Nostalgic Castle: Rescuing a Vintage Home in an Environmentally Sound Way

Ways to get involved in the castle rescue and Nostalgic Life (tours,parties,your custom events):

*Call or email us with any ideas or questions for the castle
*Buy and/or sell property through Nostalgic Realty
*Refer people that buy and/or sell property through Nostalgic
*Become a Nostalgic Broker or Lender
*Affiliate your club, business or charity with Nostalgic 

Rescue Diary

07/01/08: Copy of the press release sent out this month:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, OR July 2, 2008 - Nostalgic Realty is listing, restoring and remodeling a castle home, Canterbury Castle, originally built in 1931 in the West Hills of Portland, Oregon that will implement the newest green building technologies, incorporated into a castle that is on the National Historic Register. Due to the age of the home, and its historic status in the community, the restoration will aim to keep all of the home’s vintage charms and preserve all of the castle’s interior and exterior period features in tandem with the most up-to-date home remodeling innovations and advancements.

The home will be listed for sale as of July 24 at $2-million. However, Nostalgic Realty will consider all offers between $1-million to $2-million.

In the coming weeks we will invite interior design students from Portland-area colleges to compete in designing each of the interior rooms utilizing an environmentally-friendly approach complimented by any innovative technology the students can devise. Students will be limited only by their own imaginations.

We will also invite contractors the unique opportunity to design a sustainable roofing and HVAC system for a castle, and we will include the contractor’s company information in all press releases related to the restoration.

Nostalgic Realty is the "home-owner" as well as the listing agent, and will maintain control of the project in order to utilize as many Earth Advantage features as possible into Canterbury Castle’s interior and exterior design and reconstruction. These features will include the best possible energy efficiency techniques, enhanced indoor air quality, efficient use of renewable resources, and environmental responsibility - all within the confines of a medieval-style stone home!

The castle is open to the public and real estate agents as a vintage green remodeling resource and for tours for prospective homeowners throughout the restoration from beginning when on July 24 (when the home will officially be listed on MLS) through completion of the project.

Nostalgic Realty is proud to show how green building practices, innovative new technology, and old-world charm can combine to benefit vintage homes, homeowners, the community and Oregon as a whole by:

•  Incorporating environmentally responsible building practices
•  Improving the integrity of vintage structures
•  Improving energy efficiency by lowering heating and cooling costs
•  Saving energy with renewable resources
•  Utilizing recycled and recyclable materials
•  And limiting waste

10/2007: Waterproofing again- new tarps added with the help of Jim at Portland Window and Gutter Cleaning! Until next summer when Dick Luchs advises finishing the stone work, regrouting and sealing the stones.

3/2007: After interviewing a dozen stone masons, contractors and various experts, Nostalgic has chosen to be guided by 30 year stone mason Dick Luchs.

12/2006: Family Christmas surrounded by buckets of rain water!

9/2006: New layer of roofing applied - did not solve leaking in dining/living rooms.

2/2006: Worked with PSI expert Charles Lane and the structural engineer at Miller to comply with city concerns for garage. No agreement reached.

10/30/05: Nostalgic/ RadioDisney princess party held!

9/2005: Job 1 this month was completed with the expertise, creativity and confidence demonstrated by Ben and Jake of BJRex Construction Company (bjrex.com).  Scaffolding was erected and the remaining rocks on the tower were secured to the building in preparation for the final repair.

11/04-12/31/2004: Work resumes. The rest of the holes are dug (a total of 60 in all).This giant project is complete! The hill supporting the castle is now stabilized and the stairs are put back.

10/13/04:  The steady progress came to  a halt yesterday... the crew has discovered that the special machine being used to dig the holes is twice as heavy as the original weight they were told. The scaffolding company need  to confirm that the soil is stable enough to support the scaffolding AND the weight of the machine. The confirmation has to happen before work resumes.

09/30-10/12: The crew has been digging holes 20-25 feet deep. About a third of the holes are finished.

09/29/04: The crane arrives for the first time. It takes large commercial sugar bags full of dirt and dumps them into a truck. The crane then lifts the special equipment up the hillside onto the platform that the men have built.

09/28/04: The digging and preparation looks complete. The scaffolding is made of metal and giant styrofoam blocks. This gives a platform for the men to work and the special machinery to drill from.

9/22/04: City Permit obtained. Work began by Pli crew. The first step is removing a portion of the stone stairs and digging out a trench to prepare for scaffolding to be built.

05/01/04: A team of top local experts were hired to design and execute a plan to stabilize the hillside and stop the settling of the castle. The team consists of Miller Consulting (structural engineers),  a geotech firm, and PLi (hill stablilization experts, a division of Pro Landscape).

Check out http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/canterbu.htm  for more pictures and the recent Oregonian story.  For updates on the Nostalgic Castle Rescue Project, and to register for your chance to tour this unique landmark home, please fill out the form below.