Hermann house renovation

Yes, and this normally works but a 21 inch interior hallway with a ragged edge stone side makes for a difficult trip. Imagine trying to carry anything. This was the house built for no servants. They made quite a few changes to Kentuck Knob and loved it. They lived there 30 years and only left due to husband's illness and length of drive for help or groceries. It is still 30 minutes to any store.

Fallingwater had at least 4 live in servants and they moved back and forth with the family since it was only a summer home.

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Originally Posted by sweetana3

We just visited some Frank Lloyd Wright houses and then were watching some Youtube videos. Someone bought one and wanted to demolish it. Someone else painted over all his specially created wood finish.

Of course, some of his ideas were crazy. 21 inch wide hallways, kitchens tiny and some ceilings 6 feet tall. Storage eliminated so people would not accumulate clutter.

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I toured a Frank Lloyd Wright home last spring that had narrow hallways. I’m not sure that they were 21 inches but Lord they were dark and narrow, but fortunately not very long. Yes kitchen was not very big either. The entire thing was weirdly dark.

But because it had everything original including original upholstery on the furniture that was created especially for this house, it was pretty special place.

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Originally Posted by catherine

Yeah, that's the message I was getting when you said it's an "OK" neighborhood. Too bad.

On a side note and unrelated, the other day I was watching one of those gawdawful HGTV shows and the designer was renovating a 70s ranch house that was left to the client from someone in the family. So she wanted to "maintain character" and in that effort she asked the carpenter to make Craftsman-style trim around the windows for some "old-time character". But this was a mid-century modern home--not a Craftsman at all. These designers are so clueless.

The other thing she did for "character" was to throw up some 1x4s in a pattern to make an accent wall. Of course she had already removed all the true mid-century modern character. These decisions by designers on HGTV remind me of how industrial bakers remove all the nutrients from flour when making white bread and then they add in nutrients later, calling the final product "enriched", but what they really did is take out what was great and replace it with something inferior.

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People like craftsman style. There has been a dumb trend in historic neighborhoods around here to put up craftsman styled (faux) Windows and doors. We don’t see that often enough to be irritating. 1920s windows and doors on our 1880s houses is a no go …(edited.) building codes prohibit it but of course people can’t be bothered to follow an ordinance because they’re special snowflakes.

I wonder if I will be able to resist watching HGTV when I moved to Hermann. We have cable TV in Hermann after never having it for decades in life. It really does a number on my head. I walk away from a couple hours of it and look at my little shabby cottage house which two hours prior I was very happy with and it just looks small and dull.

One of the shows I watched last week was the finale of a extravaganza where four of the leading renovators on HGTV came together to each renovate a carbon copy builder house in Charleston. I liked their choices of decor for those houses I have to say, because they were new houses and had no character anyway despite the fact that it was in Charleston.

There’s one show called something like “Build it in 100 days “where they build a new house for the owners very quickly and it’s the same drek in every house they build, and they build on the same patch of Florida swamp land out in nowheresville. Blech.

When people paint over the woodwork I want to kill them:)). Probably because I spent a few years stripping it. Luckily the people that bought our house loved it so didn’t do that. I enjoy watching hgtv but it doesn’t make me yearn for a bigger space because I have been there and done that. Besides loving my condo I am really enjoying the friendships I have made in this building. It’s so fun to get together with people on the spur of the moment.

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry

When people paint over the woodwork I want to kill them:)). Probably because I spent a few years stripping it. Luckily the people that bought our house loved it so didn’t do that. I enjoy watching hgtv but it doesn’t make me yearn for a bigger space because I have been there and done that. Besides loving my condo I am really enjoying the friendships I have made in this building. It’s so fun to get together with people on the spur of the moment.

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Yes, the ad hoc meet ups would be fun. I’m already a little sad that I won’t be spending enough time at my condo to probably develop much of a relationship with people, yet I could work harder at that. Our back yard common area is pretty and shady. And then we do have a common room that’s open right by the back door so people always see it when they walk into the building.

Last night and this morning I cooked in our Hermann kitchen. It is 90% complete, lacking only a stove, a few pieces of cabinetry and trim, and the dishwasher being functional. I was curious to know how the work triangle really functioned because it is not as tight as what I’m used to. It seems to be OK.

DH keeps saying that we could fit in a small center island in the U-shaped kitchen, but I don’t think it’s at all necessary since we have plenty of counter space, and it’s just something I would be walking around constantly. It would be in the way.

I’m intrigued at the idea of cooking without a stove.

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Originally Posted by jp1

I’m intrigued at the idea of cooking without a stove.

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1) microwave oven

2) electric frying pan

dinner consisted of warming up a meat dish, laying out purchased potato salad and cooking corn on the cob in the microwave. I smashed some strawberries and warmed them up in the microwave with sugar and poured those on top of a dessert cake for dessert.


Breakfast consisted of onions, peppers, and eggs cooked in the frying pan.

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Originally Posted by jp1

I’m intrigued at the idea of cooking without a stove.

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Instant pot, air fryer toaster oven, induction burner...

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Originally Posted by JaneV2.0

Instant pot, air fryer toaster oven, induction burner...

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Yes, All those would work fine! I do have a crockpot there and a great rice cooker. I’ve never purchased a toaster oven because I don’t need it.