Thanks to Bill and Cindy for the faucet to go into the new kitchen! The question is which one? I like the industrial look and function of the first one but the second one has a cleaner line though not as user friendly. Which to choose? 

The gutting process in the kitchen, and ripping down the tin ceiling (not original) revealed a hole in the ceiling as well as some rusting. This also exposed a leaking problem from the bathroom. After some investigation and a decision to immediately gut the upstairs bathroom the problem was revealed. The drain pipe led to a drum drain which backed up and overflowed through a crack in the drain pipe.

Also... the tile was porous. The lathe and plaster, as you can see in the below picture, were saturated due to a fail in the grout around the tile. Clearly when the previous owners "re-bathed" the cast iron tub last February it contributed to an already established weakness in the drain and the tile. Luckily it seems the leaking had only been going on for about that period of time and had not yet undermined the structural integrity of the bathroom superstructure.

Here the gutted wall and stripped ceiling of the kitchen are ready for the plumbers to run all new lines in the kitchen. The old, cracked cast iron stack will be gone, the rusting iron pipes, literally moments away from bursting (they were that corroded) will all be gone. An unexpected/expected project in this old house. 

This is the new Mackintosh Rose on the landing of the stairs. I still have to reframe it, but for now it is hanging in the window. It makes me happy when I see the light filter through the simple yet bold design. 

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1868 - 1928, was a Scottish architect, watercolourist and artist. He was a designer and influence on the Arts and Crafts movement, of which 903 Broadway is a product.

Mackintosh Square Rose taken from a home in London circa 1905. 

Very rare, very expensive, but very worth it!

From this...

... to this. 

I bought this cast iron fireplace, that Mom pointed out to me, 

from the local historic society. 

They pulled it from a 1905 house in Bloomington that was being demolished.

The below detail caught my eye.

Thanks to the family for buying me this washer and dryer. Mom in her "natural" habitat!!!

Thanks guys!!!