by Charles Hendricks | Dec 2, 2018 | architecture, Commercial Architect
CrossRoads Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center is hosting a Gingerbread House design competition. I hope you will bring your a game and please don’t limit your construction to a simple A frame house!
I am serving as a judge for the gingerbread house design competition this year. Just bring your house on December 8 to the Christmas at Crossroads, or drop it off during business hours anytime the week of December 3 – 8, 2018. The winning house will get a Harrisonburg downtown gift certificate for $25.
It would be cool to see this in person – if you are up for the challenge.
Christmas at Crossroads is an annual event and has become a tradition for my family. The small strength and beauty of candles in the still and silent darkness allows visitors a respite from the hubbub of commercialized Christmas chaos as they reflect on the experience of Advent preparations as they might have taken place 100 years ago. The event takes place December 8 from 2pm – 6pm. Admission for adults is $10, students $5, and children 5 and under are free. These fees support the ongoing work of the CrossRoads Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center. In addition to the traditional candlelight tour, this year’s celebration includes hands-on family crafts, live music, singing, and wonderful holiday refreshments.
by Charles Hendricks | Nov 20, 2018 | architecture, Building Science, Green Building
This time of year my phone starts ringing on a regular basis for our free energy audit service. People do not like being cold and uncomfortable in their homes and we can help them solve this problem. If you live in the Harrisonburg / Rockingham County area, give our office a call to schedule an audit and we will help identify issues in your home. This audit can also identify solutions to increase comfort and cut energy bills for your home.
The issues I find in most homes are very similar and the biggest comfort challenge is air leakage. The biggest leaks come around the holes in your walls that you see everyday and don’t think about anymore. No, not your windows and doors, although those cause issues. The biggest air leaks when added up are probably your electrical outlets and light switches – both on outside walls and inside walls. Taking the decorative cover plate off the outlet / switch you can caulk the plastic box tight to the drywall behind. There are also pre-cut insulation patches that can be added behind the decorative plate. Finally adding child protective plugs in any open outlet will reduce air leakage through these many holes in your walls.
There is also a door in your home that most people don’t treat like a door. The attic access almost never has insulation over it and does not have weather-stripping. Adding rigid insulation glued in layers, on the back side of the attic access panel will keep insulation in place even after you retrieve the Christmas tree.
Another common problem I find in almost every home I get called in for an energy audit is lacking insulation. The easiest place to add insulation is usually the attic. I often find missing insulation that has been moved by people, animals, and wind in attics. Keeping a well insulated thermal envelope is critical for maximizing the comfort of your home.
If your home suffers from high energy bills or rooms that are not comfortable, give us a call today.
by Charles Hendricks | Nov 5, 2018 | architecture, Historic Renovation
The Old Town Harrisonburg kitchen makeover has been completed by Herr and Company. They shared some of the finish photographs with us showing off this make over. In case you did not read the first blog post HERE about this project, here is a brief summary. The home owners started renovating their downtown house to make it more friendly to modern living. They completed a few projects and then were ready to tackle the kitchen renovation. The rear porch had been enclosed and a rear deck was suffering from some lack of maintenance. Our goal, working as a design-build team with Herr and Company was to develop a plan that was structurally sound for this new space.
The existing kitchen was modest and a little dark.
The enclosed rear porch space was cut off from the rest of the house and oddly shaped to be a gathering space.
The goal for the home owners was to use all of this space for a modern and open functional kitchen. The space was restricted in width due to setbacks and existing roof lines. So the planning process was mainly to figure out how to make this narrow and long space feel open, bright, and make the work triangle small enough that it would be functional.
In order to visualize the space we developed a 3-d computer model to show the layout to our clients. This was helpful for them to work through how the space could be used.
So our rendering is fairly close to what got built, but we made a few changes. We were also able to open up the existing dining room into this space to allow for a better flow through the entire house.
We included a renovation of the existing laundry room.
This project is a great example of how to save an existing historic home, make it work for how we live today, and preserve our historical context in the neighborhood that surround downtown.
by Charles Hendricks | Oct 29, 2018 | architecture
There are many people and companies in Harrisonburg and the extended valley that care deeply about community. One of them, R.S. Monger & Sons goes PINK for breast cancer, is just one example.
As a small business owner I know first hand how many requests you can get on a weekly basis to donate money, product, and / or time. It can be overwhelming how much need there is in our community. Great causes and organizations exist on every block. That makes it especially important to have business owners that care about more than just the bottom line. We are fortunate to have companies that exist in our community doing good, with no fanfare or expectation. They do it because it is the right thing to do.
