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Post by jkor on Apr 23, 2020 5:29:31 GMT -6
Since Ken was asking about the patio, I'll post some progress on my yard projects. This was my "yard" in 2018, about 1/4 of it, anyway. The picture is looking towards the back of my property, it ends about where the large trees are, there are protected wetlands behind that. On the left is my neighbor's property, on the right is my barn, the house is in front of the barn. The area just below me had already been cleared and prepped for pavement. I'm standing at the top of a set of stairs which lead down to the basement level, where the pavement will be. I don't have any pics but when I moved in you couldn't even see the stairs it was so overgrown. I took, god knows how many, loads of brush out of this area.  This is now after clearing the remaining brush, regrading the yard, planting lawn, paving, adding BBall hoop and adding (partially) a new dry stone wall and patio. I still need to finish the patio, clear the fill that's still behind the BBall hoop, plant grass there and run a fence along the property line to the left. There's more dry stone walling work directly below where I'm standing, as well. It's still a significant amount of work but I should be able to get it done this year.  |
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Post by jkor on Apr 23, 2020 5:31:47 GMT -6
Lighting for night basketball, too.   |
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Post by jkor on Apr 23, 2020 5:49:26 GMT -6
This is looking towards the back of my property from the other side of the barn. I'm standing next to the house here. My other neighbor's (newly paved) driveway is on the right.  Looking towards the barn/house from the back of the property. This is during the main grading work, i had rented a skid steer to do much of it and finished it off with my tractor later on.  Here's an intermediate photo of the court area last year before I started the patio. I had just put a wood retaining wall as a place holder so I could get the grade right in that area. I yanked the wall out with my tractor and put the stone wall in its place.  |
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Post by jkor on Apr 23, 2020 5:52:26 GMT -6
This is looking towards the back of my property from the other side of the barn. I'm standing next to the house here. My other neighbor's (newly paved) driveway is on the right. I've since pulled up the brick walkway you see in the foreground. In the area where I'm standing will be another flagstone patio and outdoor cooking area. This area is right off the rear porch, the kitchen has an exterior door that exits to that porch. |
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Post by Ken on Apr 23, 2020 6:50:30 GMT -6
Wow, I hadn't seen all of that before. I know you posted pics of the patio area on the blueboard but the rest of those are new to me. Looks like you could live to be a thousand years old and have plenty to do. Plus... you say your house was built around 1895? I can't imagine some of the things you might see. Nice work so far.
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Post by jkor on Apr 23, 2020 8:12:13 GMT -6
I think I had posted most or all of these pics on the blueboard in different threads. It's hard to keep up with everything there, though. I figured I'd put them all in one place. I admit, one of the appeals of this house was that there were essentially unlimited projects and potential. I'm such a sucker for projects. I will definitely never run out of stuff to do. When I moved in my mental goal was to get the house exactly how I wanted it within 20 years. That's not a joke. The house was built in 1898. The barn was put in with the previous house around 1800. Oddly, the "previous" house that was on this property still exists. They moved it across the street. Weird, right? The story goes that my house was built as the "retirement home" of Samuel Virgin, a prominent pastor in the town. The property was owned by his FIL, the FIL gave him the property and they moved the FIL's house across the street then built the Samuel Virgin/Isadora Blodgett house. |
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Post by Ken on Apr 23, 2020 8:35:02 GMT -6
Sheesh. Does your house and property have some sort of landmark status?  Thou shalt not erect a round-ball playing court of any kind and thou shalt not participate in any dunk-a-thons whilst on thy premises.  |
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Post by jkor on Apr 23, 2020 8:42:44 GMT -6
The town deems any house over 75 years old with some type of historical status although you only run into problems when it gets on the state registry of historical homes. Considering the amount of history in the state of MA the chances my home would be on a state registry is pretty much zero. The only rule for the town is you have to get signoff to demolish a building over 75 years old.
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matt6150
Full Member
Patient Zero
Posts: 142
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Post by matt6150 on Apr 23, 2020 10:24:34 GMT -6
Looking towards the barn/house from the back of the property. This is during the main grading work, i had rented a skid steer to do much of it and finished it off with my tractor later on. So in this picture the new basketball area is on the right side of the barn? And there is a basement below this grade then. |
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Post by bklmt2000 on Apr 23, 2020 10:51:20 GMT -6
So in this picture the new basketball area is on the right side of the barn? And there is a basement below this grade then.
To my (vision-corrected) eyes, it appears the b-ball court is diagonal to the viewer's right from where the bobcat is sitting and on the far side of the common corner the house and barn share.
I'm probably wrong.
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Post by Ken on Apr 23, 2020 11:18:06 GMT -6
Also, I like that boulder. That's a nice boulder.
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deerslyr
Full Member
Cheesehead
Posts: 158
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Post by deerslyr on Apr 23, 2020 13:04:07 GMT -6
I think I had posted most or all of these pics on the blueboard in different threads. It's hard to keep up with everything there, though. I figured I'd put them all in one place. I admit, one of the appeals of this house was that there were essentially unlimited projects and potential. I'm such a sucker for projects. I will definitely never run out of stuff to do. When I moved in my mental goal was to get the house exactly how I wanted it within 20 years. That's not a joke. The house was built in 1898. The barn was put in with the previous house around 1800. Oddly, the "previous" house that was on this property still exists. They moved it across the street. Weird, right? The story goes that my house was built as the "retirement home" of Samuel Virgin, a prominent pastor in the town. The property was owned by his FIL, the FIL gave him the property and they moved the FIL's house across the street then built the Samuel Virgin/Isadora Blodgett house. Isn't Blodgett a historical family name??? Seems familiar for some reason. |
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Post by jkor on Apr 23, 2020 13:04:29 GMT -6
Looking towards the barn/house from the back of the property. This is during the main grading work, i had rented a skid steer to do much of it and finished it off with my tractor later on. So in this picture the new basketball area is on the right side of the barn? And there is a basement below this grade then. Yes, the court is to the right side of the barn below grade. There is indeed a "walkout" basement in the barn. This is another view from the opposite side prior to paving.  |
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Post by jkor on Apr 23, 2020 13:11:14 GMT -6
I think I had posted most or all of these pics on the blueboard in different threads. It's hard to keep up with everything there, though. I figured I'd put them all in one place. I admit, one of the appeals of this house was that there were essentially unlimited projects and potential. I'm such a sucker for projects. I will definitely never run out of stuff to do. When I moved in my mental goal was to get the house exactly how I wanted it within 20 years. That's not a joke. The house was built in 1898. The barn was put in with the previous house around 1800. Oddly, the "previous" house that was on this property still exists. They moved it across the street. Weird, right? The story goes that my house was built as the "retirement home" of Samuel Virgin, a prominent pastor in the town. The property was owned by his FIL, the FIL gave him the property and they moved the FIL's house across the street then built the Samuel Virgin/Isadora Blodgett house. Isn't Blodgett a historical family name??? Seems familiar for some reason. I don't know. It doesn't ring a bell for me. This is the guy that built the house: www.findagrave.com/memorial/133881268/samuel-henderson-virgin |
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Post by jkor on Apr 23, 2020 13:14:43 GMT -6
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Thou shalt not erect a round-ball playing court of any kind and thou shalt not participate in any dunk-a-thons whilst on thy premises. 
