August 28 – Exterior painting begins.  Painters begin scraping, filling and priming the house exterior.  Although the house was red for many years, it was originally white.  The McLaury Committee debated whether to return the house to its original appearance or to pursue other Colonial Revival color schemes.  The answer follows in the next picture.

The new color palette.  Interior designer, Christopher Maya (of Christopher Maya, Inc., N.Y.) generously donated his expertise to establish a new color plan for both the exterior and interior.  His color palette restored historic authenticity, highlighted the house’s unique features and gave the house a much greater sense of presence on the site.  Additional photos of the newly painted exterior and interior will be seen in future galleries.

Sep. 5 – New sewer connection completed.  Earlier in the project, a new sewer lateral was installed from the house to the end of the driveway.  The old line was cracked and filled with tree roots.  Candee Construction Company completed the connection process from the driveway to the sewer main in the street and is seen here repaving disrupted areas on the street.  A special thanks goes out to Candee for donating the time and materials to repair an additional section of the sidewalk outside the scope of their project area.

Sept. 5 – Landscaping begins.  Considerable site work had been performed during the house restoration process to bury utilities, correct septic/sewer issues, improve storm drainage and stabilize slopes. With this work all completed, the time had finally arrived to begin the finished landscaping. This photo shows a worker from Morgan Landscaping spreading new loam, several inches in depth, to prepare for the grass seed still to come.

Landscaping Goals.  The landscaping goals were to:

1. Create a simple, low maintenance yard that the Town could easily maintain
2. Show the house off to the best advantage 
3. Stay consistent with the simple landscaping styles of the 1920s.  The plantings chosen were spare and classic – myrtle and pachysandra groundcovers, privet hedges, one lilac, and three dogwood trees (one seen in this photo).  Grass will cover everything else.

Sept. 6 – Bathroom tile installed.  A worker from Nazzaro Tile installs subway tile in the tub surround.  A white, subway-tiled bathroom was a standard style from the turn of the 20th century through the 1920s.   White was considered clean and sanitary.  Colors didn’t become popular until the Art Deco movement began to have an influence in the 1930s.