Ellis Walentine
Hi Wiley,

Thanks for the kind words. Actually this was a whole-house rehab job, virtually gutted and rebuilt, including all the fireplaces, staircases, kitchen -- everything repurposed and drawn out (28 C-size drawings and hundreds of detail drawings, all of which were lost in my shop fire in '99). The actual design process that led up to the working drawings consisted of a lot of talking and arm-waving and perspective sketches by me to paint the visual/verbal picture of what I was proposing. I've always found that customers don't relate to orthographic drawings; if you can't render it for them, they just can't picture it from plans and elevations. And I always made samples, of moldings, door sections, finishes, etc. That way, there are no surprises.

There are more shots of this project in a Rodale book from '84. I put a 2500sf addition on the house six years later. More of the same. Inlaid floors, another fireplace, three-story spiral staircase. Thanks for the reminiscence.