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Staying home
‘Hotel actress is happy being a mother and housewife
The new reservation clerk on the
veteran ABC-TV series “Hotel” this
year is actress Valerie Landsburg of
TV series “Fame.” landsburg, the 5-
foot-3-inch, 29-year-old daughter of
Alan Landsburg, is married to musi
cian James MacVay and they have a
baby daughter. Taylor who is named
after one of MacVay’s guitars.
When I interviewed Landsburg in
her new Topanga Canyon home, Tay
lor, a delightful child, was bouncing
up and down, occasionally listing
slightly to the right, in her Johnny
Jump-Up. Landsburg took a bite out
of an apple, then gave it to Taylor and
said, “One of the reasons I took the job
on ‘Hotel’ is I really wanted to spend
time with Taylor. If 1 had done a main
character I never would have been
home, I never would have seen her.”
As she brewed decaff coffee in her
kitchen, Landsburg, who has had a
hectic schedule for the past eight
years, continued, “Now most of the
time I work one or two days a week.
It’s great. It’s like a gift from God.”
Landsburg’s kitchen is also a gift
because of its intelligent utilization of
space.
Examples: There are five horizon
tal shelves built into one cabinet; an
other cabinet has vertical sections so
that trays can be stored upright in
stead of on top of each other. The
kitchen drawers open on both sides so
are accessible in the kitchen and in
the adjoining alcove. And there’s a
wooded roll top on the counter to hide
appliances.
The round white oak table in the
kitchen alcove belonged to her father.
The Mexican cabinet against the wall,
which was in her parents’ house when
she was growing up, has been stripped
and waxed.
Landsburg stripped and sealed the
kitchen cabinets because she “hated
the dark wood effect that was there.”
And she sandblasted the living room
ceiling. “It brings up all the grooves
when you sandblast it,” she ex-
Takes sleuth to restore historic building
Few homeowners who buy an old neglected house imag
ine they will add house detective to their list of do-it
yourself skills.
In the process of planning for restoration, says Better
Homes and Gardens Remodeling Ideas, most remodelers
soon find the only way to undertake a successful restora
tion is to search out the hidden clues that reveal how their
historic home originally looked.
The sleuthing process is challenging, sometimes re
warding, and often tedious. Historic restoration experts,
such as Des Moines architect Bill Wagner, regularly find
out about old houses by nosing around inside and outside,
checking on records, boning up on building methods used
long ago and quizzing previous homeowners and
neighbors.
Whether it’s a schoolhouse, a mansion or an ordinary
home, it takes detective work and a keen eye to find often
elusive clues. Once the clues are found, it takes knowl
edge of past building materials and methods to piece the
clues together
To anyone thinking of restoring an old home to its origi
nal elegance, Wagner offers these suggestions:
Take photographs of everything before, during and af
ter the restoration project.
Make measured drawings of every room and every im
portant item The drawings may save you time or disclose
a revealing clue later in the restoration process.
If skeptical about whether a door or window is original
to the house cake off a piece of trim to see whether there
is anything of interest underneath. Wallpaper or paint
underneath means that particular opening probably was
put ui after the structure was built.
If the windows or doors of the house may not be the
original ones, knock off some plaster inside the house or
remove some of the siding on the exterior. Then look for
signs of structural changes within the walls.
Old footings can t>e tound by probing the ground with a
rod to find a solid foundation. When trying to locate an
entire room, dig a trench out from the house until reach
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Valerie Landsburg
plained. “When you strip, you don’t
get the grooves it makes a huge
difference.”
The white oak floors in the living
room are all new, ‘‘laid from
scratch.” But unfortunately, soon af
ter Landsburg moved in, the upstairs
plumbing went haywire causing a
downstairs flood that damaged the
floor and almost ruined her husband’s
newly built 8-track recording studio.
“It was your worst nightmare,”
said Landsburg. “I couldn’t believe it
was happening. I had a baby in my
arms, my husband was out of town,
I’m like Oh, my god! I put the baby
down in a dry spot and tried to deal
with it.”
