This is the third installment in a slowly moving saga of a full house renovation aka “The Adventures of Mark and Charles”. Previous posts can be found by clicking: Episode 1 and Episode 2.
After months and months and months of being stuck in waiting-for-permits limbo, Mark and Charles are finally able to get to the work of putting their house together! I traded some e-mails with Mark last week about the progress and he mentioned something about going shopping for staircases. I promptly invited myself along.
One of the more striking details of Mark and Charles’ recently purchased property has been the absence of the main staircase. Prior to their acquisition, the home was gutted by a developer who had intended to divide it into multiple units. The only evidence of the previously grand staircase is a gaping circular opening in the ceiling and the scar-like zig zag on the exposed brick.
I was running late on Saturday morning, so I had Charles text me the address. It turned out it didn’t really matter that I was a bit late, because the guys got a little lost finding the industrial park tucked away into a corner off of Bladensburg Road. When I arrived, I was greeted by a posse of guard cats and found Mark and Charles leaning over a set of blueprints with Silvio Pronio, president of Northeast Iron Works, Inc. Silvio had been highly recommended by both the architect for this project, as well as a neighbor. Continues after the jump. (more…)