R.S. Monger and Sons is one of those organizations. While they are known for their customer service, quality products, knowledgeable employees, and tight delivery schedule, their greatest asset may be their community building. I know first hand that they care deeply for our community. Jim and John Monger are the reason that the Chesapeake Western Depot was saved and renovated. They wanted to bring this beautiful building that has a deep history in Harrisonburg back to life. It houses their businesses on the lower level, but this building is not just another downtown structure. This building is part of the fabric that holds Harrisonburg to its core roots. Saving a historic structure like this ties today to the past and builds character for a place. It was a labor of love for Jim and John to save this building and just one example of how they give back to our community.
If you have ever visited Monger Lumber you know there are lots of great people employed at this business. Having an office just up the street from their home for the past 90 years I have gotten to know a few of them. So as a fundraiser for the Real Men Wear Pink campaign I decided to take a chance that they would want to support my campaign. I suggested that they go PINK for a day – if you know the guys that work there you know this was a big ask for some of them. The company purchased PINK Gaines Group shirts for all their employees and one person even wore my PINK tutu for the day to get an extra donation. I have not seen a photo of him wearing it – I wonder if there is any evidence?
This business and this family is one of the backbones of our community. Having a construction supply company in the fourth generation of leadership from the same family in town is huge for all of us. This alone builds community.
If you want to join Monger Lumber with a donation it is not too late.
bit.ly/pinkarchitect
R.S. Monger & Sons Inc. has been a family-owned company since 1922. Currently in its fourth generation of ownership, R.S. Monger is a full-service lumberyard and building supplies store serving the Shenandoah Valley. Located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, R.S. Monger offers a variety of building materials including lumber, windows doors, brick, stone, moulding and hardware.
by Charles Hendricks | Oct 27, 2018 | architecture
I have two events scheduled in the coming days to raise money for my Real Men Wear Pink Campaign. I hope you can come to one or both.
PINK OUT dinner at Dayton Tavern
Join me for an incredible dinner at Dayton Tavern to benefit my Real Men Wear Pink of the Valley campaign. Wear your pink to show support for those that have and are battling breast cancer. More details to come soon. Put this on your schedule, you are going to want to be there.
PINK OUT Halloween Lunch with a friend
Join me for lunch at the Golden Pony to support the Real Men Wear Pink of the Valley campaign on Halloween. The Golden Pony is offering a buy one get one deal on sandwiches / burgers to benefit this event. Bring your cash / check donations to my campaign and treat a friend on Halloween to a fun lunch. I will bring the candy to help celebrate.
by Charles Hendricks | Oct 26, 2018 | architecture, Commercial Architect
The Chesapeake Western Depot is a 100 + year old beauty.
According to the Harrisonburg Daily News on April 22, 1913:
Work on the new Chesapeake Western passenger station and freight depot at the West Bruce street crossing is being rushed by the contractors. The freight shed, 120’ long, is ready for the slate roofing, with which the entire building will be covered and the concrete floor. The front of the building, of the passenger station proper, is now more than two stories high, and it too will soon be ready for the roof and the interior carpenter work. The passenger station proper is being finished on the interior with a white pressed brick, impervious to moisture, the first of its kind used in Harrisonburg, It makes a very attractive and neat appearance. The first floor of the building will be taken up by a large general waiting room, in the four corners of which will be constructed the ladies waiting room, smoking room, colored waiting room, and ticket office. These small rooms will be so constructed that the general waiting room will be octagonal in shape with a 16’ ceiling. Entrances will be made from the north and west sides with steps down to trains on the east. The second floor of the passenger station will be occupied by the general offices of the company which are at present located on the fourth floor of the First National Bank building. The building is being erected of native burned brick, with cut stone trimmings, and will be a very handsome and imposing structure when completed.
This picture was taken around 1918 and shows the engine 102 with a combination mail, passenger car, and coach ready to pull out of the Harrisonburg station on the way to Elkton. The steam engine show was buildt in 1895 by Richmond Locomotive Works.
1949 – Fire in the office space upstairs – no details
1950 – stopped us as passenger station
1980 – Building Fire in lower level in “light world” showroom. Smoke and water damage reported in upstairs offices
1980ish – second floor offices renovated and rented out to securities company
On July 28, 1982, the Chesapeake and Western Offices burned in a five alarm fire that was attributed to arson.
1982 – 1990 – building abandoned
1995 – plans for museum proposed
2003 – used as storage for feed company
2005 – JM Apartments purchased building
The building was used for storage of building materials by Monger’s Lumber for years.
2015: Rezoned to B-1 to allow for no parking requirements.
Special Use permit to allow for warehouse in B-1 district.
Proffers to limit use to professional office and retail owned by building owner.
The building came back to life and tenants moved in in July 2016.
There are monthly open houses hosted upstairs in our office and at least once a week someone stops by to check out this architectural beauty.
