Kirk, Lost my Mom about the time your Dad was first making those chairs, so I know how apecial it is to bring them back. Same goes with those cushions. I see a problem, in the not too distant future though. Hard to believe, but the 80's were a couple of decades ago, so those cushions are already losing their new material quality. you might consider recovering them in plastic, to protect them for decades to come. I'd tell you how, except only Mom and Gram (her Mom) knew how, and, at the time, them working on the slipcovers meant nothing to me, until I had my own house, and wished I could cover the sofas through the years. My Mom made me a much-to-big sweater, just before she died. Fits now, but I just look at it occasionally, since the yarn is drying up from age. Those cushions are some of the last things your parents chose -- let them go on to your kids, in a few more decades.

I am quoting from memory. We do not have the desk. When the last parent died, what remained of their furniture was divided between the two girls and mabe the rest was sold. We got the clock, book case, a wicker rocker in very bad shape, and a mon-descript chest of drawers. The secretary desk could have been sold when my wife's folks down sized when they retired. The 8 day mantel clock is in runing order, but is missing some top pieces. The reverse painted glass front panels needs to be replaced. The clock was made in Amber, NY and has brass strap movement from a facrory in Connecticut. It appraises at $400, fully restored it would be $800. At present, there is not high interest in old clocks except the highly ornate ones, and that is depressing prices. However, I am facinated with its works and how it was designed, and that it is still in working order. The clock is a Jared Arnold made in about 1832 and has the original face. Its pendulum is suspended by a flexural pivot, a vrey modern and extremely low friction element, and is not subject to wear of a pin pivot, My wife's folks also had a very unique bed. The long horizontal parts of the frame were made from unsawn poles. Large screw threads were turned on each end of a pole; one end with a right hand thread and the other end, a left hand thread. The treads were 'timed' with each other, e.g., each thread started at the same rotational location. It was a bearcat to assemble. becasue both ends of the threads had to be started at the same time, one in the head and the other in the foot. Once started, the pole was scewed until fully engaged. Also, once one side was started, the other side had to be started also, and then both screwed in together. Once put togetehr, it was never taken apart unless for putting into long term storage. That was a unique piece of woodwork. Lilely, it was not a factory piece, but one made by a local woodworker.

You know that old saying about expensive stuff ... if you have to ask how much it is, then you can't afford it. That's what I thought as I read your post, regarding the feasability of your proposed timeline. To me this sounds like a lot of work to get done in a fairly short, finite, time span, GC'd by a non-professional without long-standing (and on-going) relationships with all the inter-locking subs and trades. Your project probably doesn't come with the promise of additonal jobs for them over many years so you won't have the leverage a good GC would have to make the necessary, but impossible, things happen to keep such a complicated project on schedule. Is the end date a hope, or a hard date with a CO issued and move in readiness? If you could stand to have it carry on into the winter, then it would be more do-able, I think. The complications will come in integrating all the various tradesmen. For example, you're getting a new roof, but before the roof goes on it would be better to know exactly where the vent stacks for the new furnace and the new bath and kitchen are located. Yes, you can add them later, but you've a better chance at a no-leak roof if they're up before the roof guys get there. You're putting in radiant floor heating (love it BTW), but that means every single tradesman has to know where those lines are, or one gets punctured. Kitchens and baths are notorious for needing sustained, cooperative layers of tradesman. GC's will know which crews get along, which can be counted on to work the extra hour or two in order to prep for the next guy, etc. Do you have to do all this at once? (Regular readers here will know where I'm headed and can skip ahead....) I think old house renovations are best done after you've been in the house for some time. The ideas you have now, especially if you're not working with an experienced old-house minded architect, are surely not going to be as good as what the house will tell you is needed after you've been there for some time. The other reaon to slow things down is that old houses are (in my opinion) must vulnerable to to regrettable owner-caused (though entirely well-meant) damage when they renovated at the beginning of the ownership. Take, just for example, your plan to install radiant floor heating. If you have more than one story, that means you'll be pulling the ceiling of the first floor for access. What the heck you say, you're already planning on pulling the plaster in the walls for insulation. Okay, but I didn't hear you say you'd need to have the walls replastered. Perhaps you think it doesn't matter: sheet rock, even skim-coated sheetrock, vs old plaster, same difference, right? Um, no. Plaster is a lovely-to-live-with amenity that many people just casually disregard, not realizing how intergral it is to their buildings. And you won't know this until you've owned and lived with an old house for awhile and studied the unique concerns that old houses raise for thoughtful, respectful, owners. And of course, there's the money. I would plan on having at least 75% more cash on hand than the wildest estimates you have if you go ahead with this amibitious plan to get it all done by a date-certain. All old house projects have the virtual certainty that more funds will be necessary than you planned (or hoped), but combined with a tight deadline, sometime the only thing that will get you there is extra fees for overtime, express shipping, replacement materials, more expensive solutions, etc. With old houses, there's always a dynamic, usually reciprocal, relationship between time and money: more of one, less of another. Sometimes, more of both. Almost never less of both, alas. And, if you start out with modest experience, tight funds and a very amibitious deadline, you're only setting yourself up for misery and stress. (Read some of the "I hate my house" threads as cautionary tales.) But as discouraging as I know I must sound, I don't want to discourage you from using this resource. Please consider this an invitation to keep coming back for help and encouragement. Welcome to the company of old-house afficionadas. Molly~

That's a great picture, Maybee, and how neat that your grandmother gave you such fanciful gifts. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have thought she'd be much more practical. Oh, I agree about the corsets! I can't even tolerate a tight waistband on my jeans. Poor Bill Hickock's daughter! I guess it's a blessing that my grandmother had to retire from the stage when she had children. She did go back to it later, but I'm guessing her laces weren't too tight after that because she lived to be 88. And never fainted, to my knowledge. :-)