Bringing Back Sligo

Category: Cottage

• How’s the Cottage Coming Along?

  Posted at 2:21 pm by bringingbacksligo, on July 20, 2019

  The other night I had a dream in which both my sister-in-law and I shaved our heads bald.  I texted her and told her about it and gave my own, uneducated psychological diagnosis for the dream which was “we’re losing our shit.”  The funny thing was, even though she had shaved her head she still looked gorgeous with long, flowing locks.  I, on the other hand, looked like Gollum.  I’m not trying to make this into a pissing match but, I think it means I’m legit going crazy.

  So, to catch you all up:  We moved-in with my mom last August (hi, mom!).  We decided the best course of action would be to renovate the Cottage and move-in while the Main House was being renovated.  I think the logic there was the Cottage is significantly smaller and therefore should take less time to fix-up.  So, our first, self-imposed deadline to be moved into the Cottage was before Christmas.  Then it was after Christmas.  Then, I think it was Easter.  Then it was the end of July…

  

  Me, whenever someone asks how the renovations are going and when we’re moving into the Cottage.

  In retrospect, when we purchased the property, the Cottage was in a worse state than that of the Main House.  A portion of the roof was gone and the house had been open to the elements for years.  Obviously, the entire roof needed to be replaced plus we had to replace an entire wall and flooring on both the first and second floors.  Animals had made a home in it and it had signs of people staying in it as well.  In other words, it was in really bad shape and while we Marcus has certainly come a long way in the repairs it still remains uninhabitable.

  Anyway, as time has gone on and the renovations of both the Cottage and the Main House have begun to pace each other, it occurred to me that we might as well wait and simply move into the Main House when it is ready.  The conversation was had about a month or so ago when I mentioned that it might be better for the family if we didn’t have to move, what would essentially be, three times in one year.  Yesterday, after working in the ungodly heat which I suppose is what brought about the following epiphany, Marcus  mentioned he thought it might be better for the family if we didn’t have to move, what would essentially be, three times in one year.  Huh.  That sounded familiar.

  I have yet to really finesse the fine art of letting the man think he makes all of the wonderful decisions in the family so instead of saying “That’s a great idea!” I said something more like “Oh, funny, because I said the same exact thing not that long ago” followed by an accusatory eyebrow raise (my humility is a work in progress).  Despite it totally being my idea to begin with but Marcus getting the credit for it (dang it, there I go again) we are now on the same page and will be staying with my mom until the Main House is completed.

  When asked if she would be alright with us continuing to live with her all my mom had to say was she was definitely going to be buying her rather skittish dog a set of noise canceling headphones.

  Posted in Cottage, Life, Main House | 0 Comments

• First World Problems

  Posted at 1:19 am by bringingbacksligo, on June 8, 2019

  As I drove to Wal-mart at 10:00 this evening to purchase lice treatment I thought about all of the ways my life is feeling just a little unsettled.  I also thought about all of the other things I would rather be doing besides going to Wal-mart which included, but was not limited to:  Removing my fingernails one by one, stabbing my eyes with needles, and/or walking through fire.  You may think I’m being dramatic but I would do just about anything to avoid Wal-mart and especially Wal-mart late on a Friday night.

  Anyway, you all aren’t here to listen to me tell you about how Wal-mart is the worst and you’re probably not here to listen to my gripes but, too bad.  Marcus is gone again, this time to London and Germany.  He left just as the Cottage was starting to resemble an inhabitable space.  After eight days on travel he will return again only to leave for another four days for Navy Reserves training.  For the first time I kind of wish I had the skills Marcus has so that I could keep working on the Cottage but my skill set leaves me sitting here, late at night after a lice killing party, to write about how I don’t know anything about restoring houses.  I know so little about restoring homes that I managed to stab my hand with the vinyl flooring we’re installing and thus came an end to my short-lived career as a flooring installer.

  Meanwhile, as we have worked on the Cottage for the past few weeks months almost one year, we have also had to reassess our finances, deplete my retirement account (officially saying goodbye to Lauren Rojek), sell a house, consider selling one of the children, and sign our souls over to the devil.  Believe me, I have enough self-awareness to recognize that many of our problems are “first world” but they’re problems nonetheless.

  I also have enough self-awareness to know that things could always be worse.  I mean, at this very moment I have a really stinky dog lying next to me passing gas as if his life depended on it but I could be dead and not a smell a thing at all.  So, there’s that.

