Work at the Anthe Building is plowing forward with a few necessary diversions and delays. As of now, we hope to begin fulfillment operations on June 15. Our new fulfillment employees start on June 1, so they likely will join our efforts to get the building ready and help install the packing tables and shelving.
There are things to celebrate: We have a paved driveway. The concrete is curing, so we can’t drive on it. But it rises gently and exactly to the shop floor. Also, the HVAC system is completely installed and awaiting electricity.
There are setbacks: The “walls” at the front of the building were not stable enough to keep as-is. The walls were only beadboard that was nailed to other pieces of beadboard until the whole shebang was somewhat sturdy. No studs or plates or headers. In fact, it was the frames for the doors and windows that kept everything steady.
So we took down these partitions. We are going to build stud walls and cover them with painted beadboard. So the end result will look much the same, but will be up to code.
Some revelations: Almost all of the architectural features inside the building are salvaged material. (This makes me happy.) None of the interior transom windows match. And some of the partitions on the second floor are clearly from another building.
We are keeping all of the salvaged items. We are cleaning them up and will reuse them throughout the building, keeping in the spirit of the building’s history.
Finally, the contractors dealt with “the trench.” The trench is an enclosed empty space between our building and the pawn shop next door. (These two buildings were both part of the original Anthe business.) The trench allows light and air into the south wall of the building. It also was filled with decades of trash and debris.
The contractors cleared the trench and unclogged the drain at the bottom, which was filled with decades of silt.
Coming soon: A new accessible (ADA) bathroom, which will be built to look like it belongs in the building. And replacement steel doors for the back entrance.
— Christopher Schwarz
I applaud your sympathetic restoration of old buildings! But seriously, HVAC?!! Where were you when I spent 18 years in a cabinet shop with no heat, no ac, and 23’ ceilings? During January and February we built a plastic tent over the clamp carrier to keep the PVA from chalking. Am loving the updates on the Anthe building, thank you.
Great great story! Keep it going.
Did they cover the brick wall of the pawnshop with corrugated steel? That can’t be original.
Can you say anything about how the one story pawnshop building was used by Anthe, especially as they aren’t connected?
They are connected in the front and at the back. The sheet metal isn’t original.
My guess is the pawn shop building was for sales and administration.
This is all so exciting. Thanks for keeping us up to date.
The outdoor HVAC components thank you in advance for providing the nice bollards.
It’s a fun word. For the next few days I’m just going to say “bollards” whenever someone addresses me.
For more fun, follow the World Bollard Assn. on Twitter. It’s hilarious.
https://twitter.com/WorldBollard
I never thanked you for True Facts About the Sea Pig. And now the World Bollard Assn. So good! Thank you. I stop by here every day for the blog posts, the comments, and gems like these. And also the chairmaking.
Those bricks look like they’re in nice shape.
I applaud your restoration, especially restoration with recycled and period-perfect materials. Too many times, contractors get in a hurry and start buying new materials to speed thing up, but using the “old stuff” keeps the building as it should be. Salute!
Our GC is very frugal. Even on non-historic restoration projects, he reuses everything he can from demolition.
love these I hope you keep doing them
This project you’re undertaking is giving me flashbacks. I own a coffee company, and we did the same thing to what is now our 3,000sf cafe. It’s a flatiron building that was built by Anheuser-Busch in 1908 for a distribution center in our town (Peoria, IL). At the time it was built, Peoria was actually considered the whiskey capitol of the country, and they wanted to get a foothold into the market here.
Took shed loads of work to get it all fixed up, but oh so worth it. Good luck to you!
Cheers,
Dan
Hey Dan, which cafe might that be? I live just a ways SE of Peoria. Love to swing in and check it out.
A clean trench – the ultimate euphemism!?!
I know you Kentuckians like to think that you know whiskey, but I gotta say, we had you beat. At least back in the day.
https://bourbonfool.com/the-distilling-capital-of-peoria-illinois/#:~:text=The%20Canadian%20company%20Hiram%20Walker,as%20well%20as%20two%20bourbons.
