The courtship of Andy and Janelle Cole was not your typical romance. Andy, an electrical engineer, had purchased a triplex in Charlotte and was trying to make it habitable during evenings and weekends. Janelle, a Gates Chili school teacher, was wined and dined by Andy, not by candlelight and soft music, but by hanging drywall and installing new flooring. Andy often picked Janelle up at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning to spend a full day renovating the Charlotte residence, dropping her off, dusty and exhausted at 10 p.m. When the couple married in the summer of 1992, they moved into one of the triplex’s units. But their eyes were locked on Spencerport. Both Andy and Janelle had grown up in Spencerport, leaving to go to college and make their first forays into the world as young adults. But with family and friends based in Spencerport, they always knew where they wanted to end up. They scanned real estate listings constantly and drove around their favorite neighborhoods – West Avenue and the Maplewood Avenue areas, with their eyes peeled for an older Victorian home. In the summer of 1994, through a friend of a friend, they heard that 83 West Avenue would soon be for sale. Although the circa 1890 house was badly deteriorated, Andy and Janelle immediately saw its potential. Because of the home’s poor condition, the Coles could only qualify for a rehabilitation mortgage known as a 203K. The financing included not only the purchase of the property but certain necessary repairs. At the outset, Andy and Janelle decided to hire out the necessary repairs. "It had been so crazy doing the Charlotte house ourselves," Janelle said, "even though we enjoyed it, we just didn’t think we wanted to do that again." But once the work began, the couple started to realize they wanted to do so much more than just the necessary repairs – they wanted to save some of the outstanding architectural features and make the home comfortable for modern day living. So began an intense 18-month effort. Andy and Janelle lived in the 600 square foot in-law apartment while working on the main house. The couple put in 40 hours a week or more baring all the walls and ceilings in the 3,400 square foot house to the studs. They pulled out 14 tons of lath and plaster, shoveling it out of first and second story windows. There were structural problems with the stone foundation – parts of it had been washed away and a professional had to be hired to repair it. Water from leaking roofs and windows had damaged some load bearing beams. The second floor of the nearly 35 feet tall structure had to be jacked up while the structural repairs were made. All heating, wiring, plumbing and insulation was replaced before new dry wall was hung. Old gas lines hidden in the walls were removed and central vacuuming installed. All the hard wood floors, upstairs and down, were sanded and refinished. Walls were moved to accommodate conveniences like a bath and walk-in closet in the master bedroom suite; and to set aside space for a second-floor craft room and children's bathroom (still in the works). The kitchen was reshaped to accommodate a laundry area and to let more light into the formerly dark space. Although the Coles retained the kitchen cabinetry, they did install granite counter tops. One sticking point was the new large window in the kitchen. Janelle really wanted a bay window, Andy said it would be too expensive. Janelle said she prayed about it a lot, then suddenly Andy met a man who arranged the purchase of a bay window at half the price. "After I thanked the Lord," Janelle said, "I told Andy he’ll be thanking me for the next 30 years." After a year-and-a-half, the Coles took a break. They were exhausted and the first of their three children had been born. But the break didn’t last long before Andy was back at work, starting some of the finishing touches. Those finishing touches offer a stunning effect in the family’s living room. Not a carpenter by training, Andy decided to try to replicate the ornate molding along the room's ceiling. With help from friend John Hiser, a Maryland contractor, Andy learned how to make crown molding. He ended up creating a design that uses 11 layers of wood in the main section, incorporating some of the original pieces into the design. Andy also rebuilt the molding around the room’s floor-to-ceiling windows and doors and repaired the 40-pound medallion that showcases a new chandelier. In all, Andy estimates 300 hours of work went into refurbishing the living room, one of 16 rooms in the house. "I’d watch him go up and down the ladder over and over again to get each piece perfect," Janelle says of Andy, who admits that as a novice it often took him 10 cuts per piece of molding to make a perfect fit. "Through this process, he’s become a craftsman," Janelle says. "He takes the care with this house that he does with everything in his life…everything is done with such integrity." Doing the work with such care means things don’t get done as quickly as they could, but Janelle said, "it’s worth the wait." "To her credit," Andy says of his wife, "she’s incredibly patient." With three children ages five and under – Julianna, Joelle and Andrew - Janelle doesn’t put all the