She dealt with it. The floor has been
swept out, the rug hauled outside and,
soon, thanks to insurance, a new oak
fkK , will be laid.
how to heat the house was another
problem. Electricity was ruled out as
too expensive. There are no gas lines
where she lives so Landsburg chose to
install a wood-burning stove. The
black stove sits on a raised slate plat
form in the comer of the living room.
Next to the stove is a wedding present,
a small broom and shovel hanging
from a wrought-iron stand. Nearby is
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ing a foundation or footing. Sometimes in dry weather the
ground color or grass color changes, which is evidence of
a footing or a walk having been there.
Look closely at paint to find irregularities. A ridge in
the paint may indicate molding was removed, slight
rise in the paint may indicate something underneath it.
This method helped Wagner discover an 8-year-old mural
painted in gold leaf under layers of wall paint.
Knowing how a mason lays up a wall can help when
restoring stone or brick structures. Masons start laying
stone or brick at a window jamb or corner. If the house
reveals slivers of stone or brick around windows and
doors, it’s likely an opening was cut after the house was
built.
Letters and interviews with the owners’ relatives and
neighbors often reveal helpful information. This research
can even yield photographs of the house in its original
state.
Finding different kinds of nails is evidence of changes.
When Wagner restored an 1850 s Quaker schoolhouse in
West Branch, lowa, he found three kinds of lath nails, an
indication of three alterations. The shape of the nail and
the method used to produce it may also provide a clue
about the age of the alteration.
Old construction books often give specifications for
buildings that may help pinpoint the age of the structure.
The local historical society may have copies of such
books.
Shallow identations in the walls are often important
clues to where original walls and chimneys were located.
Researching old abstracts at the county courthouse
may tell when the value of a property increased. For
example, Wagner learned that a certain piece of property
sold in 1848 for SSO. Three years later it sold for $35. Ten
years after that it sold for SSOO. From this information,
Wagner deduced that between 1851 and 1861 a house was
built on the property. Increases in property values and
the dates when mortgages were taken out can reveal
when remodelings occurred.
LTD r/
□ □
a straw basket with pinecones resting
inside, and a large glass vase filled
with long twigs.
Landsburg really likes vases but, at
her wedding three years ago, she
“ended up with a million” as gifts. “I
have vases everywhere you look,” she
said, as she opens cabinets chockful of
vases to prove her point.
Near the fireplace is a white wicker
storage chest used for both storage
and seating. Taylor’s huge white ted
dy bear sits on top of the chest that
used to be in Landsburg’s bedroom
it may appear there again.
Much of Landsburg’s rustic new
house is still in chaos with vases,
books and chachkas (‘‘l’m the
chachka queen, I have stuff that will
fill all the shelves”) still in cartons.
She tore down the wallpaper in the
hallway and is going to paint it white.
She plans to complete the decorat
ing in the next couple months and will
put French doors both off the kitchen
alcove and off the bedroom, which
leads to a newly built redwood deck
that has a view of the surrounding
hills unobstructed except for the local
power lines and a crew of pheasant
walking single file across the road.
Landsburg picked up her baby as
we walked upstairs, passing a sky
light above the stairs and storage cab
inets built into the walls. “My office is
going to be white with a black striped
tiled floor,” she explaiend. “The den,
hallway and stairways are getting a
Treadford carpet which is black with
a white thread running through it.”
There will be a white Berber carpet in
her bedroom.
Landsburg bounced Taylor in her
arms and started singing the song
from “Sesame Street,” Landsburg,
who has not only acted but has also
written and directed, feels, for the
moment at least, content working
part time.
She said, “The priorities in my life
have really changes the past couple of
years. I’m having a good time here in
my house.”
Holidays
Wo will
bo doted
Thanksgiving
Doy
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265-2279
CLEANSWEEPSALE!
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