If you’ve ever driven by a could-be-beautiful-again home and wondered why no one has restored it, here’s one piece of the puzzle: insurance.

Our insurance company called this week to inquire about changes to the property’s value to renew the policy. Due to the state of the property (presently uninhabitable) we don’t qualify for normal homeowner’s insurance. Instead, we must carry commercial contractor’s insurance, which yes, costs more.

So I ran down the changes we made thus far:

• removed lean-to structure on western side of house
• removed all non-original partition stud-work
• removed all floorboards
• temporarily shored southern addition to main house frame
• removed all debris from dwelling
• temporarily weatherproofed home for winter season

Here’s where it gets tricky. What does this mean for the present value? Well, overall market drop across the country notwithstanding: zero. These changes have all cost us, but, we’re aware that in order for the project to work we have to shoulder a period, perhaps a lingering period, where we’ll have more money in the property than it is worth.

And being risk-takers, we’re okay with that. Here’s why.

When we purchased the property we had our financing in place to restore the home soup-to-nuts. But, we were hesitant to commit to that once we determined that we’d rather start a business than trade our move for a commute to larger markets like Charlottesville or Harrisonburg.

So, we decided to do it in smaller chunks, on our terms. The biggest risk will in fact concern one of the next steps: restoring the stone wall. This step is expensive and necessary, and, will firmly place us on the “wrong” side of the ledger for awhile. (By this I mean more money invested in than could be recouped in its present, uninhabitable condition.)

But back to the insurance, and the problem with it:

The insurance company - knowing there are limited companies who will insure homes in this condition - has stated it will now require us to pay insurance based on the home’s FUTURE, totally restored value. (Even if, at that point, we’d qualify for normal homeowners insurance.) Their rationale is that we should have “already fixed it up”. We’re guessing its really a matter of “we want to charge you more money.”

We’ve called bullshit on this, and, are seeing what if anything can be done about that. Which begs the question: can protecting your restoration project from fire and flood ultimately be the method by which its killed?

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WSJ’s Juggle Blog posted a story yesterday about the factors in choosing a neighborhood - a topic of interest to most urban escapees. It reports these findings:

Given a choice, most people don’t care as much about the local economy as they do about the social offerings, physical beauty and openness of a locale, says a recently released survey of about 14,000 people in 26 communities by Gallup and the Knight Foundation. [emphasis added]

Interesting. Our move accomplished this for us, but the obvious must be stated: no matter where you might move, you need to make a decision to participate (in social offerings), appreciate beauty where its found (or actively create it yourself), and seek the company of those open to ideas. No place is perfect, and, to assume you’ve found utopia is sure to disappoint.

I think too many people think a move will magically solve problems unrelated to location. The bigger shift should be in outlook first.

Side note: the Juggle blog post perpetuates this idea that small towns/rural outposts have slower internet service. Our internet connectivity is noticeably improved over our Manhattan apartment.

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It’s a camera-phone photo of a glass “Lithum Water” bottle, and a hand-thrown German wine bottle with nifty German-language stamp on it. I’ve seen the Lithum water bottles in antique shops. It was a delight to get these because I’m sure others in Eric’s position might be tempted to throw these away or sell them…

We’re discussing and scheduling next steps. We’ve had a structural engineer come before and it looks like we need another one to proceed. I’m excited.

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—

First: what I get out of it. Well, I live nearby. I’m invested in two home renovations, a business, and an urban farm here. That’s because I believe in this up-and-coming neighborhood and the city in general.

Here’s why I think, at $72K, this house is a bargain:

Hello?! It’s only $72K!! Even if you put $100,000 into restoration you’re still below the average home price of many markets. It’s within walking distance of a college, private school, and downtown shopping.

More details here.

Granddaddy was many things and this short post couldn’t begin to do justice. I’ve struggled to put it into words internally. Forget about how to mark his passing here on my blog (as insignificant as it is)!

There is one accomplishment of Granddaddy’s that I’ve always admired. He kept a journal from age 16 until his death. During 2002 he kept this journal online as a blog. When he became ill he switched back to pen, paper, or typewriter. It was his daily commitment to create, think, and craft that I admire.

He was a very funny man, an extremely well-read historian, and a cornerstone to my personal and professional development. He lived a rich life, so, I’m happy for that. Like my great aunt, he was a well-loved member of our family.

Since the local paper doesn’t store obituaries very long I’m copying the entire thing below.

—

Andrew L. McCaskey Sr.

