Kitchen Makeover

Our OB kitchen is a cute galley kitchen with cabinets and counters that are in great shape. Their only drawback is their strong yellow color. The walls and ceiling were painted a gray color with brown trim.

When we considered painting the room, we sought a color that would soften the yellow cabinets. We went with a "blue" shade of gray by Benjamin Moore called Feather Gray. We chose a darker shade for over the counters to resemble a slate backsplash. With the bright white ceiling paint and soft Decorator's white trim, we were able to create a bright kitchen while softening the strong yellow cabinets. We are very pleased with the new look.

Bathroom makeover

One of our goals for the Fall was to clean the inside of the house and hopefully get a fresh coat of paint in one of the rooms. We spent the first 3 weekends cleaning, with the help of Liz and Gracie. It is always amazing just how great things look after a good scrubbing.

We were able to paint the bathroom and kitchen. Here is a "before" picture of the bathroom. It was a "white" with brown trim, loaded with towel racks and hooks. There was a small cabinet mounted on the wall next to the toilet and a flat, cheap mirror over the sink.

We removed the towel racks, hooks, cabinet and mirror. After filling all the holes, we sanded and washed the walls in preparation for painting. We started by painting the ceiling an ultra bright white. It brightened up the room instantly. Next, the walls got two coats of a Benjamin Moore Feather Gray and the trim got 2 coats of a beautiful Decorator's white.

Lastly, we assembled a space saver for over the toilet to help with the storage shortage. Barry bought a great, multi-color window valance called "Cottage" that matches well and adds some color to the room. We put back the towel racks, including a new hand towel ring. We did not mount the mirror back on the wall in hopes that we could find a new medicine closet. Actually, we are going to look for a vintage medicine closet to clean up and install.

The bright new colors create a clean, fresh feel to the small room. Creating our own look makes the cottage more ours and not like we are visiting someone else's.

From the Ground Up

The cottage was built on a tent platform. There is a crawl space but no foundation. The piers are brick and mortar or cement blocks spaced several feet apart and on the corners. The are some supports that have been added over the years.

The poor foundation has led to sags and uneven floors.

There is a floor furnace which is affectionately referred to as an "Hibachi Heater" in the Campground. When it was installed, a hole was cut in the floor and the furnace dropped in. They left the floor joists hanging. This was more than 20 years ago. The floor has sagged considerably over that period.

The pictures in this posting show the floor furnace as well as some of the supports, One that you can see is actually a tree stump. There is also a picture of the side of the house showing one of the piers.

Kelvin Sims, a retired Facilities Director, came to the island to provide some technical support as we attempt to straighten things out. We began with the West side of the foundation. This is the left side as you face the house. We used two 20-ton bottle jacks to lift the sill. We also used some screw jacks we purchased from Ellis Manufacturing in Oklahoma City. There is a picture of the screw jacks that sopport the corner as the sill does not connect in the corner. We moved from the front corner along the side to the back corner. There is a picture of the pier near the back of the house that shows that we raised that section nearly two inches.

The West wall is now nearly level. Now we need to move toward the center of the house as everything sags to the middle. We will need to dig some holes to pour some footings so we will be able to lift the middle. We will also add support along the length of the sill so that some of the rises and dips can be straightened.

Remember the cottage was built on a tent platform with 3"x4" timbers spaced 24" apart with a single 3"x4" timber down the center of the house. This leads to the rolling effect of the floor.

The crawl space is between 13" and 18" deep. It will make digging quite interesting. We will begin our excavating next week.

A little History

The Martha's Vineyard Campmeeting Association began as a a real "camp meeting". The first shelters were tents. The tents were placed on platforms and at the end of the season, the tents were struck and stored until the next year. Our house is no different. There is a single typed sheet on the wall of our cottage that lists the previous owners. It is complete to the 1960's when it was typed, but there seems to be some gaps since then.

Our house was a tent in 1864 owned by T. Walker and was replaced by a cottage in 1865 by the same person. The tent platform is approximately 15 inches off the ground. This serves as the floor of the cottage. The frame is post and beam with very limited structural supports. The sides are tongue-in-groove planking. Which firms up the house.

The sills and floor joists are 3"x4" rough-cut lumber, 24" on center. The sills sit on brick and mortar piers. There are some wooden posts and even a log that provide some support. The floor has several sags that we will work to remove.

