Waypoint House

Address: 211 S Church St. Berryville, Va    Reservation Line: 540-955-8218

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Progress Continues!

We have been moving along at warp speed!  In the last 3 days we have had a lot of work done!  The old oil tanks have been replaced in the basement, the old boiler is out and the new one is currently being installed, the masonry work on the foundation is complete, painting has begun in the Shore Room, the porch repair has started, and the electrician has been working on the new ceiling fan installation and the new lighting in the laundry room.  Whew!  And we keep going…

Everything is progressing nicely though, and for now (knock on wood), we still seem to be mostly on schedule.  By early next week I should be able to share the photos of the updated Shore Room with you.  I am very excited for that!  For now, here’s another group of photos of all the fun going on around here:

 


The Work Begins

We’ve had a very busy first day and a half here.  We jumped right into the renovations by attacking the Shore Room.  We’ve been wanted to give this room a little TLC for a while now, and boy is she getting the treatment.

Jonathan started by removing the moldings from the window, as they could hold no more paint and needed to be stripped down.  The window sills were also pretty caked with paint layers, so we stripped them back to the original wood.  It’s amazing to see the history of the house in paint layers!  I’ve been busy removing wall paper.  The accent wall – where the bed is – had wall paper.  That all came down and the wall got a thorough cleaning.

Jonathan has also been busy repairing plaster cracks – mostly in the corners of the room.  The top molding came down and will be replaced, as some of it had shifted over the years and was not lining up properly.  The toe kick, also caked with paint layers and pulling away from the wall in places, was removed and new toe kick will take its place.  Additionally, there were some less-than-sturdy shelves in the closet, and those have come out and we will be installing a new closet system.

Coming up, we will also be installing a new ceiling fan and relocating it to the center of the room.  It’s off-center now, and that has always driven Jonathan crazy!  The electrician comes in later this to assist with that.

Pretty soon we’ll be able to start with the painting!  We’ve got some nice colors picked out and I can’t wait to get going with that!  We also hope to do a custom headboard, so that will be a fun project to share with you all.

Here are some photos for you all to see of the progress/mess we have made so far!  I am looking forward to when we can reconstruct the room and I can share the before and after photos!

There are lots more projects on the horizon, so there will be more updates soon!

 


How Time Flies

Oh my.  Where has the time gone?  It’s been a busy and wonderful year here and we are getting ready for many exciting things as we wind down this year and prepare for the new one.

We are about to enter a phase that we have taken to calling “The House’s Six Weeks at The Spa.”  You see, in 2014 we will enter the house’s 130th birthday year, and to keep the lady looking good and operating smoothly we are going to take on some renovation and update projects.  Some will be fun and glamorous (yes, there is a custom built headboard for one of the bedrooms in the future) and others will just be necessary (new boiler, anyone?).  But we are looking forward to all of them even though we have an aggressive schedule and I am sure it will be an intense few weeks.  I can’t wait to see how it all comes to fruition.  And, call me weird, but I think the house is looking forward to it too.  In the last year and a half here, I really think the house has come to accept us and sees us as her caretakers and not just her inhabitants.  It is a responsibility we do not take lightly.  Yes, I refer to the house as “her” like she has a personality.  Well, I think she does.  She’s a happy house and we want to keep it that way, and so, the construction work begins.  Hopefully, one day, long down the road, her next inhabitants will feel the same way we do.  And even if they don’t agree with our design sensibilities, they can make their own changes but see the work we put in was done with care and integrity.

So, officially, the work begins on the 18th, but Jonathan couldn’t resist getting a little bit of a head start this past weekend.  He dug a trench for and installed  tubing to re-route some guttering on the front of the house.  One of the projects we will be taking on includes some porch repairs and a new front porch roof.  The porch and porch roof woes, we feel, can be directly attributed to the fact that most of the guttering from the front of the house leads directly onto the teeny front porch roof.  During a rain storm that front gutter is just overwhelmed and it’s a bit like Niagara Falls at the front of the house.  Our aim is to get all the water further away from the house and not lead it all directly to the front porch roof.  That way, our repairs will last.  And hopefully we will breathe easier during the Spring rains!

So, I’m categorizing the porch repair as both glamorous and necessary – a new, shiny metal roof will be glamorous and making sure the porch is safe and secure is necessary.

I’m hoping to post lots of updates as we go along!  It’s going to be a crazy ride!

Beginning the six weeks of updates and renovations - Jonathan installs tubing to re-route guttering.

Beginning the six weeks of updates and renovations – Jonathan installs tubing to re-route guttering.


Kicking Off the Holiday Season

The first weekend of December was a busy one here in Berryville!  For starters, the parking meters in town take a Holiday break and businesses and individuals are encouraged to sign up for and participate in the Holiday Parking Meter Decoration Contest.  We, of course, decided to try our hand at this.  Our theme may not have been traditional, but it fit with our sense of humor:

Parking Meter Decorating Contest in Berryville, VA.  "Christmas Story" leg lamp, as submitted by Waypoint House B+B!

Parking Meter Decorating Contest in Berryville, VA. “Christmas Story” leg lamp, as submitted by Waypoint House B+B!

The winners will be announced on December 14, and we’re hoping we win a major award!  Sorry, I HAD to say that!

On Friday night, Berryville lit the town Christmas Tree, and the next day was the Berryville annual Christmas Parade!

Berryville Christmas Tree

Berryville Christmas Parade 2012

We’ve been doing some decorating here at Waypoint House as well in preparation for the Holidays.  Our window candles glow every night of the year, but now the front porch has been made even more festive with the addition of garland and lights.  We’ve also brought in the Christmas Tree and the Front Parlor looks spectacular!

Waypoint House Christmas Tree, 2012

Waypoint House Christmas Tree, 2012

That’s all for now, but I’m sure we’ll be posting more in the coming weeks!

-Rachael


Apologies for the Long Absence…

So, as you all can see, it has been a very long time since I updated the blog on the website.  I have posted frequently on our Facebook page, but I realized that not everyone (believe it or not) has a Facebook account, so why not take the couple extra minutes and post our happenings on the web page too?  So, here we are.

The days have flown by quickly, and we have been busy which is great!  October was particularly wonderful and we met lots of terrific guests.  We have survived Superstorm Sandy, and are very grateful for that, and now the weather has taken a turn, and it is sure starting to feel like winter here! But, we are staying super toasty warm and are featuring roaring fires in the front parlor fireplace on Friday and Saturday nights for guests.  You just want to take off your shoes, pick out a favorite beverage and sit a while.  We also have a library of board games to choose from, so it’s a great time to relax and play a game!

Front Parlor Fireplace, Waypoint House B+B

Front Parlor Fireplace, Waypoint House B+B

Come visit us soon!

-Rachael