WEYERS CAVE — Andrew L. McCaskey Sr., 93, of 83 Brendan Lane, Weyers Cave, died Tuesday, July 28, 2009, at his home. He was born Feb. 25, 1916, in Norfolk, to Alpheus Eli and Margaret Leoffert McCaskey.

He was predeceased by his first wife, Irma Driver McCaskey, and his brother, Alpheus E. McCaskey Jr.

He is survived by his wife, Vivian Arndt McCaskey; his two sons, Andrew L. McCaskey of Elkhart, Ind., and his wife, Teresa Houff McCaskey, and David I. McCaskey of Staunton and his wife, Janet A. Doerr; his stepdaughters, Evelyn Shirkey of Mount Crawford and her husband, Michael, Barbara Howe of Weyers Cave, Elizabeth Crawford of Hampton and her husband, Alan, and Mary Wingfield of Montpelier and her husband, John; 13 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; his brother, Robert C. McCaskey of Greensboro, N.C.; and his sisters, Dorothy M. Parks of Florence, S.C., and Margaret M. Merritt of Signal Mountain, Tenn.

Mr. McCaskey, an Air Corps veteran of World War II and an avid musician, was an advertising and copy writer and announcer at WSVA Radio in Harrisonburg for most of his life. He also was employed at Dunham-Bush Inc. in Harrisonburg as a technical writer. Mr. McCaskey produced a daily newspaper column from the age of 19; he was published in “The National Observer” and “The Shenandoah Herald.” Between 2002 and 2007, he posted 1,589 columns on his blog site at http://ttopicanize.blogspot.com. A member and elder of Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church, he also was a longtime member of Weyers Cave Ruritan Club and an amateur radio operator.

Visitation will be from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday evening, July 30, at the Lindsey Weyers Cave Funeral Home at 982 Keezletown Road in Weyers Cave.

The funeral service, conducted by the Rev. Beth McCrary, will be at 10 a.m. Friday, July 31, at Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church at 28 Old Stone Church Lane in Fort Defiance.

In lieu of flowers, it is suggested that donations be made to Hospice of the Shenandoah, P.O. Box 215, Fishersville, VA 22939 or to the Matching Gift Fund of Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 118, Fort Defiance, VA 24437.

Online condolences may be sent to the McCaskey family at www.lindseyfuneralhomes.com

.

New communications technology, coupled with increasingly congested and expensive business climates in large metro areas, has driven many large employers to base operations in far-flung areas that no one would have considered viable merely 20 years ago.

At the same time, rural America is experiencing a population boom as people from all walks of life move to the country or small towns for a simpler life and affordable homes. And there is a pent-up demand for modern homes among longtime rural residents… read more.

Meanwhile…we’re planning next steps. The house is decidedly strange with all the floors removed. It really cuts down on our use as overflow storage from the cottage.

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First, the 1/2: Work begins again at Jefferson tomorrow morning. Our contractor will be removing all of the flooring. This is in preparation for the structural repairs associated with the addition. Unfortunately we were unable to find someone interested in the discarded floorboards and we have no place to store them. So, off to the dump despite my fascination with “Tiny Texas Houses”.

Announcement #1: WE GOT MARRIED! We eloped; it was awesome. (All the commitment, none of the cost!) We took our vows at the City Courthouse, under a kitschy laminated John Wayne clock. Then, we celebrated with a lovely dinner at Staunton Grocery. Eventually, we’ll have a party at the house.

Announcement #2: WE’RE URBAN FARMERS NOW! We started planning last year, and this weekend Lush Farms brought its very first harvest to market at George Bowers. Here’s a link on that. This is a soft-launch; we’ll officially debut the sign and produce Memorial Day weekend. (Now, 18 months ago, if you’d told me I’d have moved to Virginia and started a farm, well, I’d have thought you were on crack. But we’re having tremendous fun!)

Announcement #3: POLITICAL CAREERS? Yes, yes… just joking. We were flattered to become part of the steering committee of the non-partisan, green initiative Staunton Green 2020. (Political twist: the SG2020 founder, Erik Curren, is running for Delegate). SG2020’s mission is to convince the city of Staunton to establish a Green Task Force. If you are local, please sign the petition.

Announcement #4: MICRO-LENDING! We are really grateful to the Staunton Creative Community Fund for loaning us money to start the grocery store. Now, they’re expanding. They asked us to sit on a city board to develop and distribute micro-loans to low and moderate income borrowers (meeting the same requirements for creativity, sustainability, economic viability, etc.). We’re excited to play an active role in this yet-unnamed program for economic development. We feel our involvement will be a great way to give back as well as gain some new skills.

