419 West Main Street, Merrill

 Labor Day ~ September 1, 2014 

Airport Day at the Merrill Airport ~ 419 West Main, from the air!

Saturday, September 6, 2014

August 20 , 2014 ~ Inside, Main Street level, looking at Main Street windows.

Hi! Isn't it lovely? Oops, handsome.  Utterly and totally handsome! (When I really get cranked up, talking about the building, I start spewing the specs:  21,000 square feet, main level, second floor and surprise!  An excellent, dry basement to boot.  7000 square feet on each level.  One and one-half foot thick walls of......no, not brick veneer.....but, yes...masonry.  Solid brick, he is.)

....Sigh...

Oh, the stories...even to date, would tempt many to ponder, "C'mon, Steph...Really?"  Knowing this, I think I began to go down the road of writing of just bricks and building and facts and occasional flavors of the path ~ but only if they were "cute" enough.  I just cannot do that.  

It would not be truth.

So, this story is about brick and mortar.  It is about building codes and renovation plans.  But it is also about a dream.  It is about this wild path....

For example:  today, I decide way too late in the day to get air photos of the building because it is Airport Day and what a grand adventure (a 20 minute adventure....worth. every. penny!) and how incredibly convenient and fun and......

Well, you get the idea.

So, because it is late in the day, I need to wait.  A while.  Time enough to go see a carpenter about constructing carriage doors to replace the current garage door on the west side.  When I get there, I run into a couple I knew from years past who are, get this, selling their farm and moving to Alaska.  I had not seen them in years.  We talk of life journeys and paths and...adventure.  As 

we parted, we wished each other "Godspeed".

I will think of them often as I journey down this path....with my building.....and wonder and hope they live...

Blissfully and contently.

Getting back to reality:  It is too bad in the air photo that the roof looks flat.  It has a nice pitch to it caused by the main trusses constructed of solid riveted steel.

....Sigh, again....Love...

Did I tell you it was built as an armory?  Did I mention that the second floor lies atop poured concrete strong enough to be rated commercially?

...More sighs...

Please return!  The only promise I will make is that I will post more photos than is necessary and write more than I should!

I wish everyone such a journey ~ tailored specifically for them...Because there is nothing quite like learning to follow your heart.  (The first lesson from the building).

I am incredibly thankful.  Thank you!

And I wish you Blessings.

~ stephanie