Happy New Year

We are hoping that 2008 finds the world a lot greener and bit better preserved.  
Here at Howard Hall, we continue to work toward this goal. I had to move out for
part of the winter with all the chaos that was happening in the house every day.
We insulated with Soy foam in December, which was very exciting. I know that
there is limited soy in this version of insulation but it has the green effect of doing
a very tight high R value job, and (that's not nothing/ that counts for something). 
I would never use fiberglass as it is a bad idea to introduce workers to it, doesn't
get very good R value, and if you research you will see that it causes endless
future problems that you would rather avoid. Our application was tricky in that
we wanted to do entire second floor ceiling without any demo of the original
plaster, and without man-handling the old attic floor. We were able to take out
some flooring and blow it in, and it did the job.

The view that day:


We also got the Co-generation unit up and running. That little boiler now 
just hums while heating this place, and it is so tiny. (Nora says it purrs). 
We have sold several of these units to our restoration clients as well.  
Everyone who comes here just wants a moment in the boiler room to see
the beautiful install job, and see and hear the thing working. 
On Top of that we also got Our Jutl stove in and working, so it's all  
about warmth here these days. I have moved back in and can actually
get warm without leaving a huge carbon footprint!  (If you would like
to see the Co-generation unit for yourself, call us:518.945.1253)
 
On other fronts, we just had a great class with Rory Brennan.
 
 

It was our best attended class so far, and filled with a lot of
knowledgable people.We are getting ready to do all lime wash finish
on walls of the first floor. For the first time we will be posting a 10
minute video of the class, so watch for that soon.
*(The video is now up in the video section of the blog)
Rory will be back for another lime wash class this spring.   
Lots of paint steaming and stripping happening now: 


Our Soffit story and fascia boards continue, as do the pointing and
whitewash stories.




We have a few cooking classes in March, which is our deadline for 
having beehive oven back up and running. The chimney for that side of  
the house is 4 feet from complete. So soon those fireplaces will also be 
up and running:  Beehive Oven (2),Parlor Fireplace:

 

NE Bedroom Fireplace:
 
 

Our Spring line-up is coming together and we have many exciting classes to
green your historic world and rock you preservation boat. Come join us and take
in the beauty of the Hudson Valley and it's fantastic Historic fabric, the local
foods on our lower loggia, and the good cheer of our crew and staff.   All of our other restoration and preservation projects are going full steam ahead.
We will post soon on some of these. Our crew and professional base continues
to grow with as we introduce other teachers in to the mix.
 

This season we owe thanks to many people. Bob Godwin for all his time and
Architecture expertise, not the mention his sharing
Annie Katz, his beautiful partner, with us. We all were so excited that after months
of cancer treatment she joined us last Saturday for a moment of cheer here.
Go Annie!!!!! We love you. Peter Mattei for housing our office when it was too cold here
to work here with no heat. Mike Veeter from Kool Temp for a fantastic co-gen boiler install job.
Tom Harkins for his plumbing our cast iron baseboards and his good humor. 
Gary Dodson for his ongoing electrical install, and his southern charm.
Eric Guyer at Climate Energy for creating this great boiler. 
Rory Brennan and Laurie Klenkel for such a great class on lime wash finishes.
Sarah Gonek for her never ending blog and class work, and being in such  
a state of grace always. Harry Klarr for his wonderful finish carpentry combined with his quiet 
seriousness. Patrick Pulver, Christoph Vilaghy, Ralph Mauro. Nicky Karas, and Andy 
Bolevic for their never ending work on the house.  Dan Laffin, for his kindness and for
being a hero to our distressed electronics. Dennis Heaphy for his tin expertise and oral stories, 
and last but not least Dan Grabinger for his excellent chimney  construction.
Love those fires Dan.

 *And thanks to Reggie and Nora for their inspiring compassion and
productivity in this busy season. -Sarah