Follow the renovation of this soon-to-be beautiful 1866 Italianate home in Sycamore, Illinois.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Big news but little progress
I'm happy to report the electric is done and the house has passed inspection, not without grief from the inspector about the maid's stairs however. Brad rebuilt the stairs because the old ones literally collapsed when our electricians (or was it the HVAC guys?) guys where working. However, the stairs are not to code...well of course not, they were originally built In the 1860's! Apparently, if Brad was going to rebuild the stairs, they needed to be to code...never mind the historic genuineness of the stairs. Mind you, we have a main staircase that is perfectly in line with code. I am sorry, but I just do not understand the city's lack of protection when it comes to historic homes. The homes near "uptown" are beautiful and built 150 years ago...most would say worth preserving. Yet, while we are trying to bring our 1860's home back from utter devastation as an apartment building, we are being given a hard time. I do n't understand it. I restored a four-square in Berwyn, and the cities restrictions were much more stringent on restoring homes. There, the inspectors make sure the work is historically appropriate. You may not turn a historic home in to an apartment, but it must stay a single family home. I only hope Sycamore, with the beautiful homes of Somonauk, will start protecting these homes and working with the homeowners (even giving financial grants) to those willing to restoring the historic homes of Sycamore. After restoring our own house, and very mush speaking for myself (I'm certain Brad will not agree), I would most certainly love to work with homeowners to restore their historic homes. It is my wish to see Sycamore restored to its 1860 grander.
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