Friday, January 18, 2008

Help save Aaron's grandfather's house!

This is taken verbatim from Boing Boing it was posted by Cory Doctorow, on January 16, 2008 12:27 AM, and I didn't rewrite it because Cory is a better writer than me...

Aaron sez, "The state of South Carolina has decided to put a freeway through my Grandfather's 150 year old house (built by HIS Grandfather). The Governor and the people in the planning office say the route my father worked out is fine, but they need 'public outcry' to justify moving it so if people 10 miles down the route ask why they moved it for us they can say 'hey, lots of people got pissed.' So I set up a petition which in mid-Feb. will send the results to the Governor's office and I need as many people to sign it as possible. They don't care WHO you are or WHERE you are, just so long as there is 'public outcry.'"


The home was built from trees that were cleared from the forests that now are open fields of fertile farmlands. The underpinning of the home was and still is hand-hewn logs held together by 10" wooden pegs. The original structure consisted of four equally sized rooms and the kitchen was separated from the home in the back to save the home in case of a fire in the kitchen.

In the late 1940's, the kitchen was joined to the rear of the home and three other rooms were added across the back of the house. The floors of this section were not joined evenly, and there is an approximate ten inch step down from the original section of the home to this rear section. The porch was also extended across the front and down the West side of the house. In 1957, my father, who was actually born in the home in 1916, remodeled the home, leaving the basic four rooms of the home but installing oak hardwood floors. He also left most of the original windows in rooms and by the front door, which were hand-blown glass with "wavy" imperfections and bubbles. The chimney on the East side of the house is also original which, according to family lore, has brick laid with "salt crete". It was covered with a thin layer of concrete years ago to protect it from weathering. Around 1965, dormers were added to the roof of the house and the attic was opened to house two bedrooms. And the final remodeling occurred around 1985 when the kitchen was remodeled and a carport was attached at the kitchen entrance.



link good luck Aaron!!!

***BTW*** Aaron has also put this on digg so we can also help him by digging it up!!!

---*****UPDATE****----

Today I heard on Buzz Out Loud that the state of South Carolina decided to use the route that did not go through Arron's Grandfathers house!! Thank you to everyone who pitched in!!!!

---###ANOTHER UPDATE###---

I received an email from Aaron where he said:

"The state of S.C. has decided to move the freeway that was scheduled
to go through my Grandfather's house! I was able to collect over 2200
signatures with our online petition and it had a big impact in the
decision by the state. I think what caught us off guard the most were
the comments on the petition. To everyone that signed and to everyone
who wrote notes of encouragement, THANK YOU!"

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