Ceres House

and now, the final touches of family... a baby!

2011-02-25T22:08:00.000-08:00

Rhone Nakoma Ceres, b: 2/25/11 5:51am at Alta Bates, Berkeley

Carol painted Noki's amazing mural of the Rhone River!

The Fence! -- Finally!

2010-11-30T21:53:00.000-08:00

Here's what the fence line looked line when we started! Then we started working on it! We moved the railroad ties into the side yeard to make a deck! Thanks Jeff for your help!

And we worked with Robert to replace the fence!

Progress Report: Living Room CEILING COMPLETE

2010-01-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

We finished the ceiling on Christmas eve around 7:30pm... I was still hammering up trim, hoping the neighbors would tell their kids that 'santa was still working in his workshop'! Then we spent all day Christmas cleaning - wiped down every surface and moved furniture back in. What a relief. We all but missed the family holidays... but some downtime meant we were ready for a new years celebration! and with that - the 100 Year celebration of our beauitful house! By Night: By Day:

Before and after -looking from the halllway from the dining room in the back of the house.

Before and After looking from the front door to the Bay Windows and what is now the second entrance to the kitchen.

Time for a party! Friends in our neighborhood, Betsy and Nico, had us over for a beautiful Xmas eve afternoon meal and we thought it would be fun to have a progressive dinner with other folks in the hood. Two days later, we had an evite and the party was ON! We started at our house with Crab Bisque that carol made, which was Phenomenal!! the party progressed, but all continued to comment on our happy 100 year old home. YAY for 2010 - it's going to be a great year!

Mmm much better!

2009-12-28T16:00:00.001-08:00

patch and paste

2009-12-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

Literally - all weekend... more more week to go! happy holidays to us!

I know this looks pretty scary - but you won't even be able to tell once it's all finished! Just couldn't resist posting this pix!!

fuel or reward

2009-12-08T17:39:00.000-08:00

you decide! ugh - it was a LONG weekend, but come on... this does not look good! Well - i mean it's pretty against the back wall and all... and its all quite delicious... ah well - don't judge! some weeks are better than others! ;) again - it's a big project!!

the ceiling is falling

2009-11-30T17:19:00.000-08:00

We knew from the beginning that the ceiling had been dropped in the 50's. Father Parr told us about it when he visited, and we could clearly see the seems of the new wallboard. When we cut a hole (see in the corner) to see what was up there - we found the oringial ceiling a couple feet up and in relatively good shape. Like reserecting a mummy! so - we stayed home for thanksgiving and took it all down!Thinking it through one more time (like that's going to help! ) ha!
Carol was on double duty! she took down room one in a matter of an hour AND cooked a beautiful dinner!
A safe rule of thumb is for ever hour you spend making a mess - you will spend at least double that amount of time CLEANING UP! the big trash guys picked up at least 15 carpernters bags of broken wallboard! first packed into small manageable plastics bags, loaded into large bags...

And once it was all down we were able to assess the scope of the project more accurately - yep, this is probably going to take more than a couple of days! HA!! typical! MASK=MANDATORY!!

But the nice big beams (which we will be able to refinish) and the new extended height is going to be worth it!

Add some trim to finished the 2x4s that were put up to support the dropped ceiling and we'll ahve a nice decorative boarder around both rooms. Stay tuned for the finished product!

FINALLY finishing the paint!

2009-11-29T17:05:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe the last time i wrote about the beautiful hallway was Oct 08! Well - we finally got back to it over a year later! Add a nice window covering and a new coat of paint to the stairwell and Check it off the list!

grass arrives

2009-11-01T14:03:00.000-08:00

By building a planter box and elevating the garden, we can better keep the cats out - AND we give outselves the backyard space back! SEE BEFORE:
AFTER with the planter box and Grass! Time for friends to come play! Yay babies in the yard!and even woodsy has a new little house to play in the backyard and stay warm as winter approaches!

