Palmer Woods

Built 1923. Clarence Day, architect, whose designs include the Bell Tower on Belle Isle, the Rackham Building in Cultural Center, and the Scripps Estate in Lake Orion. Approximately 5000′ square, this house includes servant’s quarters on the third floor and chauffeur’s quarters above the garage. It’s central feature is the grand foyer featuring Flint Faience terracotta tiles with a turquoise border in addition to the art-tile inlays in the floor.

Kitchen Coutertop

Our first job was to tackle a mangled kitchen countertop. Several contractors previously recommended a complete tear-out which, to the owners, was not an option, while others promised a complete demo and rebuild. The broken hot supply-line for the faucet was “carefully” replaced by a previous contractor who’s favorite tool appeared to by a sledge hammer.

The “sinkrail” or V-cap edging around the top was pretty damaged, we assumed, by a meat cleaver. Someone else decided to chip out the sink with a chisel. We decided to rebuild the top portion using new materials (that old square-edged sink rail is impossible to find) and salvage the damaged back-splash by locating similarly colored vintage subway tiles which we found through our buddy Christopher at Provenance (www.phillyprovenance.com) in Philadelphia.

We removed the damaged section of backsplash and the countertop by using a 4 1/2″ diamond blade attached to an angle grinder. The soapdishes escaped without a scratch.

We had the sink reglazed by Unique Refinishing in Canton

Curb Appeal

Our next major job was to give the front of the house a facelift. The gutters near the bay window were pitched toward the bay, which rotted and destroyed a portion of the paneling.