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    Historic Wilmington Foundation loans Children's Museum money for restoration - March 8, 2012 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Submitted by WWAY on Wed, 03/07/2012 - 2:44pm.READ MORE:

    WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- The Children's Museum of Wilmington is getting some help taking care of its home.

    The Historic Wilmington Foundation is loaning the museum $23,000 for restoration. The money will help the museum make needed repairs to the historic St. John's Masonic Lodge, the former Greek Orthodox Church and the Cowan House that it calls home.

    "They're going to be repairing the roof," Historic Wilmington Foundation board member Don Britt said. "As you know, a bad roof will cause more trouble than anything in the world. And I think the total cost of the project is in the neighborhood of $70,000, and I think what was going to happen is, we loan them this money, they'll pay this back."

    The loan stipulates that the owners will donate a preservation easement on the buildings to the foundation ensuring their permanent protection.

    Disclaimer: Comments posted on this, or any story are opinions of those people posting them, and not the views or opinions of WWAY NewsChannel 3, its management or employees. You can view our comment policy here.

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    Historic Wilmington Foundation loans Children's Museum money for restoration

    Zephyr Lists San Francisco's Most Cutting-Edge, Eco-Restoration Victorian - March 7, 2012 by Mr HomeBuilder

    SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire -03/06/12)- Zephyr Agent Julie Reber has listed San Francisco's most eco-friendly 19th Century home, located at 1566 Sanchez Street in San Francisco's Noe Valley neighborhood.

    eco+historical homes is dedicated to the acquisition and restoration of historic San Francisco homes and leads the green residential revolution in its progressive series of rehabilitation and expansion projects. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom 1889 Victorian showcases mindful reconstruction while maintaining San Francisco's distinctive historical style.

    Designed to achieve the pinnacle of green recognition, the LEED Platinum certification, this home reflects green building principles and materials. From the easily expandable solar photovoltaic system on the roof to the first residential use of Aquatherm Greenpipe, this home's green features minimize environmental impact while positively influencing occupant health. The renovation preserved many of the home's unique attributes and utilized a great deal of reclaimed materials from rafters to brick. A gray water system sends shower and tub water directly to the garden.

    LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building, home or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

    "The exceptional appearance of the monochromatic and original faade belies the magnitude of a contemporary, re-engineered and thoughtfully-designed home," commented Reber, a Top Producer for the past five years and Premiere Property agent in Zephyr's Pacific Heights office. "With a sense of personal privacy, the atmosphere also creates an enticing space for classic social events," she added.

    In addition to the five bedrooms (including two master suites) and four baths on three well proportioned levels, the property features a two-car garage wired with 220V for electric car charger plus abundant storage; professionally-designed gardens; private decks with breathtaking views; nine-foot, tri-folding French doors throughout to bring nature indoors; a built-in home theater; a custom wine cellar; a gourmet kitchen and great room featuring a preparation island, fireplace and breakfast nook; and an exquisite dining room providing all the right elements for gracious entertaining. The lower level includes an additional private entrance and contains two bedrooms and a bath, ideal as au pair or in-law quarters.

    The home is listed at $2,395,000. For further information on this remarkable property, please contact Julie Reber at 415-609-3677 or visit http://www.juliereber.com.

    About Zephyr Real EstateFounded in 1978, Zephyr Real Estate is San Francisco's largest independent real estate firm with $1 billion in gross annual sales and a current roster of more than 200 full-time agents. In 2010, Zephyr launched its new website, which has earned two web design awards, including the prestigious Interactive Media Award. Zephyr Real Estate is a member of the international relocation network, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World; the luxury real estate network, Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate; and the local luxury marketing association, the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco. Zephyr has six strategically located offices in San Francisco, a business center in Marin County, and serves a large customer base throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit http://www.zephyrsf.com.

    Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1909541

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    Zephyr Lists San Francisco's Most Cutting-Edge, Eco-Restoration Victorian

    Home Depot TV Leverages Harmonic Media Application Server (MAS) to Streamline File-Based Operations - March 6, 2012 by Mr HomeBuilder

    SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire -03/06/12)- Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT - News) today announced that The Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, has deployed the Harmonic Media Application Server (MAS) asset management platform and ProXplore media and workflow management application with a XenData archive to establish highly efficient media handling and storage for Home Depot Television (HDTV). The pairing extends the efficiency of HDTV's existing Omneon MediaGrid shared storage platform by enabling visibility and coordinated management of content from ingest through archive. The resulting speed at which HDTV staff now can manage, access, and process stored content has allowed the Atlanta facility to increase its yearly production capacity greatly.

