A few weeks ago, we learned that the Concord town bylaws governing historic preservation were changed to include homes older than 50 years rather than those built before 1942 as was the case when we embarked on our plans for a new home. When I filed an application for demolition approval, our home was deemed historically significant by the Concord Historical Preservation Commission by virtue of its architect, Carl Koch, and it being part of the Conantum neighborhood. The commission has the power to delay the demolition of homes they deem “preferably preserved” for up to one year. Last night, at the commission’s monthly meeting our case was heard. I presented arguments for not finding the home “preferably preserved,” one slide in the deck is shown above. I was very nervous because I have little to no expertise in this field. Thankfully, several of our new neighbors chose to attend the virtual meeting and spoke very eloquently in support of our application. A more generous welcome gift to the community we cannot imagine. I believe they helped sway the decision in our favor and we are so grateful for their participation. Barring any unexpected hurdles, we are now set to begin our project in early spring.
In the past, when we have moved into a new house, we invariably generate a long list of changes we would like to make to the interior. The usual suspects include curtains, lighting fixtures, paint colors, handle hardware, plumbing fixtures, towel racks, and the list goes on. In the case of our most recent acquisition, we have only felt the need to replace one item, the light fixture over the dining room table. The new fixture relates perfectly to the pendant lights over our kitchen island. The old fixture, shown below is now for sale on Craig’s List.
Owning an electric vehicle only benefits the environment when the electricity used to charge it comes from renewable sources. Each year, the Concord Municipal Light Plant works to decrease the percentage of energy it generates from fossil fuels each year. Pictured above is a large solar array, adjacent to Walden Pond which is helping the effort.
I decided to create a digital CAD model of the Road House today. I started with the floor plans provided by the realtor. In so doing, I discovered that the size of the garage was completely misrepresented. Thankfully, it is much larger than shown. Having a CAD model is very handy for planning furniture placement. I spent the balance of the day working through a punch list of projects for the house. Hanging towel hooks, oiling squeaky door hinges, adjusting door latches, installing a makeup mirror, and a whole slew of similar tasks.
In our final game of the fall soccer season, my team took care of business winning 4-2 to secure a perfect 10-0 record. Next week we will advance to the playoff semi-finals where we will face a very strong opponent. When I returned home, the priority was to move everything being stored in the garage to their final destination inside the house. We hired a local teenager who did most of the carrying up and down stairs. I shuttled boxes into the kitchen where Jeanine decided what went where. We cleared the entire garage in three hours and our cars now have a place to call home.
Fundraising is one of the most important responsibilities Jeanine has as the Executive Director of Open Table. Earlier this week she accepted a generous donation from the Nashawtuc Country Club. The money was raise during their annual Turkey Shoot golf tournament.
The top priority when we moved into the Road House was to get internet access and wi-fi. In this day and age, trying to get anything done without this service is next to impossible. The second priority was to get a Level 2 charging station setup in the garage for my car. This required adding a new 50 amp breaker to our electrical service panel and running 6 gauge wire out to the garage. Code requires the outside wiring to be inside steel conduit. The entire project took about four hours to complete and I am very pleased with the outcome.
While traveling to North Billerica for my Covid booster and annual flu shot, I spotted a small pocket of remaining fall color on the Concord River. So far, my reaction to the booster has been much milder than my second dose of the vaccine. I spent the remainder of the day beginning to install a Level 2 charging station for my e-Tron and hope to finish up tomorrow.
Maya has become quite the proficient climber. She started the sport during her internship with Rivian last summer. I have never seen her opening upside-down move before and can’t believe how quickly she is progressing in the sport.
Maya is pictured here with her capstone project team. They decided a little team-building activity was in order and decided to go ice skating. This will be Maya’s last major project before graduating this spring. I will try and update this post with the details of her project when I have had a chance to quiz her about it.
Yesterday, I learned that my soccer game scheduled for this morning had been canceled. Our opponents forfeited due to an injury-decimated roster, a not uncommon issue in our age bracket at this stage of the season. With the unexpected free weekend day, I decided to rent a U-Haul truck and move the remaining contents of our River House to the Road House. I enlisted Kyle’s help and we managed the task in just over 5 hours. During his return home, Kyle captured this rare image of a complete double rainbow. Later in the evening, he returned with his new housemate Min (he is renting out his spare bedroom), joining, Nicolai, Jeanine, and me for a Halloween fire pit celebration.
Our moving POD was picked up this morning. It is the first time I was present to see how the unit is transferred from the ground to the truck. Podzilla is a completely independent hydraulic lifting system that is carried on the transport truck. Once its wheels are lowered it is a totally independent machine that can be driven over the POD. Chains are then connected to lift points and the POD is raised high enough so that the truck can be backed underneath it. Although the operation is efficient, it is anything but graceful and the POD gets jostled around rather aggressively. Had I known this in advance, I would have packed a few items differently. In the end, we had damage to three items; a marble tabletop, a fish tank, and a dog crate, all of which were the result of poor packing (by me).
Today we closed on a second house. We will live here while our River House is being demolished and then rebuilt. Then, we will probably make it available as a rental property. The POD we used to store the majority of our belongings from our first move was delivered this morning. I received keys to the house by 2:30 and had the contents offloaded into the garages by 4:30. The empty POD is scheduled for pickup tomorrow. I also set up internet access which we have learned is an absolute precursor to moving. In the near future, I will rent a truck and move the remaining contents of the River House to what we are now calling the Road House.
This website is dedicated to sharing, with family and friends, the day-to-day adventures of the Calabria family.
