What a Difference a Day Makes

I went over to the house after work knowing that the demolition was done this morning. It’s a physical shock to walk around the space and see such radical changes in less than 24 hours. It’s like high-speed urban archeology—you can peer into the guts and bones of the building, and long-covered details can be seen. I was especially struck by the stairs with their old vinyl treads and worn edges. A reminder of the many feet that walked up and down the stairs during the decades when the South End was in eclipse, a place of inexpensive housing for immigrants and railroad workers.

I have an old Boston guidebook from around 1909 that describes the South End as a “faded district.” Its initial heyday was not very long—a few decades between its construction (the 1850’s in the case of Union Park) and the completed filling-in and development of Back Bay. Many of the buildings in those days were made into rooming houses, though I have a feeling that was not the case in my building, and you could buy a whole building for a few thousand dollars. I guess it’s a testament to the quality and durability of these old buildings that so many came through in pretty solid shape.

It’s also amazing to see how much stuff can be torn out and taken away so quickly. I suppose we measure what’s possible by our own capacities, and because I couldn’t do this myself, it seems it can’t be done. Wrong, clearly! Okay, enough philosophical musing.

Remember the cabinets, destined for the appropriate circle of hell? Gone.

And the peninsula, ditto.

There's a new door in the master bedroom where the access to the new master bath will be.

Remember the pile of plumbing? Gone.

The former closet is ready for its new destiny as part of the the master bathroom, and what used to be the shower has now been turned around to become a closet.

Of course there were a couple of wrinkles--some rot where the shower used to be in the bathroom and the adjacent bedroom. It's unknown how big a deal this will be.

The architect, contractor, and I will walk through the site Thursday and more will be known then. And by that time there will be more transformation as they work on reframing the space for the new configuration.