Currently Reading: Historic Properties

In a few days Christmas will be over, the temperatures will remain unseasonably warm, and conditions will be perfect for removing holiday lights, dragging a dying evergreen tree out of the house, and hauling holiday decorations up the attic stairs … Continue reading →

Over the past four months we have gone through several different emotions. Making the decision to buy an old home, knowing full well the renovations that would have to take place, were big ones. Trying to sell the current home … Continue reading →

It would seem that the weather has cooperated with us for the past couple weeks very much allowing us to have the consistent dry air and temperature.  Making it easy to regulate the drying of drywall mud and stain( big … Continue reading →

Thanksgiving has come and gone and we took some free time off to spend it with family.  Over the weekend it was back to work to make up time.  Fortunately, the weather was cooperating and we had a beautiful couple … Continue reading →

More than ten years ago we moved into a small town  and I commented “we got what others replicate.”  It was obvious that  more populated areas were recreating the small town "main street" in their retail centers to create the … Continue reading →

A major expense for the Humphreys House will be in something that many people will not see, but they will feel. One of the obvious draw backs to a 100 year old home is energy efficiency.  Improvements and advancements have … Continue reading →

Life is a collection of memories. Memories are an interpretation of personal history. History starts with setting. It was never more apparent than this week that the Humphrey House is a great setting.     My father, in his sixties, … Continue reading →

My dad says “I really enjoy building stuff, opposed to taking stuff down”.     Of course he is concerned and has been from the beginning that this project is “a lot of work”.  In his defense he is right, … Continue reading →

There are many hats to wear when working on the Humphreys House — excited and eager homeowner and amateur local history buff come to mind. “Builder” is one that has not yet been explored in this column–until now. One of … Continue reading →

Standing tall overlooking the Sinepuxent Bay and Assateague Island is the Flemish bond brick historic monolith known as the Rackliffe Plantation House—a watchful perch the home has maintained for nearly two hundred and seventy years.  The property was originally part … Continue reading →

  Even after a full week of work, things at the Humphreys House look as if little progress was made. In reality, though, a lot of work was done recently, but most of it was reframing underneath the home. That … Continue reading →

The key is enormous—it conjures up images of medieval times, when purposeful things didn’t just appear in stores, they had to be forged over hot coals for hours on end.  It juts out of the keyhole in the massive wooden … Continue reading →