In the last couple of weeks, the landscape on the front of the yard has been replaced. It used to be somewhat scruffy and sloped right to the sidewalk. A beautiful recycled stone curb has been installed along the front of the house and acts as a retaining wall. Bob talks with Ruth Foster, a landscape designer, and Nick Christy of Atlantic View Landscape Construction. A low-maintenance garden was put in place because this a busy household with two young children. The lawn was taken out because mowing lawns requires a lot of time. Pachysandra is being installed as ground cover because it does not require a lot of care. Pachysandra takes a year or two to develop but once it does, the ground will be completely covered. The pachysandra grows by sending out roots and sending up little plantlets. The plant requires no fertilization or watering. The front yard was filled in with eighteen inches of loam to reduce the slope to the curb and enrich the plant bed. A red Japanese maple that can grow to around 30 feet in height is at the center of the new yard. This tree will also need limbing in the future. Holly and rhododendron were also added to the front yard for low-maintenance bloom ing bushes. Daffodils and blue muscari were also put in, providing a blue and yellow accent in the spring.

Bob joins Jay Seminara of Seminara Construction who is in the process of laying down a new cobblestone apron at the edge of the driveway. The apron serves two purposes: as an aesthetic feature, and also to act as a barrier for the seashells in the rest of the driveway. Before the stones can be put in place, Seminara digs a trench and lays in stone dust. The dust acts as an adhesive, holding the stones in place. Next, Seminara dry-fits the cobblestones, making sure he gets a nice fit. To finish the installation, he taps the stones into place with a 20-pound hammer and fills in the gaps with more stone dust.

In the recent past many of New York's historical landmarks have had facelifts to keep them both structurally and aesthetically sound as well as true to their roots. One of the architectural firms behind several of these projects, the New York and Washington, D.C.-based Beyer, Blinder, Belle Architects & Planners, has joined the Home Again crew to lend their expertise in the architectural restoration. Bob meets with Jack Beyer in front of the old Pepper Mill to get up to speed on the exterior design plans for the rehab project. Beyer discusses some of the pitfalls with landmark buildings, including the multiple overlapping regulatory agencies which approve changes to a buildings structure, mechanics, and style. Bob discovers that the building is being converted for at least the second time. It was originally a three-floor residential building, but was later converted to commercial use. Beyer observes that while the building is in need of extensive repair it is structurally sound and stable. HE shows Bob sketches of the proposed renovations, which include two entrances, commercial space on the ground floor with a show window, and a possible added story set back from the fa�ade. Beyer is cautiously optimistic that the addition will gain Landmarks' approval since the building is a contributing landmark, not a specially designated landmark.