Sherry's Second Wind: Past and Present

A couple of days ago, we saw two men in the back yard of the house behind us. That home's owner died two years ago, and the house has been caught up in his estate ever since that time. The estate must have a contract with a landscaping firm because (thankfully) we see someone in the spring and summer come to mow the lawn. However, that is all they do. The shrubs and trees are overgrown, leaves cover the roof, a fallen branch lies in pieces both in the side yard and on the roof, and a roll of attic insulation has been rotting in the back year for the past two years. The house screams neglect and abandonment.

When I saw the men, I went outside and asked them what was happening to the house. One man said, "I don't know. We were given permission to go in and to remove some trash. That is all we were authorized to do, and there is a lot of trash inside." I mentioned that the insulation was attracting rodents, but he said he did not know if they were authorized to remove that. Apparently not; this is days later and the insulation still remains in its same location.

What a shame. At one time, I am sure that the house was quite a dazzler. The yard is canopied with shade trees, the property contains what was once a well-built, large shed, and the house has a Florida room out the back that must have brought in beautiful breezes.

The back yard also contains one remaining clothes line pole. That reminded me further of what life was like in the late 50s and early 60s when clothes driers were unheard of or a luxury rather than a requirement. This was quite the neighborhood when these houses were all built between 1956 and 1965. Even Gladys, when we bought her, showed those 1960 modern features. First, most of the homes have terrazzo floors which kept (and still keep) the houses cool in the summertime. Gladys also had a huge whole-house fan which would have drawn in cool air though the louvered windows. Remember that there was no central air conditioning in 1960 when this house was built. The wall air conditioner that we removed from the dining room wall was definitely not a part of the original design since it partially blocked the door that led from the kitchen to the garage. The laundry also was placed in the garage since that was a household chore rather than being a part of family living. As mentioned, clothes lines at one time probably crossed part of Gladys' back yard.

Heating coils were in the ceiling at the time, and large soffits outside blocked both the sun and the rain so windows could be left open a bit when the humid summer storms came through. When we bought Gladys, she had a ceiling fan in the kitchen area. I doubt that it was original to the house, but I am sure that ceiling fans became very popular as soon as they hit the market. All of the houses in the neighborhood are designed, as are most in the South, with cross-ventilation in mind. When we open the front bedroom and kitchen windows along with the guest bedroom and Florida room windows, we have breezes that blow freely through the house. While keeping cool was not always possible in 1960, the houses did everything that they could to offer what comfort the owners could find. Gladys continues to give us the cool terrazzo floors and the beautiful breezes on wonderful 77 degree days like today. The old girl still functions well for her age.

I just wish that someone would purchase and restore the house behind us. Not only would that be good for property values, but also it would give that house a new lease on life. I fear if it sits vacant for too many more years, the mold and mildew will take over and make it uninhabitable. I hope it has a brighter future than that in the coming year.

We did what we could today to make Gladys even better. We were outside by 8:00 a.m with paint brushes in hand. Rick started at the top, cutting in the paint along the soffit line while I trimmed around the large window. Then I was on my knees in the dirt adding the first coat of paint to the below-grade section of the house. Good paint down there will help seal out the moisture, so I applied it thickly. Within an hour, we had the first coat of paint on the front of the house.

While that first coat dried, we treated ourselves to the Saturday morning Green Market downtown. Dunedin actually has a Friday market and a Saturday market, so we have no excuse not to get locally grown fruits and vegetables if we so desire. Today, we just got two delicious fresh bagels that formed the core of our lunch.

The front bedroom section of Gladys with two finish
coat of paint. Imagine how beautiful she will be with
green shutters and plants someday!

After lunch, we were back in paint clothes adding a second finish coat on the front bedroom section of the house. What a difference that makes to the appearance of the house! My friend Rose said that someday we would be able to put Gladys in a "prom dress" after we did all of the necessary structural and internal work. This bright yellow "dress" is certainly making her look more glamourous. No more chipped paint along the ground, and no more faded tan paint over everything. Storms are predicted for tomorrow night and Monday, so we hope tomorrow to tackle the south side soffits and to get that side completed before the rain arrives.

While Rick works on the soffits (because he still does not trust me on the ladders), I will see what I can do about moving some of the dirt around. We bought a big, bright blue wheelbarrow this evening, so that will make the moving-dirt task easier. Funny. The wheelbarrow makes me think of the 1960s again. I am sure that one resided in Gladys' garage at that time, too. Some things are just too functional to outgrow.

How far have we come? I'll add just a portion of our "before" and "after" pictures. We have much to do yet, but seeing each transition is a part of the fun of restoring Gladys to her former glory.