Thanks to everyone in the neighborhood for their ongoing support in the aftermath of the December fire
at my house at 1142 West Culver.
First of all, please don?’t forget to videotape all your possessions; review your insurance to make sure it has kept up with nicely rising property values; and consider historic home insurance too.
I wanted to give you an update on what?’s happening as we rebuild the house and work to meet today?’s building
codes. Neither the fire department inspector or the insurance fire inspector were able to determine how
the fire started. According to a retired fire chief friend it?’s not unusual, for a fire?’s origin to never
be known. The fire officials have determined that it was an unknown cause and not caused by malicious act
or negligence (we re-wired and replumbed the whole house about 8 years ago).
We have met with architect Don Ryden who worked to restore Trinity Cathedral?’s interior after its' fire; Jerry Kadansky, our contractor, and our insurancerepresentative. We have contacted the state historic
preservation office and the city historic preservation office and kept those offices up to date on the
ongoing restoration. At this point it has become evident that the front native brick and stone fa?§ade including the poorly supported (non-code!) chimney
must be taken down adn then rebuilt so that we may meet code and safety requirements during the reconstruction.
We will be rebuilding the house to look as close as possible to the original Frank B. Wallace 1929 design of the home. This means we hope to replace the fireplace removed in the 1950s; restore the taller front heavily mullioned
window and the front exterior of the house should look closer to what it did in 1929 than just before it burned.
We?’re looking for some of the jumbo tall striated bricks like those on the front of my house. If you have extras of some of these special older bricks we may want to talk with you.
We?’re also looking for ideas for small improvements we MAY be able to afford such as pull-out shelves in the lower kitchen cabinet shelves; a handrail to the basement rooms, an intercom system; a recharging center for cell phones; videocameras, etc.; perhaps tankless water heaters; much more insulation; wiring for sound/CAT5/Cable/Phone/Security in most
rooms;maybe two small cedar closets in the basement instead of just one; solid core doors; under cabinet lighting; exterior waterproof outlets; lights in attic like we had; lights in all closets; built-in soffit lights for entry; motion sensor lights in most rooms; outlet outside near roof for holiday lights; doorbell to ring at back and front doors; programmable thermostat; built-in ironing board; etc. Please send us any ideas you might have on this score.
Again, thank you.
Heather Goebel
Dennis MacLeod
602 841 6072
hlgoebel@yahoo.com
at my house at 1142 West Culver.
First of all, please don?’t forget to videotape all your possessions; review your insurance to make sure it has kept up with nicely rising property values; and consider historic home insurance too.
I wanted to give you an update on what?’s happening as we rebuild the house and work to meet today?’s building
codes. Neither the fire department inspector or the insurance fire inspector were able to determine how
the fire started. According to a retired fire chief friend it?’s not unusual, for a fire?’s origin to never
be known. The fire officials have determined that it was an unknown cause and not caused by malicious act
or negligence (we re-wired and replumbed the whole house about 8 years ago).
We have met with architect Don Ryden who worked to restore Trinity Cathedral?’s interior after its' fire; Jerry Kadansky, our contractor, and our insurancerepresentative. We have contacted the state historic
preservation office and the city historic preservation office and kept those offices up to date on the
ongoing restoration. At this point it has become evident that the front native brick and stone fa?§ade including the poorly supported (non-code!) chimney
must be taken down adn then rebuilt so that we may meet code and safety requirements during the reconstruction.
We will be rebuilding the house to look as close as possible to the original Frank B. Wallace 1929 design of the home. This means we hope to replace the fireplace removed in the 1950s; restore the taller front heavily mullioned
window and the front exterior of the house should look closer to what it did in 1929 than just before it burned.
We?’re looking for some of the jumbo tall striated bricks like those on the front of my house. If you have extras of some of these special older bricks we may want to talk with you.
We?’re also looking for ideas for small improvements we MAY be able to afford such as pull-out shelves in the lower kitchen cabinet shelves; a handrail to the basement rooms, an intercom system; a recharging center for cell phones; videocameras, etc.; perhaps tankless water heaters; much more insulation; wiring for sound/CAT5/Cable/Phone/Security in most
rooms;maybe two small cedar closets in the basement instead of just one; solid core doors; under cabinet lighting; exterior waterproof outlets; lights in attic like we had; lights in all closets; built-in soffit lights for entry; motion sensor lights in most rooms; outlet outside near roof for holiday lights; doorbell to ring at back and front doors; programmable thermostat; built-in ironing board; etc. Please send us any ideas you might have on this score.
Again, thank you.
Heather Goebel
Dennis MacLeod
602 841 6072
hlgoebel@yahoo.com
