Sunday, July 27, 2014

The Little Cottage Progresses

Do you recall when I posted about the little cottage in the heart of Oriental that someone had decided to redo? I showed you the domicile after they'd stripped the ugly siding.
They hoisted it up and rolled it around.
It was rather pitiful. The building seems hardly worth saving, but the location? Ahh -- to die for. If one small lot could be considered the heart-of-the-heart of the old village, this small pie-wedge would be it.
It's not on the water, but hardly any houses in old Oriental village are. Only a handful -- say, five or six houses -- are actually directly on the water. They are large and old. And not all of them have docks; can you believe it? When I speak of the old Oriental village however, I'm not referring to all the houses in the city limits. The old village is about twenty or thirty blocks clustered near the river, near the town dock, near the Bean and the Oriental Yacht Club.
Well, lately much has been happening to this cottage. As you see above, they've hiked it off the ground.
And they've brought in cement block.
They're building nice brick columns around the foundation, indicating plenty of porch on at least two sides.
And I'm so happy to tell you that they've decided to turn the house the right way -- it will face this point, toward us as we look at this shot below. So the view from the front porch will be the long front lawn, looking at that lovely clump of live oak trees there.
During Hurricane Arthur, precautions had to be taken for the "precautionary room" (as my mother calls it), on the job site. You don't want to be flown off by a wind while having a private moment! You could end up like Dorothy in Oz!
The most recent photo of the cottage shows an addition atop. When in a floody area, build up! Perhaps you can also see that the inside has been gutted now. I'm eager to see how this home finishes up.

7 comments:

Pom Pom said...

Wow! It seems like they are only keeping the frame. Oh well, old houses have their stories as you very well know! Smile.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

what a curious location. did the road build around the house or the house build on that small peninsula? like Dorothy, except covered in poo. LOL

KathyB. said...

This is wonderful. I've found myself looking at older homes ( usually rundown ) in our neighborhood and the city nearby, wishing someone would turn the home into the gem I just know it can be, and here you're showing us just that ! I love what they're doing and it is humorous to see ( O.K. PRACTICAL ) how even the outhouse is being wisely considered.

Lisa Richards said...

It probably would have been easier to just build the cottage from scratch, but I suppose there are zoning laws that allow "remodeling" but not rebuilding? Very interesting goings on! Love the lashed down port-a-potty! :)

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

This is exciting! I love seeing something being restored. What a hoot, tying down the portalet. :-)

Have a GREAT week MK ~ Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady

Leslie said...

The progress certainly looks promising. I can't wait to see it finished.

Mary Ann Potter said...

Restoration is wonderful. So glad to see progress on this neat little place.