The open house on the 31st (blog post accidentally deleted) went well.  Quite a few people dropped by and the studios were ready for them.  Old bathtubs, radiator covers and steel tables had gone to recycling

The walks had been swept and the honeysuckle was blooming...

 Friends who have been with me from before the beginning were impressed which made me feel good because no matter how much I know I have done it never seems like enough.  At least one studio is rented, maybe more.   Next week I'm going to do a little video to show the place off.

Really!  One more sink to put in, a few dings in the walls to fix and pipes to paint and the first of the studios are ready to rent, toilets and all.  They look really good and I am looking forward to a slightly more relaxing schedule as I finish the rest and look for tenants.  If you know anyone who needs a studio send them my way

Studio LLE, the largest one finished so far.  Here you see most of it's 496 sf seen from the side of the window, and below is the the window

This is LLD, one of the two smallest studios which happened to be the first ones completed. 

Tomorrow photos of the public areas.

 For more than a year the construction of the studios has been taking most of my time.  Learning all I need to know to make decisions about new plumbing, new electric, new heat, lots of things I thought I knew about and didn't.  Now, however, I am getting closer to having the fundamentals in place.  Here are some pics

The roof with the turban still on it, slate gone and tar paper put down.

Six inches of insulation and most of the first side covered with red metal.  The turbine is already down here.  The guy you can see in the lower left is standing on 12' high stacks of insulation that are taking up my entire back garden (no garden left I'm afraid, 30 years of plantings gone in a week).

This is half the brass turbine from the peak of the theater (there is a big base as well, and a structure to suspend it).  It is 54" across at the base and absolutely beautiful, the grace of the lines is astonishing.  I am so grateful to Tim Mays who is doing my roof for getting it down without destroying it.  They had to do it without a crane and it was not easy to say the least.  Now what to do with it?

A new roof and heat in the lower level will happen this month.  Pretty soon the roof will be dark brick red instead of white.  I am really pumped though I don't know how I will get everything done that I need to do to prepare for these two events (no, I am not doing the major work myself, being an artist is enough for me).  The amount of preparation that goes into all this continues to astound me.   Came through Sandy without a drop of water anywhere which was wonderful.  47 High Street has always been sound and dry (overbuilt really) but you never know.

I was looking at 47 High Street on Google Maps and I thought you might like to see what it looks like.  The white is the theater roof which currently has heavy tarps on it.  The blue is a huge turbine which once ventilated the space, They're going to try to get it down whole for me when the NEW METAL ROOF goes on next month.  I am so excited.  Next year I look onto doing solar panels.

It has been so beautiful I feel like I want to be cleaning up my garden, which is sadly neglected, or taking a walk in some spectacular part of Fairmount Park. But the building calls.  This week (if I am lucky it will only be this week) I am finishing floors.  It took me a while to get the hang of the machine again and I have major fans going to keep from losing what few brain cells I have left. I think things are going to look good.  The whitewash isn't finished either and it is already looking very good. If only there were six or seven of me instead of only one.  And these are only the top of the list of one hundred and six things I need to do.  Good thing it is so splendid out, I can stop and sit in the garden for a few minutes and listen to nature, and motorcycles.  Back to the floors.

The  walls in the lower level are brick and stucco and need paint.  I don't want them to peel so I researched white wash.  Seemed like a good way to go and I got the ingredients, I mixed it up,  I tried to paint it on with brushes, It took forever.  I called a paint sprayer company to see if that would work ,they said sure.  I rented a sprayer.  It did  not work at all.  I talked to people, I tried rollers,  SUCCESS! The simplest is sometimes the best.  Then I couldn't get the glue I used so I used another white glue.  Total disaster.  Four glues later I finally found someone who sells SOBO glue (the first one I used) and I am back in business.  Is anything every easy?