The Dowd House

In my spare time of not running a business and restoring historic homes (😁) I found another worthwhile endeavor… saving historic trolleys! Thank you PBS for sharing our story!!

Historic Infrastructure | Trail Of History Explore the history and unique stories behind our region's Forgotten Infrastructure on Trail of History. In Belmont, meet the folks of Belmont Trolley workin...

Leading up to acquiring the Dowd House property, we had lost our beloved English Cream Retriever, Badger and would soon lose his brother, Trigger. As we began construction on the Dowd House in the fall of 2021, we made a decision to find a breeder and bring a new member into the family. Since this dog would often accompany Kathy to work during weekdays, we appropriately named him Dowdy. Below are photos of Dowdy as the project progressed. Obviously he has progressed too and will soon find a second home at the Dowd House!😁

Well… after two years, numerous unexpected obstacles and hard work on the part of so many wonderful contractors and vendors, it’s Moving Day!! Pictures to come!

And the floors are done! Very happy with our decision not to stain floors and instead simply go with poly. It brought out the natural beauty in the wood!

Guess what property got its electrical final today?! After owning the Dowd for more than two years, tonight is the first time I have seen it all lit up. An amazing site it is!😁

Super excited… today we began the process of sanding the original (145 year old) heart pine floors! They are going to be beautiful!!😁

I love the smell of fresh paint on a Saturday morning!

Kitchen countertops going in. I really like the marble choice… goes well with the dark green cabinets. Looking forward to finished product next week.

Lighting began going up yesterday! Very happy with the selections. Modern with a nod to the past😁

Today began the process of assigning mantles to the seven fire places. Unfortunately, most of the original mantels were lost decades ago. Further complicating the matter, at some point (most likely during the Dowd’s time as headquarters to Camp Green in the early 1900’s) the fireplaces were converted to coal burning. The fire boxes were shrunk as a result. We removed the added brick, which had deteriorated, and went back to the original brick box. That increased the size of the firebox which means most of the replica mantles have to be repositioned or replaced. While I’m still looking for antique mantels to replace some, we are moving forward with what we have…plus a few antique mantels we were able to source. The result, short and long term should be beautiful! Especially when paired with the new black granite hearth and surrounds which will be installed in the next week or so.

The other big news from the day… almost two years since purchasing the property, we have heat!! It’s been a long time coming and amazing what a difference it makes having a conditioned structure😁 This will allow, among other things, interior painting to really get going.

Much happening at the Dowd House today! My friend Arturo’s team did a wonderful job finishing the custom iro railings around the house. They turned out better than I could have imagined!!