The Devil Queen

How my wife and I sold our souls to the Queen Anne Victorian we tried to save.

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Location: Crow Mountain, Arkansas, United States

Synopsis: This is a cautionary tale. A seriously disturbed couple find the charming, old ruin of a Queen Anne Victorian in Russellville, Arkansas, and buy it for $1.00. They tore the roof off, cut it in half, and had it moved to some land they owned sixteen miles away because they didn't know any better. Since then, they have hired and fired contractors, had all of their tools stolen, re-wired, re-plumbed, insulated, and essentially rebuilt the entire house. Their only problem is that after four years it still isn't finished. Now they are tired, broke, and wonder what in the hell it is they've done to themselves. And, it's haunted.
(Last updated on April 3, 2008)

Press: Russellville Courier Article - December 2003, HGTV website article, AP story - October 2006, and Victorian Homes Magazine - February 2008 (link coming soon).
Art: From time to time, I receive requests for my art. If you would like to look at more of my art, go to The Failed Artist. If you would like to buy my art, email me. I am more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Thanks!

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Pissing and Moaning

I have not enjoyed my week. I spent the first half of the week wallowing in self-pity and despair, having arguments with the Mrs., and getting in touch with my inner-nihilist. That hasn't left me much time or interest in posting or anything else. I've spent the rest of the week trying to clean up the mess from the first half of the week. I don't know if I've succeeded, but I feel some better for the effort.

The weekend had its ups and downs. On the upside, my friend Daryl came up Saturday and primed 95% or more of the master bathroom's siding. Charlie came up Sunday and we finished laying the kitchen floor (Wow! It only took three month!) and ran a lot of plumbing (cold water feed). On the down side, Tony's last day was Friday. The job he was waiting on was finally ready to start, so he'd be leaving us. I was pretty disappointed. There was about 14 linear feet of crown molding and trim left unfinished, the front porch need to be trimmed out, and the bay window still needed to be repair. I can do all of this, but it'll take me a lot longer than it would Tony and his crew. Also, Mr. Seals, our brick mason didn't show. And, our electrician didn't show either.

By Sunday night the Mrs. and I were feeling pretty wretched. We had an argument because both of us are upset with the Queen. The main point of contention was basically a disagreement on how bad our situation is, what we should do about it, and what has this whole experience told us about ourselves. Truth and self-examination are never pretty, particularly in the hands of ambitious, driven people who've fallen far short of their own expectations.

Monday was a gloomy day. We've given up on the idea of rocking in the crawlspace for now. We were considering using concrete blocks and laying rock veneer over it later. Our foundation man came out and said that he couldn't do it without jacking the house up, removing the perimeter piers, and then building the wall. He suggested that we get some concrete board, screw it into the piers, and cover the base of it with dirt or other fill. Chances are that's what we'll do as a temporary measure. Not real excited about it, but it's better than nothing.

Tuesday night we discovered it wasn't fairies working on the Queen during the week, it was Tony. His lovely wife called us to let us know. According to her, they weren't quite ready for him at his next job, so Monday and Tuesday he worked on the Queen. According to my wife, he has started working on the main hall. I haven't seen it yet, so I have no idea what he's finished.

Wednesday, my little sister sent me a care package. That brightened my mood some. In addition to the Arborio rice and the French Roast coffee, she also sent me this article. The article is from Natural Home and Garden Magazine, and it is about a woman in Houston, Texas, who moves historic homes. Pretty cool story, sounds like she is a lot better at it than we are.

Thursday has been pretty decent. I'm a bit disappointed though. Most of my mom's family is on their way to San Francisco now for my cousin's wedding. If it wasn't for the Queen, I'd be on my way too. As far as I know, it is the largest family get together (that was not a funeral) in 16 or 17 years.

Tomorrow, I don't think that I'll be going to my day job. Partly it is to work on the Queen and have a date with my wife. We haven't seen much of each other since she started working for the newspaper. It's also because I don't have enough money to drive to work and back home again. Really. You just think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

Since I paid our insurance on the Queen today, I have no money in my checking account, and I don't get paid for a week. I have no idea how I'm going to get to work next week. I guess it's time to check under all the cushions in the living room again.


Daryl at work. He confided that he has an unfortunate compulsion. Once he opens a can of paint, he feels compelled to continue painting until the can is empty. It sucks for him, but I'm loving it.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

check your paypal acct. good luck

8:03 AM  

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