   

  Posted in Cottage, Life | 2 Comments

• New Sligo Video

  Posted at 10:27 pm by bringingbacksligo, on March 22, 2019

  Thank you so much to our friend who created this YouTube video featuring Sligo and the surrounding buildings.  I have completely erased from my memory for self-preservation purposes all but forgotten just how bad the house looked when we first purchased it.  Enjoy!

  Posted in Barn, Cottage, Main House, Video | 1 Comment

• Just A Few Updates

  Posted at 10:04 pm by bringingbacksligo, on November 12, 2018

  Everyone asks what our time frame is for moving into the Cottage House.  I tell folks that Marcus’s estimate has us moving in after Christmas.  I say since we’re throwing out arbitrary holidays I’m gonna go ahead and guesstimate that we’ll move in around Easter.  Or maybe National Doughnut Day (it might not be a holiday to you but it is to me).

  As it currently stands, the Cottage House does not have interior walls but it does have a new roof.  It also has new electric wiring throughout and the rooms and closet space for each have been roughed out but again, no walls.  Unfortunately, it will need new floors throughout as the current wood floors are just a mess, having been rotted through.  The kitchen is in surprisingly good shape and we won’t change much except to remove an exterior door and turn it into a wall for more space.  It also needs windows to be replaced and a new HVAC system installed.  Also, it needs a bathroom.  All of the aforementioned needs to happen in the next 6 weeks for us to move in “after Christmas” hence the reason for my disbelief.

  We are also in the process of employing Dovetail Cultural Resource Group to help us with the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) and National Historic Registry (NHR) and the tax credit process.  I did a little bit of the research on my own and we made it through two rounds of the VLR process but, as we got deeper, I realized my knowledge of historical research was limited and it is much more involved than just filling out a paper with what we think we know and getting approved for thousands of dollars in tax credits.  I don’t know why the government doesn’t just hand over money willy nilly?

  And, as far as the Main House and any updates with that…there aren’t any.  Marcus has talked about being in the house by his birthday next year which is in August.  My guesstimate for that move-in date is National Sibling Day 2020.

  Posted in Cottage, Life, Main House | 1 Comment

• A Belated Halloween

  Posted at 5:10 pm by bringingbacksligo, on November 1, 2018

  Happy Halloween!  I know, it’s a day late and a buck short.  Is that the saying?  I tend to get those wrong.  Earlier today I told Marcus that by doing something I would only be adding “fuel to the fodder” and as I said it I knew it was wrong but I didn’t care.  And yes, it’s most redundant but let’s just go with it.

  For a hot second (now I know that’s correct) I had toyed with the idea of having a little Halloween ghost hunt party at Sligo but I lost my nerve.  Plus, it gets complicated with two little ones who actually participate in trick-or-treating and once they heard about the idea of a party they thought they would be involved and everything fell apart before it even began.

  Also, I don’t really think the house is haunted.  It is scary looking but that’s only because of its current state of disrepair.  Besides, when I took our dog into the house he seemed right at home.  He is a giant galoot but I figured if there were an otherworldly presence then an animal would be the one to sense it.  I was concerned he would start staring at something only he could see and he never did so either the house is not haunted or he was too busy being a pain in the ass to notice (honestly it’s probably the latter).

  I am surprised that we didn’t get any calls from the police this past weekend or last night.  I figured there would be kids daring each other to go up to the house on Halloween night.  One day I hope I can be at the house giving out giant candy bars to those brave kiddos who make that long walk up the driveway.  There was a house like that in my childhood neighborhood.  It was scary only because it was old and big and had a small family cemetery behind it.  I remember building up the nerve on the last Halloween living in that particular neighborhood and was greatly rewarded with a giant candy bar so now I’m ready to pay it forward.

  Anyway, on to Thanksgiving and then Christmas we go.  The plan is to be the living in the Cottage House after Christmas but at this exact moment there aren’t any walls and the floors are rotted so…maybe it will be Easter by the time we move.  Again.

