From Thomas, you can follow the old railroad, now a hiking and biking trail, through the Blackwater Canyon and all the way to Parsons, WV. On the way, just outside of Thomas, you'll find this beautiful, old open metal grate bridge.
The hills are alive
The hill behind our apartment building is blooming. Here, our son makes letters out of flowers.
Three of the total six apartments have been spoken for!
The apartments at the Milkint Building are almost ready for tenants! Three of the total six apartments have been spoken for. Check out the descriptions of the three remaining apartments here!
Rainy spring day
It may be raining buckets outside, but we have wild spring flowers inside (all from the hill behind our apartment building).
Retail spaces perfect for any business
Vintage tin cans brighten up the shelves of the street-front retail space at 172 Spruce Street. With original built-in shelves, original counters, and large, hand-blown glass display windows, the commercial spaces at the Milkint Building are perfect for any business. Open the store you’ve always dreamed of in this space!
Our next restoration project...
In the middle of the floor of the street-front retail space of our building sits a beautiful cast iron potbelly stove from 1901. We'd love to restore it one day. For now, it serves as the perfect place for candles. Photo courtesy of @bigplanetsmallworld
Happy Spring!
Wild daffodils and coltsfoot picked by our son on top of an old door we found in the building during renovations.
A beautiful, original safe
In a corner of the street-front retail space of our building sits a safe with the name of the original store owners, Milkint Bros., painted across the top. We don't know how old the safe is, but we know that the two Milkint brothers ran a general store in this space from 1905 onward. One of our contractors spent a whole weekend cracking the combination lock. There was no treasure inside, but now we have a working safe.
Rent this space!
We've started to rent out the street-front retail space of our building for events. So far, the space has hosted a 50th birthday party, a magic performance for 30 kids, and a sit-down dinner for 16 people. Planning a party? A rehearsal dinner? A wine tasting? Rent our space! Photo courtesy of @bigplanetsmallworld
Beauty in decay
When we started renovating our building the roof had caved in on one side of the building. We were able to save and restore about 40 percent of the original lath and plaster walls (on the side where the roof hadn't collapsed), but many walls were too damaged by water and mold to be saved. It's a shame, because they were beautiful, even in in their disintegrating state. Here, fragments of paint and crumbling wallpaper hint at what was once there.
