My Blog | The Ridge Road House: A Responsible Renovation. Vermont 200 year old house, a family home

This is the Cooley House in Central Vermont

My name is Sylvia Shepard Cooley.

I am the self-assigned project coordinator... an old family house

that has to come down but will be rebuilt

as closely as possible to the original.

Check out the blog posts to see the process.

Add your ideas. Please comment!

For more information: "About"

Blog Categories:

Keeping it mostly the same

When it's new, I'd like people who drive by to see it as the same house as the old one. I'd like people who visit to feel like they came...

Why this house?

September 28, 2023 Today we bought my husband’s father’s place at 462 Ridge Road in Randolph Center, Vermont. It’s a long-time family...

The real work begins!

November 5, 2023, a date to remember. A contractor, Eric, is helping us with cleanup. He is starting with the outside...tires, an old...

Dreaming...

Start with measuring the old house. Take as many photos as possible. Then play with the layout, but not too much...retain the old house...

The fun part

Taking current photos is fun. Explore the house if you dare...watch out for holes in the floors and walls that are leaning. I want to...

Cleaning up

Part of the cleaning up involves looking at other people's stuff and making decisions. Luckily in the past relatives have taken what...

Where, When, Why, Who, and How

Ideas that are important to me- the esthetics of a home, the memories in a home, the people & history of a house. Keeping it alive. Why...

The Original Land Grantee

(Taken from Early Photographs of RANDOLPH, VERMONT 1855-1948, by Wes Herwig, 1986 Greenhills Books, Randolph Center, Vermont) James...