  Posted in Cottage, Haunted, Holidays, Main House | 1 Comment

• A Little More Excitement

  Posted at 10:05 pm by bringingbacksligo, on October 15, 2018

  At 5:00 this morning I was awakened by a phone call from ADT because the motion detector in the Cottage had gone off.  It was a miracle I answered at all because, 5:00.  In the morning.  But, answer I did.  “Ms. Tepaske? This is ADT calling.  The motion detector in the shed (I don’t know why it’s called the shed) is going off and I was calling to see if everything was alright.”  “I dunno,” I said through a mouthful of retainer and mouth guard, “I’m not phy-thhh-ically there…”  (you gotta say it as if you’re wearing a retainer and mouth guard).  “OK, Ms. Tepaske,” said ADT, “I’ll call the police.  Good night,” and with that I promptly fell peacefully back asleep was wide awake.

  I wish I could say this was the first time ADT called us about the house but, it’s not and if you’re a fan of this blog you may remember the first time the police came to the house.  Let me refresh your memory in case you forgot (though how could you):  Excitement

  Since then the house has been graffiti-ed and more windows smashed in.  It’s amazing that with all of the activity we have witnessed in a few short months that the house is still standing at all.  I mean, the youths have certainly given it their all so I suppose it’s a testament to the quality of old construction.

  Anyway, long story short, I never did hear from the police if anything had actually happened so later this morning I took my guard dog (whose hobbies include chasing bugs and eating cat poop) and we went to the house to check things out.  It all looked the same:  Same old graffiti, same old smashed-in windows.  The Cottage door did look slightly ajar which was weird because it’s usually drilled to the door jam (yes, you read that right) but I wasn’t brave enough to go in and look around so my guard dog and I left.

  I am definitely ready for work to start on the Main House.  I think once that starts two things will happen:  1.  The youths will get the hint and hopefully stay away and 2.  If they don’t stay away, and they start messing with the money we’re investing to restore this property they’ll have my guard dog to deal with and I’ll make sure he’s just eaten cat poop.

  Posted in Cottage, Life | 2 Comments

• Excitement

  Posted at 10:11 pm by bringingbacksligo, on August 26, 2018

  We had a little excitement over the weekend when ADT called to inform us of a potential break-in at Sligo.  As luck would have it, we were close and able to meet the police at the property.  Also as luck would have it, I was about three beers and two glasses of wine into the afternoon (before you judge, it was my girlfriend’s birthday and I don’t drink like that all of the time…I mean, I might do that every other day, but definitely not every day) and was looking especially cute.  I only mention that last part about looking cute because, as it turns out, the responding officers were extremely good looking and it was just really a nice chance to meet the friendly neighborhood enforcers of the law, possibly exchange numbers, find out if they’re single, and overall get a really nice sense of community.  I should mention that I did not drive myself, Marcus was with me and he was sober and even he admitted the police were attractive because he’s that confident in his masculinity and our relationship.  Also, my going on and on about exactly just how cute these police officers were had nothing to do with my alcohol consumption.

  

  I’m not saying the officers looked like Channing Tatum but they looked like Channing Tatum (at least in my drunken mind).

  To get to the real meat of the story (see what I did there?), it turns out it was a false alarm or, if someone had been trying to get in, they were gone by the time we got there.  Unfortunately, someone shattered a storm door on the Cottage House, I’m guessing in an attempt to get in.  The best part about that is one entire side of the Cottage House is covered with a tarp and the perpetrator(s) could just as easily have lifted the tarp and entered that way but, I suppose criminals aren’t always known for their common sense.

  It isn’t surprising that people are still coming onto the property.  It has been vacant for so long and the Cottage House was clearly a place that squatters would frequent.  From day one I have been concerned that as work starts, people will come along and trash what we have done.  At the moment, one or two more broken window panes won’t hurt but once the real work starts and they start messing with my home, well, then I may have to send a petrified British soldier after their asses.

   

   

  Posted in Cottage, Grounds, Life, Main House | 6 Comments

• The Contractors

  Posted at 8:58 am by bringingbacksligo, on July 31, 2018

  Marcus and I recently re-watched the 1986 Tom Hank’s classic, The Money Pit for what I deemed to be “research purposes.”  Granted, I’m not divorced from a millionaire conductor and Marcus isn’t the lovable Tom Hanks (though sometimes he does find himself in unusual predicaments) but perhaps the trial and tribulations the movie characters face while renovating their home may mirror our own in the future.

  

  Is this our future?  Hauling hot water up a ladder to the second floor?