    "The MAS platform and MediaGrid storage allowed us to get our operation flowing efficiently from start to finish," said Bruce Covey, manager of business TV engineering at Home Depot Television. "Now that our MediaGrid production storage system is seamlessly integrated with our tape library via ProXplore, we can take full advantage of our shift to file-based operations while achieving an economical balance of spinning-disk and tape-based storage. I couldn't imagine going back to how we were doing things before."

    The HDTV facility operates a satellite headend that delivers live and on-demand communications and employee training videos, averaging 30 minutes in length, to 2,244 Home Depot stores. With HDTV's existing Harmonic media processing and storage platform, installed in 2010, editors already had the tools to start new Final Cut Pro projects, track assets, and see proxy views of ingested content. Now, using the ProXplore application, HDTV staff can also move projects from online storage on a 24TB MediaGrid storage system to offline storage on a Qualstar tape robot. A dedicated folder within each project folder automates the process of proxy creation and archiving; the editor simply drops appropriate files into the folder, and the content is processed and stored according to preset parameters.

    The MAS database of project folders maintains the relationships of different files and projects, even after the assets move offline. Proxies of all edited and finished content remain available to editors, who can search for content, scrub through to find the clips they need, and flag material for restoration to online storage. If users recall an entire project folder, the MAS software compiles those assets and restores the full project folder to a specific location on the MediaGrid system. HDTV maintains about six months of content on the MediaGrid system and earlier content on 80 tapes within the mirrored XenData archive system. An external XenData drive allows staff to access content on tapes that have been taken out of the robotic library. Later this year, the facility will expand the capacity of its MediaGrid system with an upgrade to 2TB drives.

    "The end-to-end solution in place at HDTV streamlines the facility's handling of numerous incoming formats and simplifies the management of this large volume of content, wherever that content is stored," said Simon Eldridge, senior product manager at Harmonic. "The dramatic gain in efficiency and productivity that HDTV has realized with ProXplore and MediaGrid demonstrates the significant value that Harmonic media processing and storage solutions bring to production operations."

    About Harmonic Inc.Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT - News) provides infrastructure that powers the video economy. The company enables content and service providers to efficiently create, prepare, and deliver differentiated video services for television and new media platforms. More information is available at http://www.harmonicinc.com.

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to the anticipated capabilities and benefits of Harmonic's Media Application Server and ProXplore products. Our expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the possibility that one or both of the products do not meet some or all of its anticipated capabilities or provide some or all of its anticipated benefits, such as simplifying media management and archiving, substantially increasing productivity, efficient operational flow and cost economies.

    The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, such as those more fully described in Harmonic's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Harmonic as of the date hereof, and Harmonic disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

    EDITOR'S NOTE -- Product and company names used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

    Image Link: http://www.wallstcom.com/Harmonic/homedepot.zip

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    Home Depot TV Leverages Harmonic Media Application Server (MAS) to Streamline File-Based Operations

    100-year-old ship on lawn riles wealthy area - March 6, 2012 by Mr HomeBuilder

    By Phoebe Unterman, NBCLosAngeles.com

    NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Dennis Holland still has the 1929 Ford Model A he drove to high school half a century ago.

    He houses his tool collectionin a barn built that same year on a buffalo ranch in Irvine. He took it apart, brought it to his home in NewportBeach, and reassembledit in his yard.

    I just like old things, Holland, 66,said.

    For more, visit NBCLosAngeles.com

    One such thing is the Shawnee. The 72-foot, ketch-style wooden ship, wedged between the barn andHolland's ranch-style home, is the latest in a lifetimes worth of restoration projects.

    But the ships presence has alienated some of his neighbors, who say -- privately andnot for attribution-- thata lumbering boat has no place in the neighorbood.The median home price in Newport Beach is over$1 million.

    The neighborstook their concerns to the city and now Holland is facing a court order requiring him to remove the ship by the end of April or face fines of up to $1,000 a day or jail time, said Newport Beach Deputy City Atty. Kyle Rowen.

    We hope Mr. Holland will comply with the courts orders and move the boat to a suitable location, Rowen said.

    To Holland though, the boats massive frame isnt an eyesoreit evokes memories from an almost 60-year relationship with the boat.

