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Category Archives: Purchases

Exploring the Gillis House

Lee and Ken discuss possibilities on the front porch.

While we had Ken Smith around, we took him to see the house we have under contract behind the church. His eyes lit up the minute he saw it, and it was fun to watch him as he took in the exterior. You could see his mind was taking in all the issues along with all the beautiful features that this home has.

Then we went IN! One thing you quickly learn about architects/builders is that they stomp a lot. He checked every inch of the floor for weak areas and damage. And he looked up and noted every bit of evidence of leakage (of which there is some, from before the new roof).

The back stairs lead to the original second-floor entrance. What to do?

He duly noted all the newer windows, but also pointed out that they aren’t quite historically appropriate, as are the fine new exterior doors, which are pretty, but not turn-of-the-century. Since our current plan is to make it into a living space again, we would want it to look

appropriate to its age.

Naturally the stairway appalled him. But it did not phase him one bit. By the time we finished looking at all the spaces, he was confident that a new, nice stairway could be put in at the rear of the house that would be safe and up to code. That would free up the wide entry hall to be a lovely focal point. He also suggested that the old “study” be turned into the kitchen.

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Measuring the Old Church

Ken and Ana discuss how the measuring process was going to proceed.

So much happened yesterday that I never got a chance to write it down. So, let’s play catch-up!

Pondering the exterior on the steps I just swept free of concrete pieces left over from when they removed the piano.

Yesterday the architect team came up bright and earlier (would have been earlier if it hadn’t been for a coffee spillage disaster) to get exact measurements of the Hermit Haus. Ken brought his colleague, Ana, who got a crash course in just how detailed measuring for a project can be.

First, they drew an outline of all the rooms in the property, then they very carefully measured every wall, interior and exterior, so their plan can be accurate. One little challenge they had was that, since the interior windows of the basement are all bricked in, they had to measure those outside. I really enjoyed listening in as they talked about what they were finding and the implications of various aspects of the building.

Ana asked a lot of good questions about what we were going to do about the exterior. She seemed relieved to hear that Ken planned to do some sprucing up! The good news is that they both seemed pretty excited about the possibilities, even with all the quirks of the building.

We Made Some Improvements, Too

While the architects were busy, I cleaned the women’s restroom (which came out pretty good), and swept all around the outside, so the place would look “lived in.”

Lee proudly displays the trash can full of letters he removed from the brick sign wall.

While all that was going on, the mailman (Chris) dropped by to say hi and let us know we have two letters waiting for our mailbox to get installed. We showed him where we are going to put our mail slot or box, and he thinks it’s a good place. He was happy to know we also bought the house behind the church building and will be fixing it up. One thing about small towns is that for the most part, people are really friendly and genuinely seem happy to see the improvements we are hoping to make.

Meanwhile, Lee got busy and removed the church signs, because we sure wouldn’t want any visitor to try to attend services and find no one there on a Sunday morning. The letters came off quite easily, and we have saved them, though I don’t know what for. Now we need to put something up in its place.

It’s a white dove and some pine cones, with a bow. Best we could do locally!

Later in the afternoon, Mandi and I went to Ye Olde Dollar Store and bought some decorations for the front door. It just seemed to need a little holiday cheer. It’s not much, but it makes the place look loved, we hope.

David should be getting back to work on the church demolition today, and we also hired someone to help with getting the rest of the debris in the dumpster while David concentrates on demo. This allows Kim to relax, which is a good thing.

Tomorrow we have more to report on the house behind the church, so stay tuned.

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It’s a Go! And So Is the Other One!

The scary asbestos near the air conditioning unit is just outside of this picture. It will go away!

Oh wow, it’s been an exciting time over here in the Cameron office. There’s so much news, it won’t fit in one post!

First Things

The asbestos report finally came in on The Hermit Haus. And yes, they found some. We had dreaded that.

But, hooray, it was only in one tiny spot! It’s in the grout around the window air conditioner in the big office. That will be easy to remediate, because we can leave it there and cover it up safely. So we are moving forward on the project…or will as soon as our team is available to work on it.

We do have a bid from our fabulous Hermits’ Rest Enterprises contracting team, which means we know what the first phase will cost us.