  Throughout the movie, the characters are told it will take “two weeks” for the job to be complete.  Currently, we are being told work could be completed by Christmas.  Based on my extensive knowledge of home renovations (I have none) and what the movie has taught me (because movies are truth), I’m guessing work will be complete by Easter.  This isn’t to discount the work of the contractor, this is because the house is big and who knows what might happen as work gets underway.  Speaking of the contractor, Rappahannock Restorations will be the primary contractor for the main house.  If you have a chance, click on their name to be routed to their website where you can see pictures of some of their previous work.  Marcus was particularly excited to discover they had worked on the Pump House in Fredericksburg.

  For the cottage and barn, Elemental Energy Solutions (EES) will be performing the work and have already begun on the cottage.  After a harrowing encounter with a groundhog (or shall we call them “attic-hogs” in this case) the team has torn down the back-side of the cottage, which was completely damaged by the hole in the roof, and started to rough out the new wall and that portion of the roof.

  

  Photo credit, Adam Greico of EES.

  So far, with the exception of that aforementioned attic-hog incident (a groundhog, startled that humans were actually in his space, ran up the arm of an unsuspecting EES employee) , work has started and is progressing without a hitch.  If we’re lucky, truth will not be stranger than fiction and all will continue to proceed smoothly.

   

  Posted in Barn, Contractors, Cottage, Main House | 2 Comments

• The Cottage and Barn

  Posted at 7:41 am by bringingbacksligo, on July 28, 2018

  I realized that I haven’t even mentioned the other two existing structures on the property:  The cottage, built in 1950, and the barn, build date unknown.  It should be noted that “structure” is used quite loosely in terms of both of these buildings.  The cottage has a gaping hole in the roof and has been open to the elements for an unknown amount of time and it would take nothing less than the flutter of a butterfly wing to bring down the barn.

  We have every intention of saving both of these structures although Marcus is much more capable of seeing the potential in them than I am.  The cottage has most certainly been home to a number of homeless and there is a family of groundhogs in the attic (because why burrow in the ground when you can live in a house).  The barn requires a hard hat to enter (not really but, really) so I only tentatively walked a few feet in and then left.  To be perfectly honest, together they make the main house look immaculate.

  So, without further ado, here are reasons number two and number three why I was hesitant to purchase this property:

  

  The back of the cottage, July 2018.

  

  The barn, July 2018.

  Posted in Barn, Cottage, History | 0 Comments

• Recent Posts

  • It Was an Interesting Night…Part III August 1, 2019
  • It Was an Interesting Night…Part II July 31, 2019
  • It Was an Interesting Night…Part I July 30, 2019
  • One Year Anniversary July 27, 2019
  • How’s the Cottage Coming Along? July 20, 2019
  • Sligo as a Hospital July 18, 2019

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  We have original floors! In the second parlor the floor was covered with vinyl and showed remnants of carpet so we weren't sure what to expect when the vinyl came up. Luckily the vinyl had been put down on subflooring and I suspect that's what preserved the original wood flooring. I can't wait to see them restored. #bringingbacksligo #victorian #italianate #renovation #restoration #fredericksburgva #originalhardwoodfloors #huzzah

  Marcus recently had an interview published in a newsletter where he works. Most of it was about his job but the very last question was more personal. I took the liberty of fixing it because I don't think the interviewer got it quite right. #bringingbacksligo #life #keepingitreal #mawwiage

  Hello, friend! A giant praying mantis found a good spot to hang out on the side porch. #bringingbacksligo #italianate #victorian #prayingmantis

  "Hey, history buffs. How *you* doin'?" (Say in Joey Tribianni voice) #gratuitouspuppicture #slownewsday #friends #joeytribbiani #axelvontepaske #germanshorthairedpointer #bringingbacksligo #fredericksburgva

  The bricks of the basement. My mom is the one who noticed the pattern in the second picture in which some of the bricks appear to be laid with the end facing out. Also, the "Xs" across the third picture have no meaning to me but maybe someone else has an explanation for what they mean/are for? #bringingbacksligo #italianate #victorian #fredericksburgva #englishbasement #oldbrick #renovation #restoration

  What do you and your other half do late at night? Me and mine? We drive out to Sligo and use a laser level to mark lines around the entire Cottage. #bringingbacksligo #italianate #victorian #fredericksburgva #restoration #renovation #cottagehouse #thisisntweirdatall #ifyouonlyknewmyhusband