We have had so much joy in seeing our home come to life! Additionally, we have lost about half our hair in making sure we kept the integrity of the original home, while suiting it to our style. Talk about having to think 5 steps ahead, adding on to existing OLD house can be a logistical goat-rope. But somehow we make it work.
We have been working diligently on repurposing the original clapboards and discovered that most of the clapboards are actually cypress planks. And what are cypress planks doing in north Alabama, you ask? Well, thanks to our good friend and avid historian, John Rankin and his brother (who is a wood officiando), they have come to the conclusion that the cypress was reclaimed lumber from one of the Lewis family steamboats. History shows that A.H. Lewis' father owed several steamboats which transported cotton up and down the river. Cypress does not rot like pine and poplar, so it was used in vessals that had consistent contact with water. When the steamboats were decommissioned, the wood was salvaged and repurposed. It's not a new ingenius concept that our generation has suddenly developed, it was simply a way of life back then. Go figure.
The brick masons, Rafael and his team, have done a great job of tying on to the 'ole girl and making her stand proud again. The front porch posts look gigantic, but then again, the whole thing is massive anyways.
Spring is coming... and so is tornado season. North Alabama suffered yet again at the hands of mother nature last weel several tornados touched down in the various counties. I figure that if the 'ole girl has been here 140+ years and weathered the storms, maybe she's got another 140. Although I am not taking any chances and will continue to work on the storm cellar.
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