{"id":6979,"date":"2022-11-17T16:19:53","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T16:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/?p=6979"},"modified":"2022-11-16T16:20:06","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T16:20:06","slug":"twas-the-night-before-christmas-at-202-south-washington-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/?p=6979","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Twas the Night Before Christmas at 202 South Washington Street"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jennifer Wolgamott<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This poem is a bit of bonus content for 202 South Washington Street. It may be too long to hear during the tour itself, so we wanted to share it now!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

T\u2019was the night before Christmas and all through the house<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a creature was stirring, not even JB Russell\u2019s spouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throws of labor, bricks and stone in 1890 were placed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three stories, a basement, four arches with such grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stockings were hung by the 9 fireplaces with care<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who knew in 2022 someone\u2019s stockings would again be there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merchant and banker James Russell all snug in his bed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With visions of electric lights and 34 radiators dancing in in his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Mrs. in her kerchief and Mr. in his cap<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They dreamed of a coal boiler during their long winter\u2019s nap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When near and far there arose such a clatter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They jumped from there beds to find out the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was here, it was there, it was 1,640 feet of iron pipe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sound was not Christmassy, it was in fact ripe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the 1980s a boarding house it had been<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thought of which now is a crime and a sin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that was then, and this is now<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magnificent house had to find 2022 somehow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Away to the window I flew like a flash<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To find out who would save it I turned back a wooden sash<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When what to my wondering eyes should appear<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A diminutive architect, her plans were quite clear<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lifting the house to tomorrow was not for the faint<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wall colors alone took 120 gallons of paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

640 pieces of slate tile went up on the roof<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And 4 brand new heat pumps and condensers is no spoof<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a little elbow grease so lively and quick<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One knew in a moment this rehab would do the trick<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slower than eagles the subcontractors came<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The architect whistled and shouted and called them by name<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they met with an obstacle, no quarter was given<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And 22 historical glass panes add to the comfort of liven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, on this magical night the sleigh lands on the new rooftop<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With new brick and mortar chimneys, Santa won\u2019t have to stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The house is now ready, with nothing to dread<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically modern with 7 rooms just for bed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bathrooms, the closets, materials and light fixures<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Placed so the old and the new are perfect mixtures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jolly old man can go straight to his work<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After filling the stockings he can turn with a jerk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And laying a finger aside of his nose<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And giving a nod up the chimney he\u2019ll go<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as he ascends just before he goes out of sight<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He will say \u201cMerry Christmas to all who renovate and restore, and to all a good night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
PHW is grateful for the support of The Peter Bullough Foundation<\/a>, one of our half page advertising sponsors of the Holiday House Tour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jennifer Wolgamott This poem is a bit of bonus content for 202 South Washington Street. It may be too long to hear during the tour itself, so we wanted to share it now! T\u2019was the night before Christmas and all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even JB Russell\u2019s spouse. Throws … Continue reading \u2018Twas the Night Before Christmas at 202 South Washington Street<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[51],"class_list":["post-6979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holiday-house-tour","tag-holiday-house-tour"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6979"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6984,"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6979\/revisions\/6984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phwi.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}