I shared this news on social media in late November and was just waiting for a moment to write and tell all of you. But the story has evolved so quickly that I haven’t quite caught my breath.

In November, we purchased this small commercial building in the center of my town here in MA.  It’s just a short walk from my house and next to the post office (how convenient!).  We are just starting renovations, because the building needs a lot of updating, but it will eventually house my new studio and gallery.  I plan to work on the left half, and have a gallery space on the right where I will hang quilts and have a small shop of finished goods, patterns, books, etc.  I could also potentially use that space for teaching if I decide to add that in the future.  Unfortunately, I received a call on the Friday before Christmas that a car had slid off the road and into the building causing extensive damage.  This building had survived almost a hundred years without such an accident. Fortunately, the driver was unharmed.

The entire right front of the studio was destroyed. The car was removed from the area where you see that jack in the image above.  The electric, heat and water were shut off.  Glass from the windows is throughout the building.  It’s such a devastating turn of events.  Our immediate concern was closing up the building from possible vandalism and the weather, as it was actively snowing and the overnight temperatures were in the single digits and teens.

This is where we are at now.  It’s ironic because that rotted front corner of the building was the only part of the exterior that we were going to repair.  Other than that, we were just intending to paint and were focusing our efforts on the interior.  Now the entire right front of the building needs to be replaced.  We lost 4 plate glass windows and all the structural supports.

The claim will take time as will the rebuilding.  It’s also going to take a lot of my time from my business which will limit my design time and work time and therefore income.  All in all, we are really disappointed.  It’s not how we wanted to start this new venture.  I am nothing if not a determined person though so we are moving forward.  I mean really, we don’t have a choice!  But I am not looking forward to even more juggling of time and energy as we work through this.

The holidays really made it difficult to reach adjusters and make appointments but we are finally getting those in last week and this week. I hope we can pick up the pace very soon because I had high hopes for this venture.

One of our town historians, Jane Wild, located this image for me (source unknown). The building has housed so many different businesses over the years from a drug store, insurance agency, picture frame business, diner, nail salon, florist, drycleaner, and more. I will be the first textile artist though! The building really looks much the same as it did here with the exception of the false front and the transom above the plate glass windows. We are considering putting the transom back in if it is reasonable.

I will keep you posted!