THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609170137
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 116 lines
NANCY GOLDMAN LIKES to tease her husband that she only married him because he was handy with a hammer, saw and paintbrush.
It certainly didn't hurt that he was.
For almost a decade, David Goldman has worked single-handedly at nights and on weekends to restore life into one of the last vestiges of Norfolk's rural past, an 1888 farmhouse on the Lafayette River where a thriving soybean and corn operation held reign.
Edwards Farm is gone now, and the marshland fronting it along the river has been filled in to support suburban housing and The Algonquin House, an upscale high-rise condominium complex. But thanks to the Goldmans, the regal Victorian farmhouse - once the only residence amid acres of fields and woodlands - shines again.
The project has come at a high price. Forsaking vacations, new cars and other luxuries, the couple has sunk all of the extra cash they could muster - about $150,000, they estimate - into their ``money pit.'' For nearly a decade, they've lived in the midst of ongoing construction.
But now, the Goldmans finally are able to sit on their front porch swing and marvel at the transformation of a house, once so dilapidated that the ceiling plaster had crumbled to the floor, wooden porches were rotten, the foundation sagged and motor oil stained the dining room's hardwood floors.
So many layers of red, blue, brown and orange paint covered the walls throughout the house that Goldman spent months in each room just stripping them bare.
Now, save for one small bathroom, all the work finally is finished.
``Pretty soon, the challenge will be over,'' said Goldman, a 40-year-old building contractor who specializes in restoring older homes. ``It would have almost been easier to tear it down, but I never even considered it. I knew it could be brought back, even though it would take a lot of time and money. I don't regret doing it at all.''
Although the Goldmans tried to restore the house as close to original as possible, the work is not historically accurate. Vinyl covers the front porch columns, for example, and the kitchen has been updated with modern appliances, wiring and plumbing. The hand-cranked water pump, originally housed in the kitchen, now is in a garden.
``It's not a show house,'' said Nancy Goldman, the mother of two teenage sons. ``We wanted it to be comfortable for the boys and their friends as a place to come and hang out.''
Her husband explained:
``I've tried to turn it back into a home.''
It was not an easy project. Rental property for decades, the house once had been inhabited by a motorcycle gang that parked their Harleys in the dining room and a rugby club that sponsored rowdy beer parties. By the time Nancy Goldman purchased the house in 1977, it was ``ready to be condemned,'' she said.
``A previous owner had tried to renovate it, but he'd basically just covered everything up to make a profit,'' she said. ``Within six months, it was all falling down.''
At the time, David Goldman lived a few houses away on Major Avenue. The two singles struck up a friendship and married in 1988.
The renovation, however, began a year before the wedding. With about 3,500 square feet of space and porches wrapping three sides of the exterior, there was never any question that this old-home-loving couple would live anywhere else.
``I just loved the oldness,'' Nancy Goldman explained. ``It was so unique and had such charm.''
Although a contractor, David Goldman had no idea the job would turn out to be so massive when he first began.
``This house took a lot of abuse over the years,'' he said. ``When I started digging in, I discovered how bad it really was. A lot of stuff had been covered over. I had to rip everything out and start all over again.''
Not surprisingly, the kitchen was the most massive, time-consuming and costly undertaking. Replacing the roof also proved to be expensive and tedious. Goldman tore off three layers of asphalt shingles and the original cedar shakes, going ``right down to the rafters,'' before he could install a new roof.
But the long, winding hallway that travels the width of the house was the most frustrating part of the project.
``It was a pain,'' he said. ``I had to put in new sections of the ceiling, and I'd strip one layer of paint and find out there was another 15 underneath. A job I thought would take a few weeks took months.''
Serendipitous discoveries that would pop up occasionally kept him motivated. After removing a He-Man sticker the boys had planted on the painted living room fireplace mantle, Goldman discovered the white paint hid imported tiger oak underneath.
``We'd had never known about it if the boys hadn't put the sticker there,'' David Goldman said. ``I stripped off all the paint . . . and it turned out to be beautiful.''
Seeing the antique claw-footed bathtubs restored, getting the porches back into use and watching the '60s flowered wallpaper vanish also kept the couple going.
Now that the project is nearing completion, the Goldmans already have started fantasizing about restoring another farmhouse - only this one really would be located on a farm.
``We both love the country,'' David Goldman said. ``We've seen a lot of changes since we've lived here . . . a lot of houses have gone up. It's gotten pretty crowded.
``But for now, until the boys finish school, we're staying right here.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by VICKI CRONIS
David Goldman stands outside his home...
Staff photos by CANDICE C. CUSIC
David and Nancy Goldman are almost done with the renovation of the
Edwards farmhouse, which was built in 1888 on the banks of the
Lafayette River.
In the living room, the Goldmans found that beneath the paint on the
fireplace mantel was imported tiger oak.
David Goldman strolls past the Victorian-style gazebo that he built
on the property.
Cassie, the Goldman's German shepherd, lies on a table outside the
kitchen window, keeping tabs on her family inside. by CNB