Paymaster's Office Revisited

Anyone who has been reading this journal for a while probably saw those incredible pictures of the Paymaster's Office and said, "something's fishy."

Just out of camera range, everything was in total chaos. This was due in small part to the photographers, who love to move things around, but in large part to me, because I was too clever for my own good. Our deadline was September 23 but the photographers could only come September 18 or mid-October. Not willing to wait, and knowing we were only going to photograph the bedroom, I told everyone to focus on that, and as you can see it turned out beautifully.

However, that meant with one week to deadline, everyone moved into the kitchen: The contractor was installing the cabinets, the granite guy was installing the countertop, the plumbers were installing the sink, Dawn and Matt were painting, Darin was installing the windows, storm windows, and blinds, Ruth was cleaning, and the locksmith was installing a lock! And all of this was happening in about 15 square feet!

How it all came together, I have no idea, because everyone knew that I created the situation and I was staying as far away as possible. But it did come together with only a few minor glitches:

• The electricians ran the phone line but didn't terminate it with a connector! So I went to plug the line into my PBX and instead of an RJ11 jack I found...nothing. Needless to say, there's no phone service.
• The Paymaster's Window (which is inside the building between the bedroom and the kitchen) needs to be tempered glass, which needs to be special ordered, which hasn't come in yet, so there's no Paymaster's Window. Since it is inside it's no big deal, except the kitchen wall is painted green and the bedroom wall is painted brown and it looks pretty funny where they come together.
• The upholstered chairs weren't finished in time. Dawn and I put in some antique windsor chairs which, for wooden chairs, are surprisingly comfortable.
• The kitchen cabinet doors need another coat of paint, but because we were afraid they would stink up the house, we took the cabinet doors out. So imagine all your kitchen cabinets without any doors.
• Now imagine them without any dishes, either, because I realized (too late) that I hadn't washed them yet. This set of china Dawn actually found sitting in the barn, boxed, in perfectly good condition. It's a nice set, and the price was right, but I have no idea how long they'd been sitting in the barn, and in any case they needed to be run through the dishwasher.
• Finally, the bathroom needs a towel ring and a door hook, the front door jamb needs to be painted, and the gutter spout needs to be finished. But all in all a very small and manageable list. Considering the shape of that building not four weeks ago, it's nothing short of a miracle.

And what was the driver for this death-march? What could possibly motivate a dozen people to work insane hours to finish on this particular date? A wedding, of course. Or in our case, two weddings.

A couple from Texas was coming to Lancaster to get married, and wanted to spend their first night in the Paymaster's Office. (And they saw it when it was still full of junk and 30+ years of dirt!) We agreed that if the Paymaster's Office wasn't finished in time, that they could stay in the Summer Kitchen.

Then we found out the couple that had rented the Summer Kitchen for several years (before we started renovation) were getting married on the same weekend, and wanted to spend their first night in there! And while the Summer Kitchen does sleep four, both couples were very clear that they did not want to share.

So we had to finish the Paymaster's Office, or risk disappointing both brides. Just the thought of that--or perhaps the thought of facing bridezilla--kept everyone going day and night. Matt in particular deserves special praise, as he worked as late as 4am to get the painting finished.

And yes, the brides were thrilled.