Floods Happen in the rain

2009-10-10T17:13:00.000-07:00

So, our basement is awesome - another thousand square feet of retrofitted space whenever we're able to finish it... however, as of now, it's a little raw.And when it rains, it floods. Luckily, as we dug out a drainage dig, it now flows into one small corner leaving the rest of the ground relatively dry! A BIG IMPROVEMENT FROM 2007 wherein we were in a swamp! Add a sump pump and we're back in action! it works like a charm!

the driveway

2009-08-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

We decided to rip out the driveway - no small feet as it turns out. Thanks to our neighbor, Robert, we had a small jackhammer for a while, but ultimately just ended up using a crowbar and pulling up the concrete piece by piece. However - that left a big muddy hole.
THEN - carol found a bunch of free bricks on craiglist so we dug tracks and set the bricks in sand. It works perfectly! It might be a temporary fix - but it works for now!

summer garden

2009-07-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

We used the concrete from the driveway and patched up the broken sidewalk. Then we made a jagged rock wall to help maintain a clean line! All the plants grew up and around once the rain came.

We got TREES! one magnolia and on jacaranda. Eventually it will block that aparment building! Now we just need a little grass!

The side yard is coming together too - with the broken concrete from the driveway, we'll also build up a sidewalk border and add a few more succulents. Now we've got wild lilacs, some grasses and the palsm in the front! loving the drawer box theme! its just kind of hard to find 'one' drawer at a time. Ha!

spring approaches!

2009-02-19T13:22:00.000-08:00

next on the list is a rock wall supporting the sidewalk side and bringing the landscapping up another 2 feet. Then it's electrical upstairs (replacing the knob and tube) and new windows!

progress report: dining room

2009-02-19T13:12:00.001-08:00

mmm - so much warmer! Now we actually want to eat in here!In my typical fashion... just mix thenm all together. there! That's the color i want. Of course, i'll never be able to match it - but that will be perfect for now! and it looks amazing with Carol's TRUST SERIES: kaligirls.org Great for a delicious dinner with great friends!

Progress Report: one year later: GUEST ROOM

2008-10-31T11:32:00.001-07:00

YELLOW! We REALLY lucked out on this one!! Nicole (riproost.com) brought over about four different colors of yellow! Since it was free... we decided to mix them all up! WOuld you believe that the color came out to match the bedspread to a T! It is so cheery and bright now - perfect as we move into winter! It has been so rewarding to move away from all of the grey walls! it really feels like home!

Progress Report: one year later: BACK YARD

2008-10-31T11:01:00.001-07:00

Okay - so this is far from finished... but progress was made in 2008! We had a garden all spring, summer and well into the fall.

We painted the entire bottom area of the house - covering and patching up the ruined stucco.

Mom and came down a d helped edge and weed and got the yard looming ptrry nice!

We fixed the fence complete and reattached it to the driveway gate (thanks to Dad) and the house! Yay for Molly bolts! Who knew they actually worked so well!

work/work-out combo

2008-10-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.danceceres.org/yoga/yoga.html

Thank goodness for Yoga or else this house'd never get painted!! ha!

How did I get paint on my back??

Women at Work!

2008-10-22T17:47:00.001-07:00

Yep - I really wasn't kidding!

... all we do is work on this beautiful old house!

as evident in the picture below: breakfast and BONDO!!

Progress Report: one year later: HALLWAY

2008-10-22T17:36:00.001-07:00

Well, you're not going to believe it - but we got the blue paint for 1$ in the disgarded section at Home Depot. It totally inspired up to get the hallway done! The former paint, though clean and finished, as just too cold - grey on dove grey! UGH!! and here we have all this amazing old wood in our home - it's just beautiful.
I wanted to return it to a deep brown, so that you actually understood how rich the wood is. The soft and shimmery blue just looked really nice with the brown and really ties in Carol's pastels that hang over the stairwell.

Of course the carpet that ran up the stairs was the VERY first thing to go. We hadn't even closed on the house before we ripped that out of there!! It had to go! We will look forward on day to salvaging an old wood banister to replace these irons ones, but until then, at least we have the stairwell looking sharp!

it really take a long time to get all these projects together... it's literally all we do in our free time! But spending time together, making a bueaitful home just ins't so bad! ;)

New Doorknobs!!

