A Space We’re Thankful For

You’ve probably heard the expression, “the days are long, but the years are short.”

I can appreciate that sentiment, but I would argue that the days are short too. Since we started Drexler, the hours, days, and years have flown by. It doesn’t seem like it has been that long, but two years ago, after quickly outgrowing our sub-leasing situation in Mount Vernon, Mike and I decided to buy this place.

It didn’t look like much, but we both grew up in the Hamilton/Lauraville area and wanted to set up shop in our old stomping grounds. We didn’t do this because we had lofty dreams about re-energizing a neighborhood or breathing new life into a once thriving business district. We did it because we are from here and we think it is a weirdly cool section of town. Also, being closer to Maggie’s Farm, Clementine, Hamilton Tavern and Koco’s doesn’t hurt.

If you know us, then you are probably aware of the fact that we are a pretty passionate group. Once we decide to do something, we like to get moving. We quickly joined forces with our friend and architect Jason Neal, and he came up with a few renderings of how the space could look. We tweaked a few things, got the permits we needed and started tearing the place apart.

We thought it would be cool to be the general contractors for the job, so we became the general contractors. I’ll spare you the details, but some things worked out perfectly and some things didn’t. The renovation took a bit longer than we would have liked and we spent more money than we thought we would, but we learned a ton and ended up with a pretty remarkable space. The following are a few of my favorite things.

Staircase

This staircase was designed to be the focal point of the office. We probably wouldn’t ever do something like this again, but I am glad we pushed through the process. After suspending the chase from the roof joists and reinforcing the treads with some steel bracketing, we ended up with one of the best staircases you’ll ever see.

Built-in

The previous owner (Roses and Buds) left a few things behind, one of them being an incredible 1940s refrigerator that we really wanted to keep. Not only did we get it up and running again, but we created an entire built-in to surround it. When fully stocked with beer, this area of the office is pretty undeniable. In addition to the fridge, we designed a custom concrete sink.

Facade

Not sure where to begin here. I love the color of the building in combination with the steel awning and internally lit sign. We closed up the second entrance to the building and turned the second set of steps into a cypress clad planter. We rebuilt the balcony and finished things off with some brand new oversized picture windows.

There are plenty of other things I love about working here and maybe I’ll expand on them later. For now I’ll leave you with a few additional photos.

Thanks

Obviously a job like this couldn’t happen without the hard work of many people. A few folks went above and beyond what we expected and deserve a special shout out. Thank you Jason Neal for your dedication to see this thing through, Majer Metal for the beautiful furniture and steel work, Jerry Pfeifer for getting rid of the riffraff and the attention to details, Brian McGonnell for basically rebuilding this thing while dealing with us, McNeive’s Plastering for the trim and drywall work in addition to re-plastering the walls, EarlyBird Enterprise, and Zachary Hosford for representing us during the purchasing of the building.