Now, what exactly will we DO? We will have a much better idea soon, because tomorrow the architectural team will be here bright and early to start measuring the building.

The house has many beautiful ceilings like this.

But, That’s Not All!

The architects will also be taking a look at the house directly behind the church, which we now have under contract. We’re getting it from a wonderful family who want to work closely with us as we move forward on the project. We’re all for it, because we feel like friends already.

This property is amazing, and is just begging to be brought back to its former glory. The architect, who loved how square the church is will be a bit ovrwhelmed by now NOT square the inside of this house is, even with its four huge rooms on each floor.

We have a couple of different ideas for business plans with this property, so we are having some folks look it over to provide feedback on the feasibility of different options. Any option will be FUN.

The house has been changed a lot over the years since it was built as a doctor’s office and residence, and its history has led to some challenges, but we’re just going to take our time and work on it, tackling the most important structural issues first. We may even use the downstairs for our offices until the Hermit Haus renovation is done. So many possibilities!

In the coming weeks, we will share some of the history of the Gillis House, run ideas past our devoted readers, and share even more new developments. In the meantime, here are just a couple of teaser photos of the “before” interior.

Curved ceiling and stained glass in a front window.

Beautiful fireplace in the formal front room.

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Parkwood: So Clean!

Wow. There’s a yard back there.

Ray’s been really busy over at the Parkwood property in Round Rock. Even though there’s obviously a lot of work to do, it’s at least a blank slate now, so we can actually SEE what needs to be done on the interior and exterior. I’ve shared a lot of the photos Carol took at the end of this post. I think the thing that most impresses me is actually the back yard. You can now see that it’s very large and has a bunch of nice trees! The lack of debris makes it show the huge potential for some future family.

This beautiful cabinet will be a glamorous upcycled addition to the kitchen.

Carol is working on making the kitchen really great, without spending a lot of money. Here’s what she said a couple of days ago about the cool cabinet she’s going to add:

“The kitchen cabinet in photos is one I’ve had in my storage. My friend Lori Tudor was nice enough to remember me when her company’s office was closing. And my friend Lucy Gonzalez, who has a Honda Pilot, allowed me to bring my new treasure home. Our contractor is picking it up today to incorporate it into the Parkwood rehab. If all works as planned, its addition would add about 28 square feet of Peninsular counter space to this kitchen (space left of the column, between the kitchen & living areas).”

She’s also thinking about re-using some of the cabinets that went away when a wall got taken down. That will add a lot.

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Holiday Week? Not for Us!

The first wine of the season. It was quite fresh and yummy.

While we admit that we’ve tried the Beaujolais Nouveau for this year, and declare it good (more important, the wine dude Russell declared it good), we are not slacking off while we wait for Thanksgiving to come. (It’s Sue Ann’s favorite US holiday, because it is entirely dedicated to being thankful for what you have and eating good food.)

We don’t usually talk a lot about properties we’re looking at, since we never know whether they will become part of our portfolio or not. But here are a few things we’ve been working on.

Lee evaluated some properties a colleague wanted to sell to him. He evaluated them very hard, I assure you. It was one of those deals that could perhaps be profitable, or could just drag us down. Because Lee is Lee, he helped the colleague see that it’s better to hold on to the properties than sell them. That’s one of the things I like about Lee. He is willing to talk out his decision making process, so that we can all understand how he comes to his conclusions. For this one, he looked a lot at debt coverage ratio. Maybe he’ll post on that soon!

It would be nice to preserve this house, if it works out. It’s the oldest brick house in the city. If we do not get this one, we’ll look for something similar.

Carol is working with Ray to get the windows and granite picked out for the Parkwood house. The popcorn ceilings are gone and there is NO junk on the property. We’ll have an update with photos soon.

Carol also got a lead on a very sad house in the greater Austin area, and when she looked at it she saw dollar signs. Before we can do anything, we have to find the owner, so a search is underway. These things take time, but sometimes it’s worth it.

And finally, Lee is talking to the owners of a house near our church property, which could easily become part of the greater Hermit Haus facility. The house is attractive, though the situation the owners have found themselves in is sad. The owners want the house brought back to its former glory, though, so we hope we’ll be able to help them.

 

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