Monday, June 16, 2008

June 16th Kiggins House update







The house is almost ready to be lowered to the height it will remain at. How do I know?

Well, it's a long story but I will try to make it shorter. Because the sun spots ruined some of my photos yesterday, I decided to go back today and get a few. When I arrived, I saw several workmen, including one climbing around the boards he was framing the basement with. See his legs in the first photo?

Then, I walked around to the front of the house and took a few more. . .


Finally, I walked back to the park side and took another look. I could see some white framed window panes on the ground near the back of the house and I was curious so I decided to walk around to 24th St. and take another look. I took one photo and was about to leave when a gentleman approached me from the driveway of the house in front of the Kiggins home and asked if I "was Paulie."

My heart said, "ohoh . . . would he ask me to stop taking photos and leave?" But that didn't happen at all! I was so relieved! This nice man introduced himself as Bruce Wood. We got to talking and he said he had seen my blog and thought I was doing a nice job with it. I was feeling better all the time! Then, I mentioned that a lady in the office across the street first commented on my blog and then his sister in law from Australia left one also. So, I knew that they knew about my blog about the Kiggins house. He hadn't seen the comments from these two and said that and said he would go back to look.

(He also said that he liked some of my other photography and he mentioned my Math Cloud photo! Ü )

OK back to the house. . .

I asked him about why the wood was cut off of some of the windows and found out it was to get some circulation in the house. Until it gets on the foundation, the boards can't be removed from the house. When questioned about the white framed window panes sitting on the ground, he said they were in the basement of the Kiggins house when he was preparing it to be moved so he just kept them and will use them in another project. He explained to me how the house was too long and would be hanging in the city street (it's a dead end street) and that he would have to shorten the house. He said it was the stairwell that someone built onto the house when it became office space -- done for fire safety regulations. Only then did I realize that the little "rectangle" in the back was added on -- noticeable at the roof line if one knew to look. He said he didn't need that staircase in a private home and would take it off and fix the roof and trim accordingly.

When I told him that I didn't know about the addition for the stairwell because I had never seen the inside of the house, he mentioned that he could give me a tour inside before he started working on it after it was on the basement securely. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! He said I was probably the only one who was interested in seeing the inside at this point in time before the remodel. . . I don't know about that but I can hardly wait! He also mentioned that there would be an Open House when it was complete. . . he hopes that will be by Christmas. His family and his parents will live there.

Then he told me the metal beams will be removed tomorrow at 10:00 AM in case I wanted to be there!!!!!!!!!! I am so grateful for this knowledge because I might not have gone over tomorrow since I have been there for the past couple days. Now, I can't sleep. Maybe that's a good thing because I had trouble all afternoon trying to load my photos to blogger and it wouldn't work until tonight.

June 14th Kiggins House update

I try to go over to the new location as often as I can. I only live 5 blocks away. The photos I take might not be great but they show me the progress that is happening. Thus, I continue my journey blogging about it. These are a few more shots of the work needing to be accomplished before the house can be set down on a full 8 foot basement.


It's a door not windows! When the house was on Evergreen, it had a veranda over the door and it wasn't visible from the sidewalk/fence.





There are holes cut in the board that was over windows on this side also. I haven't learned why this is done yet. . .

Friday, June 13, 2008

June 13th update of Kiggins Move/Remodel

Today, I have caught up on getting all the photos I had online moved to this blog. Oh yes, I have an update. . . but today was the first sunny day we have enjoyed all month and I didn't do so well avoiding sunspots on some of my photos. I have decided to post them anyway. I will just try to remember not to go when the sun is directly overhead next time.

I was very excited today to see different things happening at the Kiggins house/Bruce and Judy Wood's new home. The foundation is really progressing; the boards are quite high so maybe the house is going to have a full basement? For some reason, they cut two of the boards that had been covering windows and were working inside the house. Maybe it has something to do with the basement and connecting wires or something. Maybe they had to fix the problems cause by the thieves just before the big move. . . I have no idea.

I hope to go back tomorrow to learn more with my photos. Today, I happened to be nearby at Arnada Park because I was walking the Heritage Tree (Bike) Route I had gotten from Parks and Recreation Department on the WWW. I couldn't just walk past the house without a few more photos!

I will try to get more photos when the sun isn't directly overhead. That will be easy since it stays light so late now that summer is fast approaching. . .

From Arnada Park. . .















Kiggins update -- June 11th

For lack of the proper name, the steel rods for the foundation are already placed!





June 9th Update on Kiggins House Restoration

The foundation work is begun and sand is filling up the "boxed" in areas for the foundation.








Kiggins House View From the Corner of I-5 and 4th Plain

Riding the 4th Plain bus home today, June 11, 2008, I could see the Kiggins House at this intersection and decided to go back and take photos of it. It is currently up on blocks of wood, waiting for the foundation. When it gets placed, I wonder if we will be able to see it from this spot anymore? I will check it again later. . . It is nice that there is shrubbery seperating the I-5 freeway on the east and Arnada Park/4th Plain on the North.


Week of June 8th -- Foundation Getting Ready









Before they moved the Kiggins house, I wondered why they didn't have a foundation to place it on. Of course, I know nothing about this process so I just waited to see what would happen. It looks like they have a handle on it and don't need my intervention. Ü