8th Annual Whittier Historic Neighborhood Home Tour

Five pre-1930 homes will be open for a self-guided tour this coming weekend, on October 25, 2008.

Tour homes include:

A 1919 Colonial Revival home on Greenleaf Avenue with strong Southern antebellum influences.
A 1911 Craftsman with Victorian features on Bright Avenue.
A 1922 Colonial Revival with "a beautiful porch" on Washington Avenue.
A Spanish Bungalow with a built-in desk in the study on Friends Avenue.
A two-story Crafstman with a cockpit roof on Painter Avenue.


Date: Saturday, October 25, 2008

Time: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Cost: $15 in advance; $18 on tour day

Advance tickets may be purchased at Pour Le Bain, 6721 Greenleaf Ave.; Whittier Museum, 6755 Newlin Ave.; Whittier Art Gallery, 8035 Painter Ave. and at the Friday morning farmers' market between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Oct. 10, 17 and 24th at 12900 Bailey St., between Greenleaf and Comstock avenues. On tour day, go to 6318 Washington Ave. to purchase tickets and obtain a map.

Contact Info: (562) 464-9543; www.whittierhistoric.org

Other features: A vintage clothing display will be featured in one of the houses. Two classic autos will be parked in front of each tour home. Hoover School's parent organization will have a fund-raising refreshment sales area at the corner of Painter and Camellia.

Pink, Yellow, Blue, Mint Green...Vintage-Colored Toilet Seats

I was doing some research on the internet today, looking for companies who made vintage-colored toilet seats. We recently saved a cool retro blue toilet and sink from a bathroom remodel. But of course, the toilet seat was white, clearly not the original!

For those of you who are restoring a 1940's/1950's bathroom with pastel-colored fixtures, you know it's not that easy to make repairs, especially finding a toilet seat to match the original color. Lo and behold, I found out that Bemis (yes, the company that makes toilet seats sold at Lowes and Home Depot) can color match one of their toilet seats to just about any hard-to-find color!

Check it out at http://www.colordirectseats.com/

Photo source: Retro Renovation Blog

To see samples of Good Home Construction's previous and current projects, click HERE.

Plaster and Woodwork Projects for a Tudor Revival

This gorgeous Tudor Revival needed a few plaster and woodwork projects done to really make the interior pop! We matched the plaster texture above the fireplace and in the existing niches, constructed custom wood and glass shelves in the niches, rounded the tops of 2 niche cut-outs near the front door, added a rustic rough-hewn wood fireplace mantel, added electrical wiring to hang 2 iron chandeliers, and added custom wood shelves in the living room closet. Voila!

Fireplace BEFORE


Fireplace AFTER with rustic mantel, plaster texture, and custom wood shelves in the niches





Front Door Rectangular Niches BEFORE


Front Door Niches AFTER with rounded tops and custom glass and wood shelves

Living Room Closet BEFORE


Living Room Closet AFTER with custom wood shelves, baseboard and floor replacements (also custom wood shelf on side niche on wall)

Living Room Ceiling BEFORE

Living Room Ceiling AFTER with 2 iron chandeliers

To see more interior work we've done, click HERE to see Interior work under the Project Photos section.