The Victorian Lady

A Victorian Lady Reborn

2008-09-20T05:43:00.000-07:00

(STEPHEN DUNN / HARTFORD COURANT / September 4, 2008)

Victorian Walk

2008-07-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

(STEPHEN DUNN / HARTFORD COURANT / September 4, 2008)

Nonno The MASON

Alex the MASON

Work & Play in progress.
Brick paving the walk along the driveway and the patio in the back.

More photos of the garden shed

2007-11-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

The new shed

2007-11-11T17:12:00.001-08:00

Here is the newest addition to the Victorian Lady.

Ashley Street House Tour

2007-06-08T06:24:00.001-07:00

The Ashley Street House Tour was a great success!

If you click on the photo it will bring you to Picasa Web Albums where you can see a full screen slideshow or download copies of the photos.

The Ashley Street House tour was wonderful. The pride of ownership was apparent in every home. Neighbors greeted each other warmly and admired all the added touches. Each home was graced with lovely floral arrangements from local florists. Delicious food was available in each home - a combination provided by local restaurants, home owners and neighbors. It was really a delightful experience to see how each homeowner had personalized these wonderful Victorian homes.

Curb Appeal on Ashley Street is a Family Affair

2006-10-26T04:55:00.000-07:00

The beautiful Victorian front porch on Ashley Street is welcoming indeed. The details of the 3 color paint and gingerbread trim are so charming. And this welcomes Dulcie & Valerio home every day.
They need only to look out the oval window in their front door to see the home that their sons Joey and Alex bought.

Everyone has been working hard to remove overgrown bushes and put in new landscaping. The results are terrific. The window boxes are such a charming touch.

Dulcie's parlor is beautiful - ready for furniture.

Joey and Alex sit down for a moment between moving furniture and planting shrubs. Their home had already been renovated and ready to move into.

The Victorian Lady Finally Ready For Occupancy

2006-09-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

Before & After

ALEX

Below are the Parlor and the Dining Room

Living Room

Kitchen

Kitchen

Bedroom Window

Bed room

Common Bath

Rear Deck
Valerio pounding nails

Dulcie painting

Front porch ready for final painting.

Coming Attractions....

2006-07-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

The trim....

Building the porch

2006-07-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

The front porch coming together piece by
piece.......

Wallpaper in the Palor

2006-07-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

Salvatore Giadone meticulously applying the wallpaper in the front room "palor".

Installing the Kitchen counter

2006-07-11T19:26:00.001-07:00

In July, we had the kitchen counter installed by the Soapstone company who contract with
Home Depot where we ordered our kitchen cabinets and countertop. It was a pleasure to work with them. Here are the men puzzling over the final installation piece.

The counter is accented with the Tiffany pendants from Connecticut Lighting and the beautiful flowers are from the Hevenor garden in Mystic.

Here's the gang !

The Kitchen....Piece.... by..... Piece.....

2006-06-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

The Kitchen is coming together. All the appliance are working.

Expresso coffe was the first item to be prepared in this kitchen.

Here is Nonno installing the door panels.

The Finished Floor

2006-06-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

The Floor is finally complete and the house is now ready to receive the trim, doors and fixtures.
Valerio used red oak and Brazilian cherry feature strips.

Dulcie could not wait to give it a trial run....

NEW FLOOR AND SORE BACK

2006-04-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

Progress on the new wood floor is slow but steady..

Expected completion....Who knows....

THE NEW HARDWARE

2006-04-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

The Victorian Lady has received the new hardware compliments of

EMTEK Products Inc. Dulcie and I are very grateful of this generosity and very happy with the selection. Although the interior is still not finished and the doors have not yet arrived. These handcrafted pieces will provide long lasting quality with distinction and will continue to inspire us to keep the victorian tradition of this house

Main Entry Design

2006-02-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

Front porch design is complete and
posts are being prepared by
Bolton Woodturning.
Expected time of construction
during spring time.

The Victorian Lady: Drywall Installation...Finally..!!!!

2006-01-11T18:41:00.000-08:00

The Victorian Lady: Drywall Installation...Finally..!!!!

Drywall Installation...Finally..!!!!

2006-01-11T18:21:00.000-08:00

Tom and Paul from U.S. Drywall.

Finally the drywall is being installed...!!

Well..much faster then I would have done..

Victorian Lady Progresses

2005-12-18T08:35:00.000-08:00

Dulcie & Valerio have been making great progress on their wonderful new home. There are trees, a driveway, a new back deck. The interior has been reframed and the electrical and plumbing installed. They've hired out the sheetrocking which should move the project along more quickly.

I am hoping the Giadones will now add the blogs to report their progress. I've put up the blog framework and invited Dulcie, Valerio, Joey, Leslie & Alex to become members and post their own blogs.

Visitors should feel free to add your comments and questions.

Nancy

The Victorian Lady On The Move

2005-12-13T16:43:00.000-08:00

The Victorian Lady

The "Lady" is a gracious victorian brick home that is part of a revitiliation effort in Hartford, CT. The most fascinating part of The Lady is that she has a new location in Asylum Hill. She was moved during the summer of 2004 from Sigourney Street to her current location on Ashley Street. She is well on her way to becoming a wonderful new home for Dulcie & Valerio Giadone.

Because of her wonderful history she is being featured on HGTV, Restore America. You can see a video about her on their website. You can watch a video at http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_988/text/0,,HGTV_22056_36517,00.html

Constructed in 1890 as a single-family home in the affluent Asylum Hill neighborhood, the large Queen Anne style home complete with brick corbelling and gingerbread trim surely drew the attention of neighbors, including Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Over the course of the next 114 years, economic circumstances altered the physical character of the Victorian Lady - the structure was transformed into four rental units, an automotive claims center, and an office and conference center. Facing demolition in 2004, the Victorian Lady prevailed and was relocated to a vacant lot. For two days in July, historic preservation took center stage in Hartford as hundreds lined the streets and thousands more watched from their televisions as the stately two-story brick structure made its slow one-mile journey to its new location on Asylum Hill. Grant funds will be used by Northside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance, Inc. to restore the Victorian Lady to its original use as a single-family home.