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.

New Flora

The main dome at Ott's Nursery.

Dried flowers have usually been the decorative accent in 13F (our unit). This spring we have gone the "live" route starting with a trip to Ott's Nursery in Collegeville, Pa. THis is one of the finest nurseries ever seen. They have a huge greenhouse and offer old vintage pull wagons in lieu of carts.

Choices? Uh, just a few.

Your shopping cart at Ott's Nursery.

While 13F doesn't offer much direct sun, there is ample light with windows on the east, west and northsides of the building. We went with plants that require only moderate to low light such as violets, begonias, lilys and ferns.

African violet repotted in a clay vessel with a pair of ferns for the master bedroom.

A pink begonia.

This exotic palm placed in a Chinese fish bowl provides a nice hiding place for Rusty.

Rusty's friend, C.K. Dexter Fox, lounging on the sofa.

A purple Calla lily waiting to be repotted.

Kitchen Backsplash

The next to last kitchen project involved the removal of the formica laminate, cleaning the surface, appling a primecoat of paint then putting on the subway tile backsplash.



The original formica faux granite laminate. Yuck.



Removal of the laminate and prep for painting.

The wall is primed and now laying down mortar and tiles.




Finished project after adding grout.

 

Dinner Out

Bundled up and headed to a restaurant a couple blocks away, but not excited about walking in the wind and cold.



At the restaurant, Twenty Manning, there were a series of photos of dogs including this Summer-like yellow lab.



Talking to Sister Regina

Laying Pipe

Saturday morning was interupted, at 7:30 am precisely, by the melodic chimes of the gentle jackhammer in action by the corner of our building. Busy Walnut Street was closed to traffic all day while the street was cut open and some pipe was replaced. It was very unusual to have closed a major street like this at a busy intersection.


Cutting across Walnut Street at 19th St..




The pipeline cutout continued down 19th St. to the entrance of our building.



Here you can see the work stopping at the awning to the entrance of our building creating a bit of a detour.



Friday Night Lights




Rittenhouse Square at night taken from the master bedroom window.

 

Kitchen Renovations: Granite Countertops

As we have new kitchen appliances, it was time to replace the faux granite laminate counter tops with the real thing. We selected a unique slab harvested from a Brazilian quarry called Magic White. It has a distinctive blend of white, rock salt gray and random swirls of black with an added touch of oyster shell sparkle. It was a color that worked well with the white cabinets, the black and white block floor and the stainless steel appliances.

The old laminate with the stripdown of the backsplash already in progress.

Technician using a computer to create a template for the granite.

The just laid Magic White.



A close up section.