Granite wall runs along the west side of the back of the house (right), retaining an embankment. Excavation to make room for moving the wall, which is closing in on the house, produced piles of soil in picture at left with soil profile of top layer of junk -- including shards of glass -- then a layer of gravel, then areas of pure, white beach sand, and finally clay.
Jamie Gorelick had her wall, between the CIA and the FBI, and Tuck has his, between the land and the house. In Tuck's case, pushed by the land it was built to retain, the wall is moving slowly but inexorably towards the corner of the house. Give it some time, and it will move into the kitchen. Like Teddy Roosevelt, we have here a man with a plan. Could you dig it?
Donning his architectural historian's hat, Tuck estimates the wall was built around 1880 to make way for the addition to our 1842 Greek Revival house. The original is post-and-beam, while the addition is transition to balloon frame with 2x3 studs, corner posts, floor plates at each level and roof trusses. They would have dug out the slope behind the original and then put in the retaining wall to make room for the addition.
Take a peek at our very first blog post from mid December for a glimpse of this beautiful Greek temple we call home.
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