On the Cusp

The silver lining mentioned the other day has proven to exist, and, lo and behold, we are on the cusp of being able to begin work!  Montgomery County's Planning Department deemed our roof to be not of an historic nature, so even though we do have to deal with a two-week delay in having them consider our application, the roof no longer has to be part of the application at all.  In other words: we can just go to the permits office and get a permit to work on the roof, without any further ado from the County.  Huzzah!  I've submitted the specs for our shingles to Amy with MHT, who assured me the turnaround would be "faster than the full EC review," so our fingers are crossed that in the next few days Rory'll be able to start assembling the forces to tear the old roofing off. (Note to Tim, my contractor cousin: I made a mistake and we'll actually be reusing the same porch shingles that are on there now, but thanks for the heads up!)

I'm still miffed at the permits office, but their director did reply to my email saying she was looking into how the application fell between the cracks, and that's all I can really hope for.  Even if they had Rick Perryd the situation with an "oops," they wouldn't have been able to include us on the December 7 agenda, since Maryland Open Meetings Laws require one-week notice of all stuff like this, and the agenda had already been sent out to the local papers.  Oh well.  This might actually allow us to start the roof a bit earlier than we would have anyhow.  (I'm just hoping that the County's determination that the roof is not historic will not prevent them from reimbursing us when it comes time to show them our finished product.  My feeling is we're still fine on that.)

Isaac & my parents with Justice, by the Italian Villa

As an aside, I failed to mention the other day that another of our neighbors has begun construction on their home.  The Swiss Chalet-- the house that initially brought us to look at Forest Glen-- now has work humming along.  When I went by with my parents on Monday, we saw all the old windows had been removed, all the decrepit railings were gone, and I think there was even new siding, although I'm not sure.  Jealous they got a jump on us, but glad for them just the same.

Leo, Isaac, and Theo

My parents coming by was an interesting event.  We had one full day together post-Thanksgiving, so I was able to show them the place for the first time, Isaac in tow.  You could tell they were thinking "Gregory & Abby are (still?) nuts," but I think it was with more appreciation for our nuttiness than the last time around, when we bought our current house.  (I think the neighborhood maybe makes up for it?)  Don't worry, Mom & Dad, this place will be great when we are finished.  That said, the Beltway was louder than it ever was before, which was a bit annoying.  Sure, it was Monday rush hour, but I kept on glaring at the road as if to request it shut up for a few moments while my parents were here...  You might say that was futile, but remember, I am the king of anthropomorphism, so you never know.  Anyhow, I think they really enjoyed the grounds, and hopefully are giving us the benefit of the doubt on the house-- at least for now!

Great Room sans lions

It was also the first time I saw the house without the lions in it, which was cool, since I could walk around unimpeded in my own living room for the first time.  The lions are on their pedestals next to the house, with a sign noting they need to be repaired, and people shouldn't sit on them.  (You never saw the pics of my kids sitting on them.)  (Honest, Bonnie, that was before we knew they were made of zinc!)

Lions in Place

Leo & Theo have been moved out of our living room, and are now watching the entrance to Forest Glen, right next to the bungalow, as they should be.  Love this pic of them basking in the sun, courtesy of Don Hall.

Leo (left) and Theo basking in the sun.  They'll eventually be restored, once funds are raised.

A Non-Response Response

As you can see, we have received an answer -- albeit a cryptic one -- from the Maryland Historical Trust:
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From me to MHT, Tuesday 10/4, 4:06pm:

"Hi ladies!  Just me being a pest again.  Any word on anything?  Wanting to know whether my margarita tonight should be celebratory or consolatory...  --G

PS- Lions are being moved tomorrow!"
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From MHT to me, Wednesday 10/5, 5:40pm:

"Hi Gregory [changed from "Greg," since my name is not "Greg..."]

Congratulations on having two less lions in the house!  Now you only have your two instead of the four :p, although I guess yours are more "cubs."  Anyways, yes the application was reviewed at the Easement Committee meeting and there was no ground shaking this time, always an improvement.  You will receive a letter from the Director in approximately two weeks.  Until then, go out and have a drink :) and enjoy your time in Mexico!  Thanks, Amy"
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From me to MHT, Wednesday 10/5, 6:01pm:

"Come on, you're killing me with the suspense!  Should the drink be celebratory?  Should I have it but hold the salt?  Oh, the metaphors I could continue to use!"
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From me to my blog, Wednesday 10/5, 10:28pm:

Argh!

Goodbye Lions!

