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!
Page: 35We were very saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Stu Beckett today. Stu was a dedicated member of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, and in that capacity he was instrumental in the foundation of ServCorps, the building ministry that worked to re-build homes in disaster-stricken areas around the country. ServCorps, of course, was a long-time partner with NINA, and although we met Stu through ServCorps we quickly came to know him in his own right. Stu lent his carpentry skills to our projects, and his involvement can be seen on many of the porches of our homes. We still have a batch of trim that he ordered for us in our storage area, and we will think fondly of him as we install it at 94-96 Ashley Street.
Ah, the joys of the season are not complete without this event!
This is historic rehabilitation in action!
And the walls come down -- well, some of them, anyway.
It's never fun to take down a mature tree, especially one as old and grand as the tree in front of 94-96 Ashley Street, but in this case we had no choice. We'd been advised that the tree was unhealthy, possibly dying, but as it turned out it had actually become a danger. When we started to remove it, we discovered that the tree was entirely hollow: the whole of the interior of the tree had rotted away, and it was only a matter of time before it came down. We're guessing the tree was planted in front of the house after it was built, which would have put it at close to 120 years old. We'll never know for sure, though, since the majority of the tree rings were gone.
Just liked the picture, plus it gave me the opportunity to say "cathedral's apse."
The open house is tomorrow. The mums are a nice touch.
The house was ready for its close-up, so here it is, all done and on the market.
A group of Trinity College freshmen volunteered with us today as part of their freshman orientation program. We assigned them just what 18-year-olds love to do: demolition! The red Xs, incidentally, mean that “it’s got to go.”
Don Poland did us a huge solid and led the tour again this week. He took our group around the Nook Farm section of Asylum Hill, which is about as far as we’ve gone on one of our tours. He highlighted the major residents of Nook Farm (including someone named Sam and another someone named Harriet, but I didn’t quite follow him here) as well as the changes that have occurred here in the last 50 to 75 years.
Don, by the way, is the one holding his head on.
