September At Old Farm

This month's visit to Old Farm was gorgeous and relaxing weather, although we fit in a few chores like installing new chair covers and buying new garage doors, while mowing, weeding, planting & watering.

Bill painted the early bamboo style chairs, & I added upholstered seats, 24 carat gold leaf and silk seat covers I made.

The wall & floor boards here are original, very wide and hand planed. The smaller room upstairs was built for children to sleep.

Ironed & washed linens and no AC is needed now.

We have 3 vintage iron sprinklers painted John Deer Green; below is my favorite watering a newly planted large boxwood.

When all 3 sprinklers are hooked together here, they can water everything still blooming.

Painting A Victorian House

Our house is a Victorian two story home with an addition Bill designed and built with a general contractor. It was a tear down/rebuild he cedar shingled and still a challenge to paint with so many exposed rafters and very steep roof.

I designed the front porch using mostly pressure treated wood which looks like new still.

Alex built the porch swing while in high school.

All painting was done SUPERBLY by "Olympic Painters" 609 683 7522, and all with ladders as Bill did so many years ago. We highly endorse this superior painting company!

Side porch paint colors are Benjamin Moore "Peach Yogurt" 105 matching the outbuildings, with BM "Country Comfort" 305 for the trim. I have also used "Golden Light" & "Honey Burst" previously. BM Regal Soft-Gloss on trim & Low Lustre on wainscoting and outbuildings.

Porch Details

The newel post, handrail & stringer are all cut from solid pressure treated pieces of wood, hand carved & bevel cut.

The columns are solid 6" cedar wood, beveled, hand carved & trimmed out.

A Labor Day; Splitting Wood

This Labor Day, I rented a log splitter from Home Depot to split 12 large trees cut to stove length and piled around Leif's 3 acres. Five of us worked with three wheelbarrows, rotating jobs and the splitter to 4 sites. The splitter was $124 for a day of lovely weather & way to provide the boys wood this winter. Above: Christian's tractor barn filled with Siberian Elm in 2020.

Leif has wide stacks again, as in 2024.

Rebuilding A Greenhouse

Christian is rebuilding his greenhouse which is vintage and has waterleaks. He has ordered new large glass panels, while reframing the base. This refurbished space is directly off his kitchen and is another of four closed in appendages to the 1780 farmhouse. The floor flashing, base wood framing, plywood sheathing, new Rock Wool Insulation, Ditra floor heat and exterior "Hardie Fiber Cement Siding" Plank boards are being added.

The work...

  

The other finished closed in additions...

The sunroom.

The mudroom.

The solarium.

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.