Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’m baaack! Sorry for the long hiatus. First the holidays, then the flu, then the craziness of back to school, then vacation…but through all of that things have been happening at the Summit House! You might remember the Old Lady has some structural issues, mainly in one sinking corner. The more we looked at her,Continue reading “Beauty in the Broken”

I should have remembered there’s another chimney in this house. The inspector found it in the attic, capped off up there. But chimneys don’t just exist in attics. They exist from basements on up. So, running right through the space I want to open up on the main floor is a massive piece of 120Continue reading “Extra Chimneys and other musings…”

Yesterday, as everyone went back to school and work, a flurry of activity began at the Summit House. Most importantly, Paco began excavating under the house so we can start the leveling project. I don’t envy his job. Moving rocks and dirt out from under an old house, that’s sinking, by hand, is not forContinue reading “Breaking Ground”

This delightful Santa (get it? De*light*ful? Ha!) is pretty much as good as it will get this year in terms of decor here at Summit House. Today I told Nathan, the contractor, and Tammie, the designer, that I’d like to be living here next Christmas. The moment of silence was deafening. Apparently, that’s an aggressiveContinue reading “Very Lonely Santa”

Not everything turns out like I would hope. This is the sad tale of original wallpaper, plastered over and likely not salvageable. We figured there was something odd about the fireplace. The plaster around it seemed…off. Not one to be shy about investigating, I began picking off pieces of plaster. It was incredibly satisfying. TheContinue reading “A Sad Tale of Wallpaper”

It’s a real thing. Today the daughter of the previous owners stopped by. She moved into the house, with her family, when she was four. In addition to the family stories, memories of growing up in the house, and other delightful anecdotes, she mentioned, almost offhandedly, if I knew there was a pocket door betweenContinue reading “Demo Rage”

I have a new hero and her name is Megan Duvall and she is the Historic Preservation Officer for the City/County of Spokane. She was referred to me by my long-time hero, Kirstin Davis, who sits two desks away at City Hall. There have been more serendipitous moments like this than I can count sinceContinue reading “A LOT of House History”

But we’ve got this. She has great bones. So the old lady is sinking a bit. Just in one corner, and just 3-4 inches. But that is enough to have a pretty noticeable…tilt. Since my goal is to keep the old lady standing for at least another 120 years, we are going to fix it.Continue reading “She is sinking.”

So I know you really want to see the house, and I only teased that in my last post. Here are a week’s worth of photos! Full disclosure: we knew there were hardwoods underneath the carpet. We didn’t know they would A. look like that. And B. look like that. The condition. The inlay. TheContinue reading “You are really here for the photos…”

Woman, circa 1978, in desperate need of a project. I did it. I bought a 1899-1901 historic house here in Spokane, Wash. I wasn’t necessarily looking for this house; I think it found me. I also think my realtor is rightfully rolling her eyes at that sentiment. After all, we’ve seen approximately 7 billion housesContinue reading “House, circa 1899, in desperate need of attention.”