The Facade

Here we have some photos from the front of my home, Rittenhouse Plaza. The building was built in the 1920's in the European Art Deco style.

The front door on Walnut Street.

The front courtyard.

A compass within the front courtyard.

A section of arch from the front gate and decorative concrete trim.

The front gate. It has decorative wrought iron fence and gate that closes at night.

Looking up from the front courtyard. The Plaza is designed in a "H" shape with three units on each floor of each wing.

Air King Cleared for Landing

The Air King is a kitchen exhaust fan. The previous owner had it haphazardly installed, probably sometime in the 1950's. The original transom was hacked about, the fan not properly centered for aesthetics and the wiring from the wall switch to the fan unit was poorly done.

This photo shows the partially cleaned Air King in its original framing which was Masonite board. Notice the wiring on lower left snaked around the frame.

The fan blades before its spotless cleaning.

The motor on the Air King is exceptionally well-made and more powerful than most current available equipment that we didn't want to get rid of it. The fan was removed and completely cleaned of decades of grease. The wires to the fan and damper motors were decomposing and cracked leaving gaps in coverage. They were totally replaced. The interior fan cover were stripped of all paint, polished and repainted to look brand new.

The properly centered Air King in its new custom transom.

Finally, it was installed in a new custom-made transom with two glass panes on either side. Welcome home, Air King!

The Air King motor was made in Detroit at a time when fins on cars were popular.

The Air King centered between the Master Ray.

New Art Glass for the Kitchen

The original glass in the kitchen back door, door side window and utility room were in bad shape. Cracked in some places and required blinds and/or curtains for privacy which cut down on ambient light. The plan was to get a standard etched glass, the type with the chicken wire in it, but then we realized that for just $20 a square foot compared to $16 for standard glass, we could get a really nice glass with character. Part of the prep was to strip the paint off the door and correct the many gouges in the wood as well as remove the wood trim to convert from four panes to one large one. We also chipped away the old hardened glazing to reduce labor costs.

The old glass  and Air King as seen from outside on the landing to the trash chute.

We chose a glass style called Master Ray. It is etched with a fine grain and has vertical bars to compliment the Art Deco building and provide more light inside. The glass was tempered for longevity and strength.  

Joey putting the Master Ray pane in place. They were handling the glass like it was nitroglycerin. Very carefully.

A close up of the Master Ray texture. Click image for an extra close look.

The textured side is on the inside and the outside is smooth.