Nor'East Architectural Antiques

Progress

Things are moving along very fast these days.  Here is a picture of our new building that I took this morning.

 

As you can see all of the painting has been finished and the antique posts and beams have been installed.  What a job that was!  Here are a couple pictures of that process so you can fully appreciate what a great job everyone did.

 

 

All of these beams were installed in the span of 10 days!

Updates

Someone pointed out to me that its been a month since my last update here.  That shows you how busy we've been.  But, since I know how much everyone likes to see the progress we have been making I thought I would take a minute and show you.

First, they finished the sheetrocking.

 

And then Mike started to tape and plaster.

 

John has continued installing the heating system

 

Dave has started painting

 

And I have been updating the website with lots of great new inventory (check it out)

Finally...sheetrock!

Well this week we reached a milestone.  The contractors started installing sheetrock.  If you had told us on June 4th that on January 7th we would still not be in our new building I probably would have laughed at you, but I'm not laughing now...not that I blame anyone, things just move a little slower during the winter in New England. 

But on the bright side, Brian and I have been working diligently on our new heating system.  Back on September 17th we posted pictures of the guys installing our radiant heat tubing.  Now we've finally reached the point where we are setting up our salvaged Weil Mclaine oil boilers (which we plan to run bio-diesel in).  Eventually we plan to install solar panels on the roof to run the system. The building was designed to be very tight and evergy efficient so it should not take a lot to heat it.

Here is a picture of one of the three radiant heat manifolds.  By this time next week the heat will be on. 

In closing, Donna and I would like to wish all of our customers a Happy New Year.  Lets hope 2009 turns out to be a bit better than 2008!

John

Progress!

It's a Start, and its BIG!

As you can see they started putting up walls today.

This will be our main showroom, the first of 3 buildings that we will be building to replace what we lost.

Finally things are starting to happen!!

Hi Everyone,

Good news all around.  First, as you can see, construction on our new buildings is about to begin.  Here is a picture taken yesterday of our crew installing the radiant heat under our 11,000 s.f. showroom. 

The building that you see in the back is our warehouse that somehow was left untouched by the fire. We consider ourselves very lucky that this buidling survived. It is being used as a temp. showroom until the new one is finished.

Also, inventory, like this load of barnboard, has been arriving daily. 

   

We have started to update our website. www.noreast1.com

This past weekend our staff participated in a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Together "Team Noreast" raised over $4500, and that number is still climbing!  If anyone would like to sponsor us there is still time.  Just click on this link... http://main.acsevents.org/site/TRpg=team&fr_id=11207&team_id=272136

And last but not least, we have two new mascots!!
As anyone who ever visited our store before the fire knows, Nor'East was home to 3 cats, Jack, Lilly and Caesar.  "The Kids" as I liked to call them were members of the Nor'East family, and they added a unique element to our business.  They loved to greet customers at the door and lead them on a little tour of the showroom.   Sadly, all three died in our fire, and while their loss was devistating, we realize that life, along with business, must go on.  So please allow me to introduce Sophie and Simon.  Both are Maine Coon kittens, and Sophie is directly related to Lilly (which just makes me feel good!)

Well thats it for now...watch the website for updates!! and THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us during this difficult time. 

Best,

Donna

Please Sponsor Us!!

This weekend, the entire Nor'East family will once again be participating in the Amesbury Relay for Life. 

The Relay for Life is an event sponsored by the American Cancer Society. The goal is to raise money for cancer research, patient services and education.  This will be our 5th year participating!!  Each of us has our own personal reason for taking up this cause.  I do it for my mom, who we lost to lung cancer 5 years ago.  John relays for his father and both in-laws.  Won't you please help us reach our goal??? Any amount of money will help, and you can donate it to one of us or the team in general.

  Please Click Here  and donate what you can!!! 

and THANK YOU for your support!

Donna

ps....as far as rebuilding goes, the site work has begun and the footings are in!  If all goes well our first new building should be up in mid-October, and hopefully ready by the end of November.  We plan to start updating our website by the first of next week!!

Do You Have Pictures??

Hi Everyone,

We are searching for anyone with pictures of the inside of our building taken within the last 6-8 months.  If you visited our shop and took pictures of anything at all please email them to us at mail@noreast1.com

Also, several people have asked me to include the following information.
A fund has been set up for our employees.  It is called the Nor'East Fire Fund.  Donations can be sent to The Provident Bank, 5 Market Street, Amesbury Ma  01913.  This fund was set up by Officer Tom Hanshaw of the Amesbury Police Department to help the families affected by our fire. 

We'd like to say Thank You! to everyone who has offered their help to us during the past 2 weeks.  We are overwhelmed by the generosity that everyone has shown to us. 

~Donna

The Fire

Dear Friends,

On Tuesday, June 3rd at 6:50 pm, a fire broke out in our warehouse and quickly spread to our showroom.  While we are grateful that no one was hurt during the 6 alarm fire, all of our inventory and our buildings were destroyed. 

We also lost our 3 beloved cats, Lilly, Jack and Caesar.

We would like to thank all of the people who have stepped forward to help us during this tragedy, including the 100+ firemen from 22 different towns who fought the blaze, the South Hampton police department, everyone at CP Lumber Supply, co., Chris at Architectural Salvage, Jim and Maureen Swenson, customers who drove from Lynn at 11 pm the night of the fire just to offer us their support (we love you both!),  our employees who have been to work every single day since the fire, Jayson Raymond from Raymond Dismantling, Frank Crocker at the Granite Group,  and our families and close friends who have stood by us during this past week of hell.

Although we are not open for day to day business, we are still welcoming inquiries for barnboard, heart pine and other antique building materials.  Believe it or not, new inventory has already started to arrive.

We will rebuild.  Soon.  And It Will Be Amazing!

Thank you to everyone!

Donna & John

 

 

Busy Busy Busy

Well it looks like it is going to be a very busy spring here at Nor'East.  Today is Saturday, and this coming weeks schedule is already full.  The past two weeks are a blur (and we apologize for not updating this blog sooner) 

This week phase 2 of the Catholic Rectory Job will begin and the large main staircase will finally be removed as well as the beautiful brownstone columns with corinthian capitals.    Also this week, we  start salvaging an Edwardian town house in Brookline, Ma. 

A few items new to the shop this week are...

a butlers pantry

a 1929 Kohler soaking tub

and this fantastic 2 pc. victorian mantel