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    100-year-old ship on lawn riles wealthy area

    Longtime home of former Times publisher is focus of dispute - March 5, 2012 by Mr HomeBuilder

    As Los Angeles came of age in the 20th century, a stately Windsor Square mansion served as a command post for the city's most powerful couple.

    The longtime home of publisher Norman Chandler, "Los Tiempos" (The Times) was where his wife, Dorothy Buffum Chandler, raised funds to build a nationally recognized music center and where she urged son Otis Chandler to transform the Los Angeles Times into an award-winning newspaper.

    Today, the city-designated historic-cultural monument is the focus of an unseemly dispute involving two house hunters who claim they were swindled into buying the compound for more than $8 million, only to find that it was "rotten to the core," according to arbitration documents.

    They allege they were deceived by a media-savvy designer and his broker acquaintance, who used lavish decorations to conceal faulty water pipes, leaky roofs, black mold, raw sewage and dangerous wiring.

    Through their lawyer, the defendants deny the allegations.

    Commissioned by Peter Janss, whose real estate empire developed Westwood, the century-old Beaux Arts estate at 455 S. Lorraine Blvd. features soaring pillars and travertine walls. It was designed by associates of trailblazing female architect Julia Morgan.

    "The fact that L.A. is now regarded as one of America's major cultural centers all of this was due to what went on in that house," said David Wallace, author of "Dream Palaces of Hollywood's Golden Age." The Chandlers "were people, love them or hate them, with a real vision for making L.A. a major player in America, rather than just the Left Coast."

    Years after Norman Chandler's death in 1973, Dorothy Chandler, known as "Buff," retreated from the public eye and into a second-story bedroom. After her death in 1997, interior designer Timothy Corrigan bought the house for $2 million, according to the Los Angeles County assessor.

    "They let the house go to hell," Corrigan said of Dorothy Chandler's hired help in the Otis Chandler biography "Privileged Son." "There was lard dripping from the ceiling and water damage everywhere."

    In media reports, Corrigan, a former advertising executive, preached the aesthetic of "comfortable elegance" and showcased extravagant interiors. On the television show "How'd You Get So Rich," Corrigan was said to have amassed a $50-million fortune and told host Joan Rivers that he owned a 40,000-square-foot country manor in France.

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    Longtime home of former Times publisher is focus of dispute

    Habitat for Humanity back in county after 7-year hiatus - March 5, 2012 by Mr HomeBuilder

    A Habitat for Humanity of Lackawanna County home in South Scranton will provide shelter for a family and signal the restoration of the charity's reputation when its keys are handed over on Friday.

    The new home at 1709 Prospect Ave. with its large windows, wide hallways and a rear patio has a great view of Taylor and West Side, along with the amenities one would expect: ample insulation, plenty of electrical outlets and highly efficient lighting.

    On Friday, the keys and the responsibility for the home will be given to Faith Coss, a single mother of four and personal care assistant who works for a local home health provider.

    The quaint, yellow vinyl home was a long time in coming. Current president of the local Habitat board Todd Pousley said the charity hit a hard spot in getting donations and support.

    "People were reluctant to work with us because issues in the past left a sour taste," he said. "We had to convince people that we are a different group with a different approach and tried to start fresh relationships."

    The Prospect Avenue home is the first Habitat for Humanity of Lackawanna County has completed since 2005. Back then, Mr. Pousley was a student at Marywood University who would recruit volunteers to work on local Habitat projects. Although Mr. Pousley was a marketing major, his father was a general contractor. Growing up, Mr. Pousley would often accompany his father to work and quickly picked up building skills. In college Habitat for Humanity offered a unique way for him apply his special skills.

    "I always had an affinity for Habitat and was drawn to their mission," he said.

    Problems build

    From its inception in 1990 through 2004, the Lackawanna chapter built or remodeled 26 houses.

    But the organization's problems were mounting.

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    Habitat for Humanity back in county after 7-year hiatus

    Restored Vermeer returning home - March 5, 2012 by Mr HomeBuilder

    5 March 2012 Last updated at 06:54 ET

    A newly restored painting by the Dutch master Vermeer will shortly return to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam following a tour of Japanese galleries.

    It will be the first time visitors will have the chance to see Woman in Blue Reading a Letter at the world-famous institution since its 2010 restoration.

    The removal of varnish and retouches have allowed the work to regain its "cool tones", The Art Newspaper said.

    The painting is due to be unveiled at the Rijksmuseum on 30 March.

    Painted between 1663 and 1664, the work shows a young woman illuminated by light from what is presumably a window.

