After years of wondering if this beauty on Porter (see previous post) was going to slowly crumble, an investor has stepped up to the plate for a big save. Elmwood Village Contracting has purchased the structure with the help of MJ Peterson’s J-M Reed – a deal that closed on Tuesday. By Wednesday eighteen workers were busy ripping off four layers of roofing, removing rotted wood, and stabilizing the waterlogged double. It’s scheduled to take six months in order to completely restore the house into a single unit.
All reports indicate that the house would not have lasted one more winter – it’s almost unbearable to think that we almost lost this hi-profile building. The management team is also in the process of trying to track down the original mantelpiece, which was stolen years ago. Believe it or not they think that they have located the mantle in one of the Shoreline Apartments. Though the ultimate sale of the mantelpiece was legitimate, the piece was so unique to the Porter house that the goal is to acquire the original detail from the current owner. It won’t be long to before we see this house restored in a way that respects the way that it originally looked back in the day, complete with French gutters and all.