This post brought to you by the letter W

This weathervane is one of my favorite features of the house. Until recently I have not been able to get a good picture of it. I borrowed my father-in-law's telephoto lense and was able to get some good pictures even though it was a very overcast day. I have known for a while that it needed to be restored since it actually is part of the roof top. I knew for sure that is was in rough shape when one day during a wind storm the letter W fell from the sky.

Millie in Blizzard of 1983

This photo is courtesy of Bob Graham who is Millie Shugart's great nephew. Millie is standing on the front walkway with Jeff and Trudy's house in the distance. The picture was taken after the blizzard of 1983 which totaled at 36 inches. Bob was kind enough to send this snapshot during our last snow storm. Its amazing how something as simple as weather can unite us...

Snowpocalypse Damage

The massive amounts of snow have not been kind to our house! The other day I was working on the computer and heard (and felt) this soul rattling crash. It was our gutter being pulled off by big chunks of ice. As you can see the gutter was not in good shape so it was no surprise.

The weight of the snow has also proved to be too much for the front fence. The wall was unstable to start with but now its actually crumbling. We need to have the walls rebuilt, which will be expensive and complicated since they are retaining walls. We are going to include this project in the grant application, but there is little hope for getting funds for it since its not attached to the house.

On to some good news. Roxane Shugart's daughter Sue dropped by last week. Millie was Sue's grandmother. I gave her a brief tour through the chaos. She had only a few minutes to reminisce since she was driving back to New Jersey but it was great to meet her.

We are working on the grant application, so now is the time for you to make a difference! Please send us a letter of support to include with the application. The more community support we get, the more likely we'll be granted matching funds to complete the exterior restoration.

Thanks for reading!

Charity

Scout

I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post. Right after Thanksgiving we learned that our beautiful husky Scout had terminal cancer. The cancer showed up as very aggressive mast cell tumors. She declined quite rapidly and passed away a couple of weeks later.

Scout was 11+ and saw us through college, many moves, dating, engagement and finally marriage. She loved everyone she ever met and brought to our lives a spirit of playfulness, enthusiasm and love. When we moved to Charles Town, obviously our pets had to make the sacrifice with us and no one handled it better than our Mama dog, who greeted the challenge with excitement. She even welcomed a new family member into the pack, when Millie, the world's most cuddly cat found us.

Scout quickly made friends with all of our neighbors and being the escape artist she was, made many surprise visits to folks that lived blocks away from us! Who knew that an old dog could squeeze herself through a cat door? It took a while for us to realize how she escaping. She always amazed us with her intelligence and determination.

Since Scout passed, we have felt out of sorts and the energy in the house has been somber. Kahlua, our black lab mix, has been having the hardest time, so even though we don't feel quite ready, we have begun looking for a new friend. We are trying to find a rescue dog, and have applied for a couple and are waiting to hear some news. In the meantime, we are still meeting more tail waggers.

Winter is a slow season for the restoration, but we are working on our grant application which is due March 31st. We have gotten a very late start on the application, so we hope we will be successful in getting it completed in time. More on this to come shortly!

Craigslist Addict

Some of you may know that I am not just into antique houses but antique everything. I am always looking for antiques, and right now I am especially looking for furniture for the family room. I have come up with a floor plan and I browse Craigslist on a regular basis looking for great pieces at great prices. I was really successful last Friday, finding a pair of chairs from the early 1900s. I got them from a lady in Baltimore who worked in a lawyers office. She said they were custom made and were a family heirloom. They are simply gorgeous and in great condition. The fabric doesn't match our color scheme which in unfortunate because the upholstery is in excellent shape. Eventually we will have them reupholstered, once the family room is done. Now I just need to find a cool antique game table to put between them!

Fall cleanup

Hi folks!

Sorry its been so long since I last blogged, but we've been busy with fall activities. We had an amazing turnout for Halloween. The weather wasn't great, but we still managed to scare a lot of kids! We had out the tombstones and fog machines as usual but this year we added a wizard's table. On the table was a trick crystal ball with my head in it! I don't know if anyone got a picture of me in the crystal ball because my breath kept fogging it up. If someone sends me a picture, I will post it later.

We haven't gotten much restoration work done lately. We have been focused on cleanup. We cleaned off the back porch of all the construction debris we had been unintentionally collecting and called Herbie, the trash guy. I didn't take any pictures out of sheer embarrassment! I hadn't realized how bad it was getting until I saw the pile in the driveway. It was huge.

We also cleaned out the ballroom so we could store more lumber there. Its much more organized, but still filled with construction stuff. We bought a toilet, sinks and all for the half bath years ago, and they are still in boxes waiting for the floors to be redone.

We spent this weekend doing lawn cleanup. We have a multitude of trees, mostly deciduous, that make raking a month long job. Luckily, the city takes the leaves, but we have to get them to the curb. In order to do this we rake the leaves on to tarps and drag them to the street. The pile in the picture is about half of the front yard. Looks like we will be spending the Thanksgiving holiday raking!

Great Awesome Stupendous Wonderful News!

Brown-Shugart House (Walnut Manor) circa 1960

After almost 4 years of owning the house, we are finally in a National Historic District! The South Charles Town Historic District has been in the making for 10+ years, and being a governmental process, it has been slow. The district was surveyed by a historian many years ago and the nomination was never completed, so recently it was re-surveyed and the appropriate forms filled out and presented. We just got word yesterday that the district was approved.

So what does this mean? Mostly, it means that our neighborhood is being nationally recognized for its history and architecture. To us, the most exciting part is that we are eligible for state preservation grants and tax credits.

We are all a twitter here. We have read all the information about filling out the grant application, but now we need to actually do it. Its a very technical process with estimates, plans and documentation but we are excited to begin. So starts the search for contractors, the taking of pictures of the condition of the house (anyone want to crawl up to take pictures of the roof?) and then finding matching funds because they are 50/50 grants and our restoration funds are depleted.

Funding can be difficult to find. I personally think that everyone named Charity should automatically get 501 (c) (3) status!!! There are very few grant programs out there for individuals, so luckily the federal government funds state preservation grants for homeowners. The grants are competitive and need-based (how in danger is the property due to the needed repairs) and they usually only cover the exterior features. We definitely have things on our to do list that qualify like roofs, gutters, painting and window restoration, so we have a decent shot, but times are tough and there are so many historic properties worth saving.

If the grant doesn't come through, we will then apply for state tax credits. They are easier to get and cover more repairs but still involve a somewhat lengthy application process. If you receive either a grant or tax credits you are required to follow the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for Rehabilitation and the State puts an easement on the property, protecting the structure from having any work done that might hurt its historic integrity.

I would personally jump through any hoops that West Virginia demands to get some state assistance. I think that I would even jump through those hoops naked wearing a tutu and balancing a ball on my nose! I already feel like a circus clown after years of juggling this restoration, so a little more freak show won't scare me.

Anyone out there applied for grants before? Advice or comments?

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