- The Nelson House, September 2010
If it’s true that “a noisy noise annoys an oyster,” there must be a lot of grumbling in the beds offshore from Oysterville. There would certainly be good reason; as summer comes to an end, there is noise from one end of our usually quiet village to the other. I can’t speak for the bivalve population, but from the biped point of view, it is a welcome cacophony of sound. There is building and renovating happening in town! Hooray!
At the south end of the village, the tiny Nelson house is getting the addition that was approved by the Oysterville Design Review Board a few months ago. Everyone in town wanders down there frequently to see how things are coming along. As we were told from the beginning, it is hard to even discern the new structure if you stand directly in front of the tiny “original” house, but it you walk a bit farther to the south, the newly framed structure grows as you watch. It’s the first time we’ve had new building going on for some time in Oysterville and we are all entranced.
The sound of saws and hammers can also be heard from the Taylor house a few hundred feet to the north, but there is little activity visible from the outside. It’s an inside renovation happening there and part of it involves replacing an old and dangerous fireplace and chimney. I saw mason Mike Nichols’ truck there a few days back and took the liberty of popping my head inside to say “hello.” He told me that two or three weeks ago he had poured the foundation at his great-grandfather’s house – the Nelson house of the new addition down the street! I love those generational connections.
But the construction noise isn’t coming from just the south end of town. Up around the corner on the Oysterville Road (the one that goes out to the beach), there is a flurry of activity on the roofs of the Andrews Garage property. Not only the garage, but several sheds and a part of the house roof are being replaced. I think the property owner told me that the project involved more than 160 bundles of shingles – and “that’s quite a many” as my mother would have said. Quite a many indeed!
It’s great to know that our little village is alive and well and looking toward the future. Definitely worth annoying the oysters for awhile…
Hooray Indeed! We noticed the roofing yesterday and liked what we saw. The nearby greenhouse and surrounding property is much nicer and will be amazing when the glazing is done. .Congratulations to all. The house behind the store looks really nice also (as usual) with the potted flowers in front. What a gem this town is.