On April 29th I took a leap of faith and trusted what I saw and read on the good old “interweb” (as my dad calls it) and reached out to a total stranger who had been posting some really impressive restoration projects on one of those restoration group pages on Facebook. “Our stairway needs help”, I typed into Messenger, along with the link to this blog and an inquiry about his location. He responded back quickly, “I’m in New England”. Oh boy, I thought. That’s not a surprise, knowing the projects he’d posted, but that’s not next door. “I would love to be a part of your beautiful home’s journey” he wrote. I could only imagine the cost to get this preservationist from New England out to the Wild West town of Deadwood, but I figured WHAT THE HELL… all I can do is thank him and report that I could not afford it.
We messaged back and forth several times, trying to work out logistics, and to get travel, housing, shipping of equipment and a cost together and low and behold, the stars aligned, and we landed on a number that I had not budgeted for, but could work into the plan. (Sad story here. I was working with Motawi tile company in CA for the living room tile design. When I had my consultation with the designer, she informed me that tile wouldn’t be made and shipped until Christmas… a non-starter for us, so I had a budget there!) I asked for some references to be doubly certain that he wasn’t all smoke and mirrors and I wasn’t going to commit to a contract with someone who didn’t pan out. I texted those ladies for my reassurance and then asked for the contract. Boom. It was on its way. Next to tell Dan.
“You did what?” he laughed. Like it was a bad idea. “You invited some guy you don’t know to live in Deadwood for 1-2 weeks?” Like that wasn’t a normal thing to do. He wasn’t living with us, after all! Then the details and explanations started and by the end of the discussion, while not 100% sold on the deal, he agreed that the stairway needed special devoted attention and that neither of us, nor any great craftsman from the area, wanted to tackle the spindles, newel and railing, so it was the solution. We were inked, travel plans made, adjusted and our new friend Dylan Lorditch, of Lorditch Painting and Restoration in Charlton, MA was headed to the infamous town of Deadwood. You can find him on Facebook @Lorditch Painting and Restoration. He also has some pics on his personal page.
Since the pro was on his way, Dan and I kicked it in gear and stripped the exterior beige nonstick tread paint, white and cream, next green and finally the old shellac from the stair treads and risers. We wanted as much of the mess out of the way as possible before he started. I joked that I met Dan because I needed a remodel of my stairway in my house on the hill, and here we were, two years to the day later, stripping our own beautiful stairway. Not the most romantic way to acknowledge the two-year mark of our knowing each other, but pretty typical for us, so I relished in the paint fumes, the burned fingertips and the progress we’ve had together in those years since we met. That day was a lucky one for me.
Here is the spindle process. It took days of work to get to the point where final poly and polish were a go. I think Dylan was still spiffing the buffing after dinner, the night before he was set to fly out.
Dylan spent the entire week at Charles, painstakingly stripping, sanding, conditioning, scraping, staining and polishing the stairway spindles, rail and newel post. As expected, they are all black walnut. Under 132 years of paint and gooey shellac, that walnut was begging for its first breath of this century. And, when she started breathing, she completely came to life.
And with a lot of hands-on polishing and caressing, the color returned to her cheeks, so to speak, and even with a bit of past remodel damage and modification, she is shining like a beauty queen.
These are the stages of that beautiful newel post. I can just imagine all the years of so many people grabbing it to ascend or tossing coats on it when they came inside.
And, since winter in the Hills is gone (sort of) but summer hasn’t arrived, Dan continued the work on the risers and treads, and they are looking mighty spiffy and will soon be ready for finish!
So, in what was a very full week of work, Mr. Dylan Lorditch zipped out of the East and into God’s country of 605 (Happy 605 Day!). We managed to squeeze in some excitement proving that Deadwood has the same social rule as Vegas. What happens in DWood, stays in DWood. But our new friend can attest that, yes, it is still a lot like the Deadwood series, but nobody got killed. We will always remember the good Sunday laughs we had, the stories of the Miner’s Hotel & Restaurant, complete with no maid service, no working door, access via the window, and no lamps, and sitting in Bob’s Silver Star laughing so hard I almost wet my pants, learning of the “great hike in Alaska”! What started as a skeptical idea and one with great opportunity to go completely wrong, turned in to a new friendship. Dan has even invited Dylan back. Next time to stay with us, complete with clean linens and working lamps, to hit the snowmobile trails, and to turn him loose up on Terry Peak. We hope he will return, when the work is done and it’s time to really experience the beauty of the Hills. And the finished beauty of Charles.
In a time of shootings and disrespect, of sadness and tragedy and bad politics and war, I happened to chance the Interweb and found not only a skilled craftsman who has contributed to one of the most significant parts of Charles, but we also found a friend and restoration synergy. My D-squared team of Dan and Dylan brought Charles out of the grave. Now… we wait for our third D, Dusten, to return to restore our dining/kitchen floors and to do some tilework. Happily, we don’t have to import that skilled man. He’s living up the hill and he’s set to start very soon.
Thanks for reading. Have faith that there are genuine, hardworking folks out there and we all can spread a little peace and joy among strangers.
Saving Charles 
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