Thanks for sharing the details of the renovation. It’s always interesting to see what your doing.
Thanks Chris for the update. Out of curiosity, how is the city to deal with for the renovations? I know my city is very friendly to home owners coming in with questions and pulling permits. They want to help. My dad’s city (45 min away from me) very unhelpful. I would guess given you are trying to restore an old building to its former glory and have done so at a different location it’s probably a productive helpful relationship with the city.
The city helped us find this building. We consider them a partner in this restoration.
That’s the cleanest trench I’ve ever seen. Thanks for the update.
Looks good now that they cleaned out the big pile of shaving cream, be nice and clean. Shave every day and you’ll always look keen.
One more building and they will elect you mayor of Covington. Good job.
Not a bad thought.
Haha. You’re next. You can hold your victory party at Anthe.
Brings back memories of all the renovations I have done in the past. Tough work, but rewarding when completed. Looking forward to see the end result.
You make it all seem so easy. I can’t swap out a door knob without collapsing from decision fatigue.
Hello,
Looks like it’s gonna be really great! I have some idea of what you folks are experiencing. After we bought our home here in “The Inland Empire” (the terms Empire and California are mutually exclusive), we lived in that of mine apartment for six months. Luckily we had a really good contractor. Paul’s here now, repainting the interior…it needed to be done after 12 years. He did the exterior last year. For the most part our place is well made, but “production house” is a swear word in Paul’s vocabulary. Great guy-he’s gonna show me how to filet a Grouper and a Yellowtail. I’ll repay that debt with some take home portions of Ragù Bolognese. I only wish that I was able to attend some of your classes; I’m a gimp and way, way too old. Too many years of inhaling second hand Anesthesia gasses.
Mud’s comin…
Don’t forget the Bean tripod prints for posterity!
Ohhh the last paragraph… can the ADA loo be not where that gorgeous old toilet is? That looks to be original and they looked SO COOL in those days. It’s a charmer! (And no, I am definitely not kidding or snarking. I love old fixtures of every kind. My bathroom faucets, basins, angle stops, and water lines are the original 1911 ones. It took a bit to restore them, and both tubs. One of them had had so much draino type stuff that the bottom is now non-slip. But both it and its old taps are fully original as well. And outlet/drain. The pipes are new… old lead p-trap is no more.)
Pretty sure you can still get modern ada toilets that have the high tanks. I know you can get old style sinks made of modern materials from NBI. Their claim to fame are the drainboard models but they have smaller drainboardless versions with the high backs too. Think they call them early century or something along those lines
From Home Dump
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Stratford-High-Tank-Pull-Chain-Toilet-Single-Flush-Round-Bowl-in-White-with-Light-Oak-Tank-and-Brass-Rear-Entry-Pipes-12050/314989955?mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-BNG-D29B-029_032_TOILET_SEATS-NA-Multi-NA-PLA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-FY23&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-BNG-D29B-029_032_TOILET_SEATS-NA-Multi-NA-PLA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-FY23-71700000105188239-58700008245868322-92700075997376001&gclsrc=ds
The seat is 17 inches high. Not sure the pull chain will meet ada, but the bowl itself should being that high.
I will send you a picture of what I think is actually an original toilet from the third floor – high wooden tank, cast iron floor unit. I think you’ll appreciate it!
Well, I was going to ask about the floor- Diagonal boards must be a Covington style, but they didn’t make all those mitre cuts for fun, it is to create a sort of ply to spread the point loads of the machinery footing over adjacent boards. This is a new detail to me – old warehouse I know simply had thick wide boards… but that floor is neat.
Trenches are common in older cities. I had a recurring nightmare about getting wedged into one of these and not being able to get back out. YIKES! It was a nasty, dank and sooted by the ages thing just off the square in the Garden district of New Orleans. My carcass had to be extracted by a tow hook… it gets worse! Anyway, your trench is NOT the stuff of nightmares. LOL