hours into the actual physical work as she used to do, but she is still very involved in the planning and the decorating. One very unique feature of the house is the play castle the Coles have built into the formal dining room. Janelle came up with the idea while she was expecting now 10-month-old Andrew. She wanted a play area for the children that was close to the kitchen, and she and Andy had decided they didn’t really need a formal dining room. So a project that she originally thought would take a week and a couple of hundred dollars for wood and paint turned into something a little more elaborate. The play castle comes complete with two curved-railing balconies, turrets, a slide and swing. It takes up half the dining room but the castle theme is continued in the open play area by a medieval border. Just before she was due to deliver Andrew, Janelle finished painting the lavender and white castle and blew on glitter to make it sparkle. Outside, too Over the years, neighbors, whom the Coles credit for being patient with the noise and dust their renovation have created, have noticed some exterior improvements. When Andy and Janelle bought the house it was covered with asphalt roof shingles. Andy imagines that sometime in the 1950s, when the house was due for a paint job, a fast-talking salesman pitched the asphalt as a way to never have to paint the house again. At this point, Andy has only been able to remove the layers of felt and asphalt from the front of the house. He said 98 percent of the cedar shingles underneath have been found in perfect condition. But removing the asphalt, refinishing and painting the cedar is very time consuming. Neighbors watched him work on the 35 feet tall peak until the wee hours of the morning one long weekend. He put in about 44 hours in three days to get that section done because he didn’t want to have to rent the cherry picker again. Janelle would send him up sandwiches and drinks in a bucket tied to a rope, and at points encouraged him not to be so picky getting every last speck of old paint off the cedar shingles, but Andy persisted, not wanting to give in to the temptation to do just an "okay job." Outside, Andy has also begun an ornate fence on the east side of the house, another time consuming project. Inside, he is still working on creating new crown molding for several rooms and installing pocket doors to the laundry room. Eventually, the Coles would like to get at least one of the two marble fireplaces on the first floor back in working order. And the 1,100 square feet basement is waiting to be turned into a woodshop for Andy, a workshop for Janelle to work on stained glass and dried flower arrangements, and a workout room for the entire family. If that’s not enough work to last well into the new millennium, the attic contains 800 square feet of usable space that the couple can visualize being used as a family room and office. Putting it all in perspective A project of this size, together with the everyday challenge of raising three young children, would cause a lot of stress in most marriages. But Andy and Janelle refuse to let on-going renovation affect their relationship or hamper their family life. "We’re a balancing act," Andy says. "I can get too fixated on things and Janelle can pull me back. We both know that family comes first. We both learned that as children and we live it as parents." That may help explain Andy’s original interest in renovating the Charlotte triplex that the couple still owns. Renovating houses is in the Cole family blood, Andy says. His parents, Tom and Judy, own several rental houses. Andy and his six siblings often accompanied his dad to make repairs. Tom Cole, an electrical engineer also, has passed the "renovator’s gene" on to some of his other children. But as much as they enjoy the process and the end results, Andy and Janelle say this house is "it" - the one they’ll spend the rest of their lives in. Not only do they love the house and the neighborhood, they firmly believe the house was meant to be theirs. "It’s been a huge blessing from the Lord," Janelle said. "Houses here go quickly. We feel the Lord kept it hidden from others – it was in such a state of disrepair that no one else was interested. He guided us here and kept it for us." Strong in their family, Andy and Janelle find it interesting that their home was once the Spencerport Assembly of God meeting house. When the meeting house moved next door, the Cole’s house became the Assembly of God’s parsonage. One of the relics they found while working in the basement was an Assembly of God Radio Ministry plaque. The Coles already use their large home to reach out to other people. Janelle’s mother lives in the in-law apartment. They host meetings and Bible study groups. In the future they would like to reach out even more – perhaps by becoming foster parents or taking in troubled teens. They’re not quite sure yet. What they do know is that the run-down house they started out to renovate has turned into a warm and inviting home. Note: Readers interested in their own home repair projects will find help and guidance and consumer information in the Spring Home Improvement Special Section delivered with the March 26, 2001 editions. |
