I find a two-mile walk around the paths near Hilltop a fine way to start a Fall day in these parts. The leaves are turning, and I can sense a low hum coming from the forest up the hill from the house. Not sure what it is, but it does have a meditative effect on me.
Just as I step into the house, the phone rings – the house phone, oddly enough. I check the caller ID. It’s the Riverside.
“Good morning, Albert, this is Cassie Cunningham at the Riverside,” she says, nervously. “I don’t believe we have actually met.”
“I’m not sure, but I certainly know of the Riverside,” I tell her. “How’s business this morning?”
“Just getting started,” she says, seeming to relax a bit. “The reason for my call, and as you may already know, we are looking at some potential renovations here … you know, to complement other Middle Valley updates … and, I was wondering …”
She returns to the nervousness, and I have a suddenly sick feeling she is about to ask me for money.
“ … if I could take advantage of your experience with historic structures,” she says. “I’m wondering if I can prevail on you to have a look at our property, maybe you could advise us about its historic nature, if any, and what we may need to do to protect and preserve it.”
I am instantly relieved.
“Cassie, as you say, I don’t recall that we have formally met but, yes, I’d be more than happy to check out the property. Do you know when it was built?”
“I … regret to admit, I have no idea,” she says.
“Well, in any event, I may be able to help you navigate a bit,” I tell her. “I would find it quite interesting to inspect. I … I’m truly embarrassed to admit that I don’t recall having ever been in the Riverside, or the sister building across the street. Is that yours as well? I know the bar used to be over there …”
“Yes, that’s mine, as well,” she says.
She seems excited that I am so accommodating and responsive to her outreach, certainly relieved.
“Stop in at your convenience anytime during business hours,” she says. “My sister just joined me here, so I can drop whatever I may be doing to give you a tour. Just let me know, if possible, when to expect you.”
“How about tomorrow, late morning?” I ask.
“Sold,” Cassie says excitedly, “See ya’ then!”
The Next Day
I am careful to arrive at the front entrance by 10. Cassie is there to greet me, I wave to her helper, and we get right to the tour.
We scan the first floor, where the current business is centered – the dining room, bar, kitchen, Nothing notable there except the old windows and the front doorway, which are obviously original and in need of attention.
We walk upstairs. Immediately, I notice wainscoting on the stairway wall and on all the walls of the entire second floor. It’s likely the first floor had wainscoting at one time, though it doesn’t now. Likely the casualty of a previous renovation.
The building façade is very ornate and Victorian – a good cleaning should do well to bring it back to life, I tell her.
We descend into the basement. In the back, I notice the rusted remains of a portal to a small tunnel in the wall leading down to the river.
“Do you have a flashlight?”
“Yes,” she says, reaching up to a workbench where other tools are situated.
I turn on the light and, about five feet in front of us, is an archway with a makeshift cover.
“I bet you have high heating bills in this place,” I say to her, more in the form of a question than a statement.
She nods. “What do you suppose that is?”
I smile.
“It looks like the tunnel may have been used to surreptitiously transfer products, probably illegal, in both directions between the basement and a waiting boat tied up out back,” I tell her. “The tunnel is interesting but I’m not sure it’s something that needs to be preserved. You may want to check with Thornton.”
We agree the basement has nothing else of note.
All new work, from the sounds of things.
“Well, if you’d like, I’m happy to sit with Thornton once it’s all scoped out and see what we can and should preserve. I’m not actually on the city payroll, but given my family’s history here, I’m certainly an interested party.”
She nods, a bit of reticence about her. “I just worry a little … too many cooks, etc. etc. … you know the rest. I mean, as it is Bitsy is involved as an investor, Thornton is involved. That’s kinda why I wanted you to come by first, to have a first look.”
I nod and certainly understand.
“I’m here to help,” I tell her. “I have tons of experience producing drawings that can be used to guide construction work. If you’d like, I can sit in with any architects or engineers working on the project. Free of charge.”
I laugh. “Well, maybe in exchange for a beer.”
She smiles. “I’ll appreciate your feedback.”
As I am about to leave, I remember that we had chatted about checking out the empty building that was once the Riverside. I remind Cassie but she begs off for the day saying she had to get back to training her sister. She invites me to come back another time to check it out, and we leave it at that.
I glance down the bar, already bustling with an early lunch crowd.
I’ll have to remember to come in here. Maybe sit a spell.
Jenny Page