Installing A Pedestal Charging Port

Bill and the boys have installed wall car charging ports at home and Old Farm, while Leif is now installing a pedestal one with Bill at his house. It required digging a deep trench 42' through stones, tree roots and a gravel driveway by hand; taking most of a weekend once logistics were done.

A Tesla Level II universal pedestal port mounts on a steel stand as shown & total cost is about $1600. An adapter is used for other EV model cars, while 22 brands are switching to the Tesla NCAS standard. Most will recharge on the left side, although the cord reaches either.

Leif has chosen the wider stand which rivets into a poured cement base.

Leif's car at Old Farm recharging next to the 1717 house.

Vacationing At Old Farm

August and September are wonderful months to vacation at Old Farm, so we have power washed the outdoor shower, laundered linens, and scrubbed inside the 1717 house from attic ceiling beams to original old floor boards. Leif and Alex will be here soon with guests to share it's historic charm.

It has been a dry summer on the Cape, but the house is 4 homes from a private lake beach and 10 min. from ocean beaches. It sits on part of 12 original acres bought from the Indian Serunk in 1644 by George Lewis; a Pilgrim and clothier from Kent, England. He also bought 60 pastoral acres, had 10 children, 2 wives and arrived first in Plymouth Colony in 1633; a follower of Rev. John Lothrop.

Sheds: Some Inspiration

Leif's shed is worth renovating because it is close to his entry and so useful. Wrapping it in trellises, painting it to match the dark house trim and a custom metal roof  will be grand. Inspiration pics below via pinterest:

We chose Ideal Americana metal roofing from Canada which is custom cut and less expensive than local metal box store options, besides higher quality. Cost is $412 from "SRS Building Products" in Flemington NJ with a two week lead time, and our install is easy.

Seven years ago, Christian's cool down shed same roof cost half the price per sq. ft. It is a wonderful outdoor building to have renovated for about $3K.

This shed is 4 x's the size and required some new siding, rafters, trim, and plywood roof.

The big horse barn roof has the same Ideal metal ribbed roof and was the first we installed after removing an old plywood sublayer. Replacing some perlins allowed for just a large metal roof, as it might trap water over plywood and shorten the roof life.      Huge savings!

Christian saved the last pieces of plywood covering a bird's nest of hatching eggs, until all flew away.

Christian's wood shed with old windows from Princeton.

Mowing & Cutting

 Last visit to Old Farm, the lawn missed being mowed and was 44" high! Time for the sit down Huskvarna mower & catcher. The champ.

We have not installed a lawn sprinkler system here to remain conservative, which shows when there is little rain. Everything pink, white, red & purple was in bloom. The Summer Wine Ninebark Physocarpus, Peony Festiva Maxima - white with scarlet, and trumpeted red Weigela in the back gardens. 

Cut flowers...

Christian still mows his 7 manicured acres here. Go Christian.

Flowers from a friend's farm....

This week we had 13 more trees cut down at Leif's MCM house, which will give our three houses here plenty of firewood this winter. Most is Ash to burn without sitting a year. The trees are dropped, cut to length and branches chipped for mulch by Ceko Landscaping. A great crew with terrific pricing. We have now felled about 50 trees here. Left; small last tree down.

A Second Bathroom

Soon it will be lovely to have a second bathroom here to share with guests. Both have new windows, floors, high gloss vanities & toilets etc., some matching and mostly white. 

Leif & Bill installed the remaining plumbing & parts. Glass shelves, Grohe hardware & marble accessories will finish the space.

Five light sconce here.

The first bathroom here...

New glass in large; full width window below...

Nantucket & A Fun Fourth!

We spent this 4th of July in Nantucket strolling the fabulous cobblestone streets packed with architectural inspiration for shingled homes like Old Farm. Fast ferries are 10 min. from the house making a day trip fun.

Cliff Rd. which overlooks the harbor is full of lovely homes.

The visit helps fuel our drive to power wash, plant & prune back at the house...

Our deck is built under a huge old oak tree which shades it naturally. I power washed it with a machine bought on fbm while Bill chipped a huge pile of pruned branches for mulch. His garden stone, seats and planters are so lovely here.

We also planted a large Annabel Hydrangea near the back door, which we use most. The combination of Nikko Blue and Annabel Hydrangeas planted together in Nantucket was gorgeous.

Our blue hydrangeas this year are insanely abundant in blooms. Hydrangeas lose and gain 1/3 of their branches new each year unless a severe cold winter kills all blooms, making the 3rd yr. of recovery remarkable - like these.

Replacing Windows

The windows in Leif's Acorn Deck house built in 1972, were original when he bought it and all double paned. This week he is having another group of large windows replaced in renovated rooms, which are beautiful.

Kitchen.

Before...

Side bedroom window for future upgrade & large one of two replaced.

Dining Room with glass all around.

Even the glass transom to the screened porch was replaced; biggest piece of glass in the house...

The living room & dining room glass doors were replaced earlier. This house is all about the glass & views.

New view of the house...