Received word today that Leo and Theo, the lions that have resided in our living room for a while now, are going to be moved tomorrow to their rightful places astride the pathway leading down into Forest Glen from DeWitt Circle.  New pediments will be built for them, and they will eventually be restored.  Found this out via the neighborhood listserve, which has actually proven to be pretty interesting, if you don't count people complaining about their refrigerators... (what does that have to do with anything?)  Anyhow, we're hoping we can make good use of the lions no longer being in the house, because today, hopefully, a decision was made about our application.  I say "hopefully" because the board meeting was scheduled, and as far as I know, not interrupted by an earthquake like the last one was.  I sent an overly pleasant email note to Amy and Renee with MHT, asking them whether I should have a celebretory or a consolatory drink tonight, seeing as I am currently on a business trip in the hometown of Tequila, but didn't get a response.  Who knows what that means?  Could be they were so excited talking about my house at the meeting that they didn't get back to work in time to check emails.  Or could be that they didn't want to tell me the super-awesome news without the sound of a marching band in the background.  Or could be the application continued to be conentious, and we'll have to wait another 45 days.  If that happens, I might just have a few more of those local concoctions than I had planned.

But in the meantime, at least the lions are leaving.  That's progress.  Right?

Right?

The Earth Moves (and other things do too)

We haven't been out to the Bungalow since Tuesday's earthquake, but I'm guessing if the house completely collapsed we would've been contacted by now!  Funny thing is, after we got ourselves outside and onto the front sidewalk, the first thing I thought of was not "how is my son faring after this earthquake, seeing as today is his first day at school?"  No, rather, it was "I sure hope the Maryland Historical Trust Board Meeting didn't have to be canceled!"  On Wednesday morning I shot off a polite-as-can-be-yet-completely-ants-in-the-pantsy email to Amy at MHT, asking how Tuesday went.  Her response makes me tentatively hopeful:

We were actually in the middle of the Easement Committee meeting when the quake hit.  We did review your Application and the Committee will have recommendations/comments shortly.  I wanted to let you know that a site visit was requested by Easement Committee members so that they could see the house and be better informed when reviewing future Applications.  Renee and I will contact you (or Rory?) shortly to arraign a site visit for early September.

A shot of Leo (or is it Theo?) in our
Great Room, by Michael G. Stewart

The part I, as a hopeful applicant, picked out of that statement was the "recommendations/comments" part.  And the fact she didn't say "the Committee laughed in the face of your application, and your house fell down because of the earthquake."  I'm hoping you all see the same potential conditional acceptance reflected in this reply I did.



Besides the movement represented by MHT's partial answer, we also got a partial batch of pics back from Laurie and Michael, the two photographers who were in the Bungalow on Saturday.  (And I have to correct something I said earlier: Michael is not Laurie's assistant; he is a photographer in his own right, and found it amusing I referred to him as such.  Sorry, Michael!)  Anyhow, Michael sent me a few really cool pics he took of the place.  My favorite is of Theo (or is it Leo?) in front of our fireplace.  Check it out.



A shot looking up at the ceiling in the Dining Room
section of the Great Room, by Michael G. Stewart



Finally, there's some more possible movement on the neighborhood home-sales front.  According to local real-estate websites, the Swiss Chalet has been put under contract.  For those of you who may not know, the Swiss Chalet, which is located on the edge of the Seminary property right next to the Chinese Pagoda, is the house that initially drew us here.  We toured that house-- absolutely gorgeous, but in even more desperate need of help than the Bungalow-- first, then looked at the Pagoda next door.  It was only after that, when I was hooked on the former, and Abby was hooked on the latter, that Marc, the realtor showing the places to us, suggested we walk through the tunnel and see the Bungalow.  So, for better or worse, we owe our being here in the first place to the Swiss Chalet.  Danke schön!

The Swiss Chalet: the younger, more expensive, and
in-worse-shape "Alpine" version of the Bungalow



Good communication

Looks like everyone we're dealing with is on the same page as us communications-wise, which is great.  I love it when you email someone a question and you get a reply within the hour.  Our realtor, Arial, was that way.  Our finance guy, Scott, was that way.  Our general contractor, Rory, is that way.  And this morning I found out that the Montgomery County Planning Commission is that way too.  Three different people, three email chains, immediate response.  Hooray for Amy, Renee, and (a different) Scott!

An archive photo of Leo & Theo in their rightful place,
where they will return once Save Our Seminary refurbishes them.

Theo in our living room, where he and Leo currently  reside.

And here's what we were able to accomplish: we have back-to-back meetings with Montgomery County and our architect on Wednesday morning, and we're working with Bonnie at Save Our Seminary to get our resident lions out of the way.  Movement!  (Both literal and figurative...)

Oh, and amazingly, Courtney told Abby tonight that she wanted to see the inside of the house, since she's only seen the outside.  Courtney (my sister) is not the fixer-upper kind of person.  Her place is a brand-spankin'-new condo in Gainesville-- so new that it took more than a year after she moved in for the street to appear on Google Maps.  (Props to Google Maps' good communication too, by the way: our street was on the satellite image, but it wasn't labeled.  One email to the good map guys in Silicon Valley and *poof* Dewitt Drive is on the map.  Hooray for Sergei Brin!)