    The Rijksmuseum website invites us to admire the "subtle gradations of colour" and the way Vermeer "adjusted the balance... by playing with the areas of light and shadow".

    In return for a contribution towards its restoration costs, the painting has been recently exhibited in Kyoto, Sendai and Tokyo.

    Along with Rembrandt and Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is considered to be one of the greatest Dutch artists.

    Only 36 of his paintings survive, among them his 1665 masterpiece Girl with a Pearl Earring - the inspiration for a 1999 novel by Tracy Chevalier and a 2003 film starring Colin Firth.

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    Restored Vermeer returning home

    Habitat home in Scranton signals rebirth for charity - March 5, 2012 by Mr HomeBuilder

    A Habitat for Humanity of Lackawanna County home in South Scranton will provide shelter for a family and signal the restoration of the charity's reputation when its keys are handed over on Friday.

    The new home at 1709 Prospect Ave. with its large windows, wide hallways, and a rear patio has a great view of Taylor and West Side, along with the amenities one would expect: ample insulation, plenty of electrical outlets and highly efficient lighting.

    On Friday, the keys and the responsibility for the home will be given to Faith Coss, a single mother of four and personal care assistant who works for a local home health provider.

    The quaint, yellow vinyl home was a long time in coming. Current president of the local Habitat board Todd Pousley said the charity hit a hard spot in getting donations and support.

    "People were reluctant to work with us because issues in the past left a sour taste," he said. "We had to convince people that we are a different group with a different approach and tried to start fresh relationships."

    The Prospect Avenue home is the first Habitat for Humanity of Lackawanna County has completed since 2005. Back then Pousley was a student at Marywood University who would recruit volunteers to work on local Habitat projects. Although Pousley was a marketing major, his father was a general contractor. Growing up, Pousley would often accompany his father to work and quickly picked up building skills. In college Habitat for Humanity offered a unique way for him apply his special skills.

    "I always had an affinity for Habitat and was drawn to their mission," he said.

    Problems build

    From its inception in 1990 through 2004, the Lackawanna chapter built or remodeled 26 houses.

    But the organization's problems were mounting.

    Read this article:
    Habitat home in Scranton signals rebirth for charity

    Character Home Restoration: Part 4 – Insulation – Video - March 3, 2012 by Mr HomeBuilder

    02-03-2012 12:36 Ken Connolly of Pheasant Hill Homes describes the different insulation methods and wall assemblies being implemented in this energy efficient heritage home restoration. Roxul ComfortBoard insulation is key to these wall systems.

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    Character Home Restoration: Part 4 - Insulation - Video

    American Home Shield Beefs Up $1.2 Million Contractor Quality Bonus Program in 2012 - March 3, 2012 by Mr HomeBuilder

    MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

    Even as thousands of contractors in the American Home Shield network await the results of the 2011 Contractor Quality Bonus award program, they can begin earning a share of $1.2 million available in bonuses for quality performance in 2012. And this year, American Home Shield, the nations leading provider of home protection plans, has created more opportunities for its top performers to win big.

    New award levels are now offered in each of the programs two categories:

    The program, now in its third year, continues to grow in popularity and company officials believe they know why.

    Our contractors work hard, and like everyone, they appreciate being recognized among their peers for a job well done, said Dave Quandt, senior vice president of field operations for American Home Shield, a business unit of The ServiceMaster Company. They understand that along with the potential for a bonus payout, theyre taking part in a program that can help them grow their business, especially in these tough economic times.

    Last year our contractors responded to nearly 3 million service requests from our customers, and we expect this number to grow in 2012, he said. Thats a lot of opportunity for customer interaction. When customers feel they receive exceptional service, theyre much more likely to refer that contractor to friends and family which not only lets us know were hitting the mark, but it also opens the door for contractors to grow their business.

    Quandt said customer feedback weighs heavily in the scoring process, given the emphasis that American Home Shield places on the customer experience in every aspect of its operations.

    Our mission is to simplify and improve the quality of life for the customers we serve, and this feedback helps us know how we and our contractors can do an even better job of meeting this challenge, he said.

    Although contractors began earning points for the 2012 program on Jan. 1, its not too late for them to get involved.

    Winners of the 2011 Contractor Quality Bonus award program will be announced in the coming weeks. To learn more about the American Home Shield Contractor Quality Bonus Program or to become part of the companys independent contractor network, visit AHSBigScore.com.

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    American Home Shield Beefs Up $1.2 Million Contractor Quality Bonus Program in 2012

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