I’m Back In The Saddle Again…
It was one week ago today that I did any work on the kitchen. I had been working on it on an almost daily basis for more than 2 months, so one week off wasn’t all that bad. Still, it felt odd. I usually don’t take time off like that unless I’m on my death-bed or something. I get kind of obsessed about things. Although not as obsessed as Lakewood2-Flat’s dogs. That is just freaky. :-)
The week off was not a complete waste. I worked on the paper work to list my house on the National Registry of Historic Places. I typed and typed and edited and edited and retyped and retyped. I spent a few hours at the library looking up architectural terms. You can’t just say you have a dormer or a porch on your house you have to say exactly what kind, and there are a lot to chose from. The favorite term I found was “pent roof enclosing gable” to describe three of the four gables on the house.
There are 2 parts to the write-up on the house. There is the “Narrative Description “ and the “Narrative Statement of Significance”. Each ended up being a little over 5 pages of single-spaced, 10 pt. text. I’m going to need to get someone to edit and proof read it. I’m notorious for making odd little mistakes in my writing. I will do things like write “Of coarse” instead of “Of course”. Spell checkers don't catch those kinds of mistakes.
Next I will need to take some pictures. They require black and white photos. I will need to snap pictures of important interior elements, along with photos of the exterior elevations. I will also need to get photos of the other houses in the area that I referenced in the write-up. All photos and paperwork has to be on archival quality paper. Finally I will write the bibliography. Not sure why but I’m really dreading that.
Every thing is sent in duplicate to the State Office of Historic Preservation. They do all the vetting before it is sent to the Parks Service. I’ve been told to expect that the state office will send back the information to make some requested changes or for additional information. If the state office thinks the house is worthy to list they will send it to National office. The web site for the National office says they list 99.9% of the properties the state sends them. They also say they make a decision with-in 45 days from the time they get the paper work. Not sure how long the state takes. I’m hoping to get everything sent off in 2 weeks or so.
4 comments:
Hey! My dogs are perfectly normal house blogging dogs. I might let them post something soon too. :oP
Such diligence on your paperwork- to be admired truly!
I saw a comment of yours on another blog- glad you belong to the "walk to work club" too. (I do) We don't even own a car and that is very weird to some people! It's the city though- you really don't need one and we just rent one when we need it.
One of my long term goals is to be car-less. I could do it now if I weren't working on my house. Most of what I need is within walking distance but it is not practical to carry 50 lb sacks of plaster. How do you guys transport big items for the house? Do you just get things delivered?
Well, we've been known to take the "granny cart" to extremes- lugging drywall compound or peat moss 1 mile from the local hardware store. I am not above transporting tool rentals in a cab or by bus either. We have lumber delivered, but hand pick the boards ourselves. For big shopping, we rent a cargo van and try and get it all done at once. We've managed to make it work pretty well, and it saves us ALOT of money not having a car-money we can use on our house. :)
That's cool. I guess it works out. My only vehicle is a 71 Ford Pick-up. I want to sell it because it is such a gas hog. However, I only spend a total of $180.00 a year for insurance and registration. Also, because I do so little driving I spend less than $60.00 a month on gas. I've told myself I won't make a decision until after the kitchens done.
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