The owners of Woodside house are continuing to renovate the house. Some 170-year-old doors from the house are now (as of Dec. 5) available for purchase.
Brendon and Elizabeth Papineau, of Richmond Heights, bought Woodside in 2016, and began renovating it.
The house was an eyesore. It was only getting worse. I was in the building several years before it was sold the the current owners. It was a mess, basement walls caving in, roof leaks, broken windows, animals living inside, etc. The average citizen of Maplewood would not be allowed to have an eyesore like that for as long as it was in that condition.
The renovations/rehab do have to meet some requirements if they are going to get tax credits for them. I do not know the rules but have heard stories about the process. If you read the blogs they tell you about keeping records about everything, presenting a huge amount of documentation before and during and after it is complete. The state, I believe, will review and then decide what is considered to receive a tax credit.
Historic materials are not always possible. Where you going to find 180 year old clear wood siding to install on the outside of the house. So you can substitute something that gives the appearance of the original materials such as a new form of siding that has the same profile and width. But probably not vinyl. So in that regard it is not a true restoration.
If anything I think they should have a work day and open it up to a group of 10 or 15 people to come in and give them a hand with the project. Have someone with skills lead and train the helpers and get some more done on it. Do that for once a month and see how much progress is made.
Does Maplewood even have a Historic arm of government that makes these types of decisions?
I am in awe of the wonderful job they are doing on such a old building which had been moldering for years.
My husband and I were excited to see the pictures of the doors. We have a door just like that on our second floor. Our home was built with scrap materials from old homes that were torn down. We have old windows and doors. The windows are weird sizes and do not match, the doors do not match. I heard it was the custom to reuse old building materials.
Here here. Thank you!
Maybe one just needs look past their near-sightedness to read the facts. This is a labor of love for people who are moving into this farmhouse as a permanent home following completion of the project. But I’m sure if you are interested in preserving the originality of the interior of the home, the purveyor of refabstl would gladly broker your donation to the cause of the owners transforming this dilapidated property from the wrecking ball into fabulous home and preserving a piece of local history. Most flippers would not go through the effort necessary to rehab a 170 year old structure. They have a wonderful blog documenting the project from the beginning. Maybe you should spend some time looking through it and you might be surprised at what you learn.
Thank you someone! Half or maybe more of the time you all sound like nuts!
I’ve been reading their blog too. But boy is it going slow! Almost makes you wonder if they are funding as they go. Still glad someone is doing it and I love seeing the progress. I’m looking forward to seeing the completed project sometime in 2025. That being said I’m happy to have a couple like this as part of the Maplewood community. Woodside!
Classic uncle jedd right there. Thinks of this 2.5 year project as a quick flip and sweet profit making machine. Ha.
Need to keep original doors and match or restore interior trim and woodwork! These guys are just going to flip it and it will end up being a multi-unit Air BNB…
why would they get rid of the original doors? I does look like rehab…..
It looks like we were all misled. The best thing that could happen now to Woodside would be a fire.
I thought this house had to be restored rather than rehabbed. That would mean no additions and period materials.
Generally speaking, exteriors are all that is required to be restored to historic. Interiors are usually free to renovate how the owner/developer wants. That said, Maplewood has a very weak Historic Preservation Commission and Design Guidelines that simply suggest and do not require you to use historic materials or designs. The Design and Review board is charged with enforcing the guidelines, and that can be hit and miss. I think it is fair to say the City of Maplewood just wanted to get the building sold so they wouldn’t have to tear it down and look bad.