Tour Humphrey House on a Green Home Walk

On September 13, we'll be opening our doors to some of our Green-ovations and remodeling as part of a local non-profit group's Green Home Tour for houses in the Oak Park and River Forest area. Seven Generations Ahead is sponsoring the event. Here are the details:

September 13, 2008
Green Home Tour

The Seven Generations Ahead Green Home Tour, sponsored by Community Bank of Oak Park River Forest, will feature the most effective products, materials, technologies, and strategies for making your home green. Get an exclusive look inside high end and everyday Oak Park and River Forest homes that look great, save money, and are easier on the environment. Discover how to green your home-regardless of your budget or taste. Learn from homeowners and building professionals who have built and remodeled green.

A wine and cheese reception will be held immediately following the tour at the new green Marion Street Cheese Market from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., where drawings will be held for a variety of green gifts. Tour guidebooks will be available at each home on the day of the tour, and all attendees will receive a free copy of Seven Generations Ahead's Remodel GREEN CD, an interactive green home product resource guide valued at $15.

Green Home Tour tickets are available for $40 in advance of the event from Green Home Experts or online at www.sevengenerationsahead.org. Tickets will be available for purchase at each home for $45 on the day of the event. For ticket information or further event details contact michelle@sevengenerationsahead.org.

I think the key phrase for us being included was "how to green your home-regardless of your budget" When Michelle approached about this, we were a bit hesitant until she insisted the goal is showing how you can be Green with attainable, little changes that make a difference, without spending a lot of money on the "green bling" of a wind turbine and solar panels or super-fancy (and expensive) IceStone countertops. As much as we'd love to have that "bling", we have to make choices that realistically fit our budget.

This tracks very well with our own philosophy on green building. Our addition to the Green Home tour is as much about making those choices as any of the actual technology we used. In fact, it also tracks well with a popular phrase in USGBC circles.. "If it's costing you more to build green, you're doing something wrong."

Humphrey House in TOH

After adding soy-foam insulation to our kitchen remodel, we were contacted by This Old House magazine to ask us about the experience. Well, they wrote up our interview in a Q&A format in their "Green House" column in the July/August magazine issue. We just found out that the issue is entering newstands and mailboxes. Hooray!



And although this photo might imply otherwise, you can not eat the foam! :-)

The Wrecking Crew's 15 Minutes Are HERE!

Yup, this is it. Our fifteen minutes have come. And we're pretty damn happy about how it all worked out. This morning a segment aired on NBC's TODAY Show that featured Humphrey House and the regulars of the Wrecking Crew doing what we do best: some serious demolition.

A few weeks ago (just after part one of the kitchen demo) we were contacted by producers at NBC's TODAY show, who were looking to film a segment on renovation parties. We were wary after the 'Three Martini Renovation" article, but several emails and phone conversations later, we started to get excited.

The day the crew arrived to shoot we had planned for about 10 people to come over. Sara got the flu, Brian got a job, and so it ended up being Jason and I, plus Kenny (daddoo), Scott, Julie, Mark and Amy. We ended up doing about 90% of the demo work for the kitchen, including removing the cabinets, the wall, the appliances and most of the interior walls. Jenna Wolfe, the correspondent for the piece, was lethal with the sledgehammer - she had some serious power going on. [I have to wonder, Jenna, could you lift your arms the next day?] I worried a bit about the two-person video crew as we were taking out the wall with them on the other side, but they never complained. And then once it was dinner time - we really did work all day - we used the last remaining light to chill in the back with Jay and Scott on guitar (sara, we missed you!) and Mark on the grill. All in all, a pretty good demo day.

Both Jenna and her producer Meredith were very cool to work with for the day, and we couldn't be more pleased with the piece that they put together. They kept the focus where it really belongs: on the fact we couldn't do this without the support and hard work from our friends and family.

View our latest progress since the Today Show

Humphrey House on the TODAY Show - 11/2

Our inadvertent media blitz regarding our home remodel continues this Friday, Nov. 2 when NBC's TODAY Show will be airing a segment they filmed a few weeks ago at our house as we demo'd the kitchen with the help of family and friends (and correspondent Jenna Wolfe).

There's some confusion as to the timeframe, but it looks like we will air during the "third hour of TODAY," which is the 9:00 hour all around, not the 8:00 hour as previously reported (did you know the TODAY show isn't live in any time zone but Eastern? I've been living a lie)

So check it out. If it's great, yeah, we rock. And if we look like amateurs - it's just the editing. :)

Daily Herald Reprints WSJ Article with Editorial comments

We at Humphrey House were recently contacted by Chicagoland's surburban newspaper, The Daily Herald, as they wanted to photograph us for a reprint of the WSJ article "The Three Martini Revolution." Due to the negative slant this article took, we at first declined the request, but subsequently decided that it would be acceptable as long as they wouldn't mind clearing up some of the misconceptions.

So they did, and we are very grateful to the staff for allowing us to correct the misconceptions. The article came out yesterday (Sunday 10/29) in the Daily Herald's Home section. The online article has some of the editorial additions but doesn't have the photo they took of us.

Perhaps most exciting from this secondary episode was that the experience gave us a chance to feel better about the media and journalists. The reporter we worked with, Deborah Donovan, was very sympathetic and helpful. Thanks Debbie!

Sidenote: There has been quite a lively discussion (with some great Halloween costumes) over on houseblogs.net about the whole Drink and Demolish debacle.
PS. More recently, the Today Show also allowed us to set the record straight!

W're rock stars ... WSJ Article Came Out Today!

Something we at Humphrey House have been keeping as a secret can now be told. We were one of several people interviewed by the Wall Street Journal for a story about people that host Renovation Parties, titled "The Three Martini Renovation" which mentions us and even our frequent reveler Scott.

We couldn't be where we are today with all the help our friends and family have given us. Whether it was from our New Years Party after first moving into our home, the many demolition derbies we've had, helping with out with all sorts of miscellaneous jobs, or just coming out to scare people, we owe them our sincere thanks and gratitude. Thanks everyone!