This is crazy stuff! I am kind of shocked because I really did not believe the predictions of snow.
Here is my neighbors’ house:
We probably won’t see snow like this again for many years to come.
****update: 1/28/14. ^^^Apparently I was wrong. It wasn’t years but only a couple days before we got it again! Lol.
So, I have nothing cute or smart to say. After four months (August-December) worth of Louisiana Tax Credit Rehabilitation projects, here are the before and after pictures of what we accomplished.
Landscaping and other minor fix ups and remodeling were not eligible for credits, so we move on to work on those things this Spring/Summer.
I know I’ve mentioned this a few times, but what we did accomplish through the Louisiana tax credit program was: update HVAC units, plumbing, electrical, roof, exterior carpentry, porch, bathroom addition, some exterior paint, foundation repair and some termite remediation.
Without further ado…..
It has been too rainy to take the “ta-da!” After pics….so here are a few older pics I neglected to post earlier. We finished most of the work before Christmas and did the finishing right before New Year’s Day! Whoo! Talk about busy!
Anyway, I am waiting for the rain to clear, then I will clean the trash out of the yard and post some good pictures! I am going to put them in before/after collages.
I had a friend loan me this neat little book. It is basically an early scrapbook from the years 1894 – 1931, it’s a history of the Presbyterian Church here in Alexandria Louisiana. It was written by Mrs. B. L. Price, the pastor’s wife in the early years of the church’s history.
What makes this little work so neat, is Mrs. B. L. Price gathered photographs of all the major contributors to the First Presbyterian Church here in Alexandria. She took pictures of the Sunday school teachers, church members, deacons, etc. in front of their homes. She also gave a little snippet about their personality, interests and church involvement.
There are only two of these small leather bound, scrapbooks and existence. One, my friend has, and the other one is owned by the family of a long time past member of the church. Here are a few examples of the pages. Enjoy!
I was driving along Third Street today, as I often do, and I noticed that the Armour building is being demolished. The Armour building was placed on the Louisiana Trust’s Ten Most Endangered list (For some reason WordPress is acting funny and won’t let me link it. Here is the link: https://perpetualrenovator.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/2-local-buildings-make-the-louisiana-trusts-10-most-endangered-list/). Along with the Hargis house (https://perpetualrenovator.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/rip-thompson-hargis-mansion/), this is yet another piece of history gone forever.
However, unlike the Hargis house, the Armour building had been dilapidated for many years and rain water was destroying the building from the inside out. Although I am quite sad that it could not have been preserved, I understand that the Olivet house shared a common wall and the deterioration of the Armour building started to affect their building. Taking the building down was probably the most cost-effective since no one was able to step forward and preserve it.
I hope that, in the future, interested persons, area preservationists and historical groups, will step forward and help identify and save Alexandria’s historical buildings before they come to such a state that they cannot be preserved. I know that the Historical Association of Central Louisiana, of which I am a board member, did everything they could to advocate and save the Armour building. Unfortunately, not enough funds were available to help secure the roof of the building, and no one stepped forward to purchase it. Thus, one of the main problems of historic preservation: money.
On a positive note, work has commenced at my house. At the end of October, a new roof is going up. I picked out the shingles today. I am very excited! When all of the work is finished, I will post before and after pictures of our house. Feel free to drive-by and view our progress!
I
I would like to give a brief shout out and thumbs up to Holt Construction on Third Street. I pass their office building frequently and have often wondered how a construction company could have such a dilapidated looking roof. I would think it not much of a testimony regarding their services. I guess they must have felt the same way because lo and behold they took off the flat roof and built a nice new pitched roof within the past two weeks. It’s so nice to see businesses improving their buildings and facades. Especially on Third Street where it needs it the most. I hope they filed for their state tax credits!
Last night was very sad for Preservationists in Cenla. The Thompson-Hargis home was irreparably destroyed by fire. At this time we know that it started in the back of the house and according to KALB, the cause was arson perpetuated by a 13 year old girl. An arrest has been made.
A security guard has been posted at the house remains to deter vandalism until a future disposition of the house can be determined by the family. Built in 1907 (some documents I have say 1902) without the benefit of a house plan by B.F. Thompson, a Canadian, the Thompson-Hargis mansion survived a total of 105 years until its historic reign was brought to an untimely end on September 9, 2012. Rivaling the beautiful and well preserved mansions on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, this mansion was the last one of its kind in Alexandria.
Mansion Row, as it is locally named, will not be the same. RIP grand lady.
The above pictures were taken via iPhone as it was unfolding. For pictures taken this morning, click here to be redirected to the WeSawThat blog.
P.S. I wrote a short post spotlighting this property in 2008 and made the comment that it would not last much longer in the state that it was presently in. It has been a top post for the past two days, understandably so. I am sad that this was a fulfilled prophecy. 😦
So, my blog has been dormant for several months. Yes, I know. Instead of plying you with excuses and listing everything that has happened between now and then, I will spare you (because I hate reading other people’s excuses when they pick up their blog again) and just inform you that work is going to start up on our house August 29th!
In a nutshell, I filed to receive Louisiana Rehabilitation Tax Credits. We have been approved and most of our work is lined up to commence and be finished by the end of the year. August 29th, I have a foundation repair service coming to remove the rotted sill on the front corner of the house and back corner of the porch in the back. Having these sills repaired will be the catalyst to our other rehab projects. We could not repair the porch, columns, paint, etc., until the foundation was repaired.
After the foundation repair, you shall see a new roof, paint and other small projects coming to fruition. Needless to say, I am very excited! So, forthcoming will be a post on Louisiana Rehabilitation Tax Credits how to apply and who is eligible and after that, I will be blogging and posting pictures of our progress.
Stay tuned….
I am off for the summer, but I came in to work while Vivian is at Grandma’s house, to help out my employer. I was flipping through the Cenla Focus and saw my picture…hahaha. This totally cracked me up. I knew the photographer was buzzing around but I didn’t know who he was or the picture was going to go. This cracks me up on several different levels. Firstly, because people are probably wondering “Who is this chick?”….secondly, because I lend a whole new definition to the term “white”; and thirdly because right under me is my beloved friend, R. R. Sr. The man who called me up, cussed me out and slammed the phone down in my ear. Shame, shame. Let’s just say I was new to town, I had no idea who this family was and I was not trying to make their life miserable, I was just concerned about my neighborhood.
Anyway…it was my laugh for the day.
Andrea
"House of the Leaning Pole"
Has a certain ring to it! We have kicked around ideas for a good name for our house. We have also thought about renaming our house versus naming it by last name of the original owner. BUT, I think “House of the Leaning Pole” is definitely descriptive. Everyone knows where my house is…its the one with the big leaning pole out front. This is a very old picture. Almost 4 years old. I swiped it from Google Earth. Since this picture, we had a bad ice storm and it caused the pole to crack at the base and it is leaning even farther now. I am informed that it is AT&Ts pole and I am further informed that AT&T has been notified about it. I just hope it does not fall over onto my house or fence.
Come on AT&T….please come and replace this pole????? 😀 Please????? It will save me the embarrasment of naming my house something dumb. We don’t want that.
Andrea
Perpetual Renovator 