The first cottages were on the Tabernacle circle, which includes our house. The current steel Tabernacle was not built until 1872 so our cottage pre-dates that structure.

We will continue to research the house to determine its history as well as serve as a basis for restoration. We intend to make improvements but keep those improvements as authentic as possible.

These pictures were taken from the front porch so you get some idea about our location.

It's all ours!

We closed on the Oak Bluffs house on September 14th. It was a lovely Monday morning when we travelled to the Vineyard for the closing. After a brief walk-through, we went to our lawyer's office for the closing. It is a bit unsettling to hand over a check for a such a large sum of money but in the end, it is going to be worth it!

We went back to the house to have lunch and spend more time taking inventory. We walked around the house, taking notes and measurements. It has many of the essential furnishing; i.e., couch, table, chairs, beds, dressers, dishes, etc. It did not have many glasses, no linens, pillows, etc.

When we returned home we went about going through our attic, basement, closets. We boxed and piled up our "extra items" in our garage. On Thursday, Trip Barnes of Barnes Moving stopped by the Marion house to pick up items to take back to the OB house for us. When Barry arrived on Friday, he was able to direct the movers where to put the items. That included taking our new bed (head and foot board) up the spiral staircase. That was a huge stroke of luck for us!

Interview vs Tropical Storm "Danny"

Barry and I braved the pouring rain to travel to the Vineyard for our Campground Association Lease Interview. We just made the ferry and arrived early so we could spend some time in the Campground. We walked around the Campground in the rain taking pictures of other cottages for ideas. We met Marilyn at our house so we could take measurements. Everytime I visit the house, I see something new!

By the time we arrived for the interview, we were both soaked to the skin. I am sure we made a great first impression!

Our interview was mostly to go over the rules and an opportunity to ask questions. The three men seemed very nice and helpful. I am pretty sure we passed the interview, especially when Barry said "We view ourselves as caretakers of an historical building." We haven't heard back yet, but are confident that we passed the test.

We only have a few more details to take care of before the closing like changing over the utilities. Two more weeks!!!

In the Beginning...

This is the front of the cottage as it looks now, August 26, 2009. As you can see it is quite plain compared to other "Gingerbreads" in the campground.

We plan to make a number of changes.

1. Color- We feel the blue is too dark.

Do you have a color scheme in mind? Please share your ideas.

2. Corbels- Corbels are the scroll style brackets that go at the top of the porch balustrades.

Have you seen some you like? Let us know.

3. Vergeboard Trim- This is the gingerbread trim along the roof line to the peak.

Do you have a design?

4. Name- The current name is "Chuck" full o' nuts. Cute, but we'd like to change it.

What name would fit? "Money Pit" might be appropriate.

We need your help!

Your ideas will help us restore this cottage to its former grandeur, if it ever had any. We feel this property has the potential of being an attraction for the throngs of tourists that visit the campground each summer.

The location on the Tabernacle circle makes it a high traffic cottage. Few people stop to take pictures of the plain little cottage. We think that it can be one of the featured cottages on the circle. Share your thoughts and ideas. We are even happy to have your help. We have plenty of brooms and paint brushes.

Please contact us.

Finally found it!

After several years of looking at cottages and houses on Martha's Vineyard, we finally found something we could purchase. Of course, we were not really looking for houses when we found it! We were vacationing with family and happened to see real estate listings near the Black Dog Outlet store in Oak Bluffs. The listings were posted on the kiosk wall of a soap shop belonging to Marilyn, a real estate agent. We struck up a conversation and the next thing we knew.....we were visiting houses.

We found a small Gingerbread Cottage, right on Trinity Park across from the Tabernacle. It is small but has potential. It needs alot of work tho! We put in an offer and after going back and forth several times, we settled on a price.

Now we are going through the purchasing process. We signed the Purchase and Sale, secured a mortgage, home inspection, selected insurance and have a closing date. We also have to be interviewed by representatives from the Campground Meeting Association.

Our interview is scheduled for this Saturday morning.....just in time for Tropical Storm Danny to come for a visit! We are trying to decide whether we should reschedule. We are going to do the wait and see thing. Hopefully, Danny will fizzle.