Goals and Motivation

What motivates you? Family? Wealth? Prominence in your community?

How long do you give yourself time to meet your goals? How do you select them?

How do you prioritize them?

I reached a goal this weekend – I moved into my house I have been renovating. It’s been a long (like 13 years) process. The progress has come in waves – I work hard at it for a few months. Then I take a break. Some breaks were intentional – like a vacation. Some were unexpected – like coming down with a bout of pneumonia, or taking care of a loved one who is sick.

My house is far from finished. But it is habitable. That is what matters. I’m regarding this weekend like a camping trip. I sleep here, but my shower isn’t done in the house, so I shower in the carriage house apartment. I brush my teeth and make my coffee in the main house, but I have no food here, so I have breakfast in the carriage house.

Slowly, things are coming together.

How did I end up here?

I’ve always dreamed of buying an old fixer-upper and renovating it. My dad built and renovated homes after he retired from the Air Force, so I have always been around residential construction.

I met somebody who had a similar upbringing. We both loved old homes and renovation. We started dating. We remodeled several homes together. We got married. I bought this house for us as our project and our home.

We gutted the house while living in the carriage house. It was fun and exciting.

Then, as the project wore on, and finances got tight (home renovation is expensive), I noticed that my partner was not so interested in the project.

Long story shortened – we divorced after 6 years of marriage. He moved out, and I kept the house.

I loved this house still, but I now had the task of putting it back together on my own. It had no functioning bathrooms. It had no drywall. It had no ceilings. My dogs loved running from the front of the house to the back of the house through all the studs.

I worked on it slowly. I made a lot of mistakes. Finally, I hired a contractor who understood that I was finishing it on my own schedule – as I made extra money, I would finish a project in the house. Plumbing was completed one winter. Electric was completed the following spring. Insulation was installed over the summer and fall – I even did some of this work myself. Drywall followed. I primed and painted the entire downstairs – with the help of friends. You can find updates on different projects in earlier blog posts.

This summer I saved enough money to have a bathroom finished. Today, the sink, the light fixture and medicine cabinet will be installed.

I’ve spent the last two nights here, and I can say I’ve slept better those two nights than I have in a very long time. My dogs seem to like it.

So, what is my next goal?

My house will be visited by a local walking tour group on October 24 – and I want my kitchen to be completed. I will need to paint all of my cabinets as I purchased unfinished cabinets to save money. I also want to get the downstairs in order.

This winter I will start working on the owner’s suite – the shower needs tiled and the entire bathroom needs baseboards and window trim. Then I will prime and paint the owner’s bedroom, replace the skylight (it blew off during a storm this summer and now leaks), and install baseboard and window trim. Then install hardwood flooring.

In the spring I will assess the next phase of goals.

Tell me about your goals and describe what motivates you.

Ohio’s Beautiful Statehouse

One of my most favorite buildings in Columbus is the Ohio Statehouse. It is called “The People’s House” because it was built to serve the citizens of Ohio.

It was completed in 1861 as a result of the State Legislature’s passage of a law on January 26, 1838 to build a new statehouse. Construction began with a contest – a design competition was announced – asking architects and designers to send in their entries of a new statehouse. The legislature reviewed 60 entries, and awarded prizes to three entrants. During the construction period, there actually were seven architects who worked on the project, the most notable architect being Nathan B. Kelly from Columbus. Construction of the statehouse took twenty-two years to complete and the building continues to serve as the heart of Ohio’s government today. The original structure exhibits the Greek Revival architectural style.

Much of the construction work was performed by convict laborers from the close-by Ohio Penitentiary, particularly the foundation and ground floors – and the tall wooden fence erected around the Capitol Square to keep the convict laborers on the construction site became a Columbus landmark of its own. Skilled tradesmen completed the higher elevation construction and the final finishes.

The limestone walls of the Statehouse are made of stone that was quarried in Columbus. A close examination of these limestone walls will reveal fossils in the stone, including the trilobite, Ohio’s state fossil.

Additions to the Statehouse include the construction of the Senate Building (Statehouse Annex) in 1901 designed by Samuel Hannaford & Sons of Cincinnati. It is built in the Neoclassical Revival Style.

From 1998 – 1996, the Capitol Atrium addition was built and the Statehouse underwent an extensive renovation using designs by Schooley Caldwell Associates and Moody Nolan Ltd, both of Columbus. These renovations include bringing the building to meet twentieth century building code, installing a fire suppression system, upgrades to electrical and heating and air conditioning systems, making the building more assessable according to the American Disabilities Act, and a reworking of interior spaces to make the building more efficient for its occupants.

The Statehouse was recognized as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary Department of Interior in 1978.

The Ohio Statehouse covers nearly two acres of land, and when it was built, it had a place for every branch and function of state government within its walls. At that time, it was second in size only to the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C.

The original cost to build the Statehouse was 1.3 million dollars. Today, that amount would equal over 100 million dollars.

In 1861, the Statehouse became the first Columbus skyscraper. It maintained that distinction until 1927, when it was surpassed in height by the LeVeque Tower.

Although most elements of the original structure remain in place, some traditions are no longer followed. At the time the Statehouse construction was completed, Columbus residents would use the Statehouse’s large green lawns as grazing areas for their milking cows and carriage horses. Animals left on the grounds would be stabled in a small area in the building’s basement. The Ohio Legislature banned the use of the Statehouse as a stable in 1878, but the residents continued to use the Statehouse lawns as their livestock grazing areas into the 1880s, according to newspaper reports.

One of my favorite places in the Statehouse is in the rotunda. If you look up, this is what you see.

If you look at the floor, this is your view.

I have to admit, looking at the floor makes me a little dizzy.

An architect friend of mine told me that the acoustics are so good in the rotunda, that you can stand in the middle of it on the center medallion, your voice will be heard throughout the rotunda without any need for a microphone. I believe it! Because of this fact, I always whisper when I visit.

Tell me – what is your favorite building in Columbus? In Ohio? In your favorite city?

I will write more posts on my favorite Columbus structures soon!