done by MDC. Despite the different bricks, sadly we have to appreciate this: the public utilities usually would fill in a gap like this with asphalt and call it a day. So, yay?
Still trying to work out how to take photos in this house.
It is easier when there is natural light.
We had a group of volunteers from M&T Bank pitching in with the interior demolition at 285 Farmington Avenue. Thanks for helping out with our project!
Connecticut Natural Gas had a crew there today, installing a new gas line. This is part of getting a new gas meter that will now be on the exterior of the house.
From left to right, Ernest Brown, Ramon Martinez, and Karen Pannone. If you see a pose like this, then you know we must be writing a grant application ….
