And we are off--Painting!

Thanks to the steady hands of Chaz--we are getting right into the painting of Room 9.

Hooray!I am on my way down for some more cutting in and tricky trim painting. Looking fresh, clean, and lovely. Color is Chardonnay White by Glidden in a Satin finish-- a subtle but nice contrast to the pure white trim.

--Chris

Second Official Poll Results: Spa Treatments

Thanks to everyone who participated in your spa poll. Here are the results of the treatments you prefer when you visit a spa or other pampering place.

Swedish Massage (44%)
Facial (33%)
Foot Massage (27%)
Aromatherapy Massage (22%)
Stone Massage (22%)
Private Yoga Instruction (16%)

Snapdragon Inn will be the home of the Snapdragon Spa Studio where we will offer specialized treatments to make your stay that much more memorable. Stay tuned for more ultra official polls in the near future.

Color picking.

It is happening. Picking colors and the fine balance of low sheen to hide the imperfections of the 100+ year old walls versus the the cleanability of higher gloss paints.

Former Owners of 26 Main Street: Part 3-Elizabeth Hoar Evarts Perkins

Part one of this series of 26 Main Street focused the earliest occupants of the building. Part two of this post discussed William Maxwell Evarts, the second and one of the most famous owners of 26 Main Street. One challenge in researching former owners is the lack of information on the women who lived in and owned 26 Main Street. We want to mention as much as we can about the wife of William Maxwell Evarts since it leads directly to the next owner of 26 Main Street, Elizabeth Hoar Evarts Perkins.

Based on New York Times articles and biographies we know that after graduating from Yale, William Maxwell Evarts visited Windsor to teach and practice law and set up a small firm in town. He also met Helen Minerva Bingham Wardner during this period. Helen was a native of Windsor, Vermont, born on June 22, 1820. She was the eldest child of a banker Allen Wardner who most notably served as Vermont State Treasurer from 1837-1838. William Maxwell Evarts married Helen Minerva Wardner in Windsor Vermont on August 30th, 1843.

Maxwell and Helen had twelve children, all born in New York City. Helen was busy.

Charles Butler Evarts 1845–1891
Roger Sherman Evarts 1847–1849
Allen Wardner Evarts 1848–1920
William Evarts 1851–1878
Hattie Sherman Evarts 1852–1917
Mary Evarts 1854–1920
Helen Minerva Evarts 1856–1920
Elizabeth Hoar Evarts 1858–1920 (third owner of 26 Main St.)
Prescott Evarts 1859–1920
Sherman Evarts 1859–??
Louisa Wardner Evarts 1861–1920
Maxwell Evarts 1862–1913

The family split their time between the the high society circles of New York City and Windsor, Vermont. The New York Times reported on debutante balls and social gatherings involving many of the children as well as their time in Vermont. Below is a picture of Helen in Windsor--note 26 Main Street in the background.



Elizabeth Hoar Evarts was the eighth Evarts child and was born in New York City on January 4th, 1858. She was married to Edward Clifford Perkins in Windsor, Vermont on August 2, 1882.

Based on the will of her father we know Elizabeth inherited 26 Main Street upon his death in 1901. Partial will (as printed in the New York Times) shown below:



Elizabeth Hoar Evarts Perkins became the third owner of 26th Main Street and we believe she owned it until her death in 1920. What happens next leads to perhaps the most famous residents of 26 Main Street--another group of Evarts decendants who called the location home for more than 80 years.

N8

First Official Poll Results and New Spa Poll

A few weeks ago we asked your opinion about the most important features of an inn room. While many of you wrote in "all of it" here are the so so so official results:

The Bed: 77%
Bathroom & Bathroom Fixtures: 18%
Technology (wireless, HDTV...): 11%
A nice view: 3%

Thanks for the feedback! Another poll is starting today, so feel free to choose your answers or reply to this post with additional comments.

Valentines Work Day!

Big Red fine tuned the technique for the dining room

Another little snapdragon pitching in.

Hobo Brig really knows how to skim coat--see the finesse in that stroke?

This is the way we spent our Valentines Day! Team Wallpaper Removal made some serious progress in the dining room and Team 3rd Floor Wall Prep is another day's work closer to getting paint up. One of our little snapdragons was even able to multi-task as he watched a movie on his mom's iphone AND swept up. We train them very well around here. Just think, this time next year the Snapdragon will be booked for romantic get-a-ways. Sounds fun!

Filling in the gaps

For the past week I have been filling nailing holes, puttying dents, spackling this and that, and caulking the 3rd floor bedrooms getting them prepped for paint.

There is nothing like filling in the gaps to leave nice clean edges. It may seem insignificant but it is just another one of those steps in the happy renovating process. I happen to quite enjoy this part sans SANDING...which I detest and there are a lot of windows that need it. Any takers?

To help us note what each wall needs

This is our code for Skim Coat, Sand, Prime, and Paint

Before fillingAfter filling

No more gaps!

--Chris

Little Snapdragons

There is always tidy up to be done in a construction zone with all the remaining sawdust, etc. When I came down stairs from a morning of filling nail holes on the 3rd floor I found these 3 little snapdragons doing some serious tidy up. Notice the gloves and ear protection

--Chris

Amenities

Some N8 searching, brought him to these chic amenities called Damana we think would be perfect to carry in the Inn. Damana is a range of products developed in France and exclusively sold to specialty outlets. The line is enriched with herbal extracts and subtle perfumes with natural scents. These shots show the extracts used for each product that would be in the rooms.
They also have quite an extensive environmental policy that is admirable. None of the products are tested on animals, have whitening agents, the labels are printed with water based paints on recycled paper--to name a few.


Samples in hand, they are even more beautiful than on screen. We want every part of the experience (even using a Q-tip) to be a memorable one. We plan to have a webstore where everything we carry is also for sale. Just looking at this stuff makes me want to hop in the shower and floss and sew a bottun on my shirt.




--Chris

marble in bathroom

What's that, you ask? Why that's a bit of Danby Imperial marble.

What's it doing here, you ask?


Becoming the threshold to the shower in the bathroom, of course.

(please ignore the fact that the tile isn't fully grouted yet!)

--McKay

before & during II

Remember this bedroom? We now know it as Room 4. Well, it has walls again!



Now we just have to mud them, prime them, paint them, trim them, and decorate them... Nothing much :-)

--McKay