In June, Vicki put up a Facebook post that intrigued us: “I have a dream. I want to repair/restore our house.” Not just any house, but a unique and beautiful redwood house built in 1910 as a summer cabin. Even its kitchen and bathroom are lined with the same redwood as the exterior. Her husband, Blackie, (a musician who often performs with their good friend Bill Kirchen when he does a show in the San Francisco Bay Area), grew up there.
Situated at the top of a steep hill on a narrow road at the edge of a heavily wooded area where they often hike, the house is surrounded by redwoods and “the trees go on for miles”, Vicki says. She adds, “Giant root balls and some massive stumps tell us what the old growth forest must have once been like…”
But now the house needs restoration work and she wants to do that with authentic materials. No easy order. “Some of the redwood siding (tongue and groove from early 1900s) is broken and missing, and not available anywhere. I’ve gotten two estimates for replacement of a 300 square foot section: $21,000 for new redwood, $16,800 for vinyl. When the guy suggested vinyl, I told him, ‘That’s like a knife through my heart.’ But a piece of plywood that used to cost $9.00 now costs about $90.00. So, my dream is on hold, while I wait and hope that prices might come down.”
Until there’s light on the other side of the pandemic, Vicki is still waiting and hoping. She did find the wood she wanted at a salvage yard but even the dealer said to wait until the seller lowers the price.
However, she has one tremendous advantage most home renovators do not: she has a house restoration expert right in the family. Her son, Hank, works for a company in San Francisco that does high end restoration of Victorian houses and he’s eager to help. We’ll keep you posted on Vicki’s progress in future notes.
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