2008-10-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

After a full year of shimming doors closed and wedging doors with mats, clothing, or whatever was nearby... our hallway, bedroom, closet and studio doors all CLOSE! Yep, for some reason, the former resident removed all of the door knobs before vacating - must have gotten a good deal for them, but Thanks to the help and advice of our dear friend Nicole, (whose work you'll LOVE: http://www.riproost.com/), we bought some old doorknobs at the Alameda swap meet.

Doorknobs are a pain in the butt!! However, nicole is a total pro and she made our doors look better than ever! I love the variation and I just can't believe they all work! It's amazing what aluxury a doorknob is - just go without them for a year! You'll see!

Now we can keep the cats out while sleeping and actually sleep the whole night through!! It makes for much nicer mornings! THANK YOU NICOLE!!

Progress Report: one year later: MASTER

2008-09-30T16:28:00.001-07:00

The master bedroom is a dream! It's huge and with this new paint job, courtesy of the lovely and talented, Jennifer Brown, it feels fresh and restored.

Progress Report: one year later: BASEMENT & LAUNDRY

2008-09-30T16:23:00.001-07:00

Clearing out the basement was one of the very first projects in 2007. We had the entire center line dug out and added a shear wall. Our buddy Ed helped re-install the waterheater and vent. Once finished it will increase the square footage by a 3rd!

The Laundry Room is now a soft sage color, with bamboo floors just like the kitchen.

Progress Report: one year later: STUDIO

2008-09-30T16:20:00.001-07:00

here's Carol's Studio in the front of the house... it gets the best light!

Progress Report: one year later: ROOF

2008-08-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

This was the last major things that needed to happen before it started raining again.

we had the full roof replaced. all the garbage had to come out of the attic and three layers stripped off!

We had a great crew who was even able to get the twin mattress out of the attic somehow... Four air vetns were installed with 30 yr shingle. The gutters were replaced by Acker and Guerrero last winter as one of the very first mandoatory projects.

Its starting to look more and more like people actually live in our house! We'll finish painting the exterior next spring and the plants will be a little bigger by then - suddenly, it will be a completely new place!

meeting father joaquim parr

2008-07-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

We have been so lucky to meet the former owner. John Parr (pictured, center) is the grandson of the man who built this house in 1910. He is a monk who lives in New York and runs the Mercy House on the lower east side of Manhattan. On his last visit to the Bay Area, he and his childhood friend, Carol, stopped by to visit and share stories of the neighborhood.

They talked about the electric train that stopped at 18th Street at Park, which they could ride all the way to San Francisco! They shared stories about the Borax King who lived up the hill from us and how they used to play in his orchard. And, the guy who started Sunset magazine lived in the back cottage across the street!

He and Carol were so much fun that we hope to have them in our lives for many years! We send healing energy to them both and we revitalize this great place!

48 stars

2008-07-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? We were cleaning out the attic of junk left behind in preparation for the roofers to start replacing the 50yr roof! and it was literally July 2! We found this flag folded up neatly in a box... notice anything?
there are only 28 stars! pretty cool - we had a more-patriotic 4th of July than usual.

Progress Report: one year later: FRONT

2008-07-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here's the start of a series of before and after images!

One year later...

the kitchen

2008-05-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

Yep - there was no kitchen when we moved in... meaning there was kitchen 'room', but there were no appliances, the sink was rusted out and the double layered linoleum floor was chipped apart and black with tar ... the plumbing was a combo of cast-iron and aluminum downspout, the electric was all knob and tube and the walls were sticky with grease. The 50's countertops and cabinets were cute, but had not been maintained at all.

So - when we moved in, we set out to put in a new kitchen. Wed never done this before - but when you've gotta eat - anything seems possible!

how our house became ours

2007-11-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

This is the story of 1855 5th avenue and how we came upon this lovely old house!

It was August 19th, 2007, our third anniversary, and we parked on the corner to go to the Parkway Theater (an altime favorite spot!). There was a 'for sale' sign outside and the place looked like a haunted house! But for some reason, Carol went up and touched the stucco exterior... "we'd take such good care of this old thing if we could have it"

Well - a week later, I met a loan agent, who, one week later introduced me to the greatest little realtor on the planet and, ONE WEEK after that, this house dropped 100K! Pre-approved, we made an appointment to view it! One year ago today, we walked into this sweet old house and decided it had to be our first home!