So, this blog will continue to be about our house project… but likely, with some smattering of other projects mentioned as well.

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And yes: I know I’m lucky. I could live in the suburbs. <shudder!>

Here’s a fascinating article you should read if you are interested in the shift away from the 50+ year phenom of building car-centric “suburban” homes.

“Gen Xers and Millennials want a lifestyle closer to Friends and Seinfeld (that is, walkable and urban) than to Tony Soprano (low density and suburban). It’s not that nobody wants Tony Soprano. About 50 percent of Americans actually do want that configuration. But if we’ve built 80 percent of our housing that way, that’s the definition of oversupply. The other 50 percent of Americans want walkable urban arrangements and yet that’s just 20 percent of the housing stock. That’s called pent-up demand. So the market is just responding.” [emphasis mine]

I agree and predict places like Staunton that managed to avoid overbuilding/”modernization” will increasingly be the big winners. For all the economic and environmental considerations Americans simply have to re-think and then re-create our living arrangements.

All the more reason to reconsider older neighborhoods and homes — they were built with human scale considerations. (Walkability and “human scale” fits naturally with both of our interests in the green movement. We are becoming more involved with Staunton Green 2020, the citizen group which is working to make Staunton greener.)

Restoration Update

The city sent us an official notice regarding our stone wall. We have six months to fix it. They understand that our project cannot, and should not, be a quick repair. That kind of quickie work is what’s been so damaging already.

Instead, we’re going to first fix structural issues associated with the 1913 addition to the left of the house (see photo at bottom). If this addition falls on top of our neighbor’s home she’ll have a far greater problem than the condition of the stone wall.

We are awaiting quotes from our contractor and his scheduling availability.

Another big consideration is the foundation under the addition. At the time it was common that posts were only sunk into the ground a few inches (!). Correcting it will be both time consuming and nearly invisible to the casual observer. This is another example of This Will Take Time So Just Calm Down With Respect to Seeing “Progress”!

Meanwhile, I’ve planted a butterfly garden at the cottage (photos when it looks less ghetto) and await announcing our big news.

He uncovered this on Saturday.

Ah, the lucky horseshoe. It seems appropriate. There are increasingly good things happening…and more to announce soon enough.

Meanwhile… we await our carpenter’s estimate to start on the floors.

Last night was a real treat! We were invited to a Mary Baldwin College “Global Food Politics” class and meal featuring Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. Here’s a photo of Brian scrambling eggs with Joel.

For anyone unaware: Salatin is as close to “rock star” as any modern farmer could be…He was featured in the New York Times best seller Omnivore’s Dilemma and author of numerous books including the perfectly titled Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal. He discussed in energetic terms his farm’s alternative methodology.

As a long-time vegetarian I’m concerned about animal cruelty in modern food production. For years I thought the best solution was more vegetarians or vegans. Unfortunately, the reality is that most people will continue to eat meat. So, it only makes sense to me that farms should reject the factory model for one modeled on a smaller scale eco-system. The health of the environment and animal treatment in this model racially changes… (An option many vegans, including my sister and brother-in-law, do not find agreeable. Food politics!)

Anyway: the small, intimate setting was very inspiring! We were really happy about the invitation.

Now, the Heart of the Matter

Two things have cropped up regarding progress at Jefferson.

First, our neighbor to the south called to say that she is filing a complaint with the city. She’s pissed about the crumbling stone wall. In fairness: the wall IS a disaster and she’s trying to sell her house. But, hello! This house has been abandoned for 25+ years. We’re working, but we’re not miracle workers! That repair will cost in the mid-five figures. We’ll get to it, alright?!

Secondly, we’d hoped to salvage the heart pine floors. However, once the debris was cleared and inventory taken it was a different story. There are enough needed repairs that the floor would cost more time and money to salvage than replace. So we’re faced with two options:

1. Easy. Go in, rip out, and throw out.

2. Hard. Go in, dismantle, salvage and sell what’s possible. This costs significantly more - even factoring in the potential resale value. Why? Labor costs. But this the greener option and what I’d prefer to do.

So, we’re brainstorming possibilities. Perhaps we can locate someone willing to extract the floors for free in exchange for whatever market value the boards will bring? The boards are painted so I’m guessing that affects potential value.

If you’re interested or know someone who might be… I’ve got 3,500 sq feet, about half of which might ultimately be of value.