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Monthly Archives: December 2018

Windows at Parkwood

Wow, just wow about that giant window.

It’s moving day, but we’ll report on that tomorrow. Today we’ll share some great Parkwood progress.

First, look at those windows! That horrible back window is gone, and the rotting wood is replaced. It’s now very obvious that the back door needs to be replaced. Happily, the new front and back doors have been purchased and will go in this week.

This is gonna be so pretty once it is painted.

The exterior is being prepped for painting. It’s good to see how nice that front trim looks now that it’s beeen all fixed. The house is going to have plenty of positive curb appeal to make up for its former negative impression.

Interior lighting is all in, too. The bathrooms look so great that Carol said she’d be willing to live there hereself. That’s saying a lot, considering how you could barely stand to be inside it a couple of months ago!

They are filling in the new cabinet area. Custom!

The kitchen is being finished up, with still just a few trim out things going on. The light fixtures are bought, but not installed yet. We don’t want to break them (which is what happened to one of mine at the Bobcat Lair).

Enjoy these photos! I had to write fast today, but I’ll have more time tomorrow.

The bathrooms all look this nice.

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Another Moving Day Approaches

Our precious object with her precious coffee.

I swear it feels like we just moved into the office on Travis Avenue, but in reality it’s almost been two years. The house really wanted to be a home again (it said so, sort of). The Hermit Haus building is much more of an “office” kind of place and is on a quieter street (even though it’s MAIN Street) closer to downtown, which we want to work to improve.

I’m Vlassic. I helped by staying at home.

So, tomorrow our good friends Martha and Mike will make the Big Move to Cameron, where they will escape the traffic of Austin and start a new enterprise at some point. Before they show up, our movers will come and get all our office furnishings and dump them at the new office. Wait, I mean that they will gently deposit the furnishings in the new area.

We had hoped to have the place much cleaner before the furniture arrived, but circumstances prevented vacuuming and kitchen cleaning. Nonetheless, we did move our precious valuables ourselves on Saturday (I said on Facebook that Mandi was our most delicate object, ha ha).

a black dachshund

Consider my Dignified Doxie pose a replacement for photos of moving progress.

We each chose a temporary office. Mand got the baby room; Lee got the big conference room, and I got the other clean office that has no lighting as of yet (a problem in a room with no windows). Lee promises to fix that. It will be fine until the office remodel happens.

Other important moving things have also happened. Too bad I didn’t get any pictures because it rained so much. In any case:

  • We got the mail officially turned on, and it will go in our new mailbox.
  • David got the “Sue Ann Buys Houses” sign out of the ground and moved over to the Hermit Haus. Heavy rains made it pop right out, concrete and all.
  • The three crosses in front of the building are down, and we think there’s someone who wants them, too.

All these things make the place look much less church-like, though there’s still a steeple.

Mandi is working from the new office today, and we look forward to things like doorbells and signs that will make it easier to find us. I’d say to call first if you plan to visit!

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Just a Couple of Parkwood Pics

Shiny granite and a big, open kitchen will make buyers happy.

It’s been raining hard for a couple of days here, so there’s not much to write about. Luckily, the work on the Parkwood house is predominantly indoors, so it’s going on ahead. Carol says the next things to do are get the laundry room in shape and put in the skylights and windows. Those are for when it’s dry.

The granite is in, though, and that kitchen sure resembles a kitchen now. There are a few wooden shelves still to put in to make the cabinetry look custom. Then they’ll reveal the floors, bring in the appliances and install light fixtures.

The view the other way. The nice new floors are covered.

If you’re in central Texas, be safe until the water goes down a bit. And if you’re one of those people dealing with REAL weather, forgive our whining.

We’ll have more for you next week!

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Building a Dream Team

So much cleaner! We’ll put more tables back out, now that we are waiting a bit to start the renovation.

Over here at the Cameron office, the Hermits’ Rest Enterprises team is expanding as our dreams expand.

The Hermit Haus Team

You may have noticed that we have the husband and wife team of David and Kim doing our renovation work now. Various members of Mandi’s family have been helping, too. Thanks to Randy, the basement is now clean enough to move our offices into temporarily, while we wait for the remodeling plans to get done. I’m now thinking of drawing pictures on the walls or something fun.

One set of stairs and a wall are gone in the baptismal area.

The demolition crew has moved upstairs now, and they are working on removing the baptismal. We will soon have a nice, new rectangular room to use for future restrooms and such. It will be much easier to envision uses for the space with the big tub out of the way.

Speaking of big things out of the way, the huge dumpster is gone, replaced by a much smaller one that will be great for our business as it grows.

The Gillis House Team

While our current plan is to remodel the Gillis house as a residence, in the long run, we may find the need to use it in other ways, like to host people who are in town for our events. We also were looking for new ideas for the event venue at the Hermit Haus. Bearing that in mind, we brought in a consultant with lots of knowledge of both events and hospitality, local real estate guy Jonathan Deal. Jonathan has a genuine degree in hospitality management and experience running hotels. Plus, as the Director of Theater Productions at  Milam Community Theater and a long-time performer, he is full of much-needed creative ideas for events that would draw people to our little town.

Mandi has done theater work with Jonathan since he was a kid. Aww.

We had a great meeting with Jonathan at the Dutchtowne Deli (also getting ready for renovations) and showed him the house, which of course, got him excited. That’s because the house excites everyone who sees it! So, though he’s a busy person, he agreed to provide us with advice and input as we move forward with this project.

Getting Ready to Go

Today we’ll be spending time getting our stuff ready to move over to the Hermit Haus. We’ve loved our time in our current office, but we know the new tenants, Martha and Mike, will love living here and fixing the place up to be a home again. Our movers come next week, and then their movers will arrive. Look forward to some fun posts about all that moving.

If you come visit, we’ll be at the back door.

It’s getting real. We even filled out change of address forms! We’re heading to the basement. Whee. Just don’t call it a dungeon.

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Parkwood Progress for the Week

Cabinets are looking good! The kitchen no longer is scary at all.

Been wondering what’s going on with the Parkwood project in Round Rock? Well, it’s moving right along at a really brisk pace.

The most exciting thing, to me, is that the cabinets have been repainted. They look brand new and so modern with white uppers and gray lower cabinets. Carol says that granite is a mix of gray and white, and that it will be in soon. Once they are all positioned, kitchen flooring can go in, too.

Ah, new windows that will be a lot more energy efficient!

Meanwhile, we’re happy to see that the new windows are here. They will get installed as soon as today’s big rain event is over. Also the skylights can be put in, which will lead to much brightness and happiness in a formerly very sad space.

And hey, did you notice the garage looks particularly good? Ray’s team got rid of the popcorn ceiling in there and made it nice and textured. Yes!

The outside continues to blossom as well. All the sad plants by the entryway are gone, and they’ve been replaced by beautiful landscape rocks, which will be so much more welcoming. And a lot of work was done to the siding this week. It wasn’t exactly put on straight, even though it’s really good siding. New trim is up as well. This house will look so good once painted!

We’re very proud of how well this project is coming along, even with its ups and downs. Don’t all projects have ups and downs?

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