Pimp My Dell, Part 5: Empty Nest

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It's time to bring you up to date on 
the Shady Dell's extreme makeover.

In the past year the 87 year old Dell house has undergone extensive renovation inside and out, including a new heating and air conditioning system, electrical upgrade, a new roof, new decking and restored porches, grading, landscaping,
tree and vine removal and new shrubs. Original Dell rats who marveled at the changes made on the outside are in for the shock of their lives when they see what's going on inside!

Toni Deroche 

* Dell Owner 

* Senior 
New Dellie 
Correspondent 

* Violet Hill 
Bureau Chief 



The last time we heard from Dell owner Toni Deroche was last fall when the exterior of the house was being painted and winterized. Work is now underway inside the house and Toni is back to bring us the latest photos.

Toni... 

be my guest! 



Shady, before we go inside..... 



I would like to point out that nearly all of the Dell's windows 
are being replaced, more than 30 in all. 






However, the original 
stained glass windows 
on the front of the 
house facing 
Starcross Road 
will remain intact 
because they add 
so much character. 

As we step inside 
the front door, the 
first thing you will 
notice is that the 
long narrow 
hallway is gone. 
The wall on the 
left side was 
removed, 
opening up 
the interior 
considerably. 





When we move forward a few paces, do an about-face 
and look back at the front door... 

you can see how the removal of the hallway wall allows 
easy access to the front room. You can also see another 
stained glass pane above the door. This must have been 
one classy house back in the day! 

Let's go through the door on the left in the above photo 
so that we can view one of the areas that was off-limits 
to Dell rats. 

This was once the Ettlines' living room. The bay window is 
one of the many amenities to be found throughout the Dell 
house. Plans call for this space to be divided by a wall and 
become a dining room and office. 

If we go back out to the entrance where we started we 
can view in the above picture a portion of the front room 
that can be used for casual dining such as a breakfast nook 
in conjunction with a proposed eat-in kitchen. 

In the image below we have moved a few more paces back, 
allowing us to see the close proximity of the eating area to 
the middle section of the room where the modern, walk-thru 
kitchen will be located. The kitchen will have an island and 
all new appliances. 

On the left side of this picture you'll notice 2X4s running 
along the interior wall. That's where the kitchen cabinets 
and appliances will be installed. On the right you can see 
one of the original restroom doors that now leads, not to 
blessed bladder bliss, but directly out to the Dell's 
magnificent porch. 

Toni, if I may interrupt you
at this point, I would like to remind readers that it was
here in this room (above)
that generations of Dell rats occupied rows of restaurant booths, munched on goodies prepared by Helen Ettline, listened to the jukebox, and took care of teenage business. In the late 60s the booths were removed and a fooseball table was installed, followed in later years by a pool table. All of it is gone now.

Toni, back to you.

Shady, the photo below, taken from the front door, 
shows the same kitchen area from a different angle. 

Notice those 2X4s lining the interior wall which is now on 
the right side of the frame. In case you're wondering, that 
large stainless steel object on the far left is the original 
Shady Dell soda fountain. It was moved out of the way 
while work was ongoing. Beyond it and just to the right 
you can see that the other restroom door, the one that 
once led to the ladies' room, has been converted into a 
window. 

Now let's proceed to the rear of the house and examine 
the picture below. The room that for decades contained 
the Dell's snack bar, stools, grill and soda fountain is 
hardly recognizable now that those familiar trappings 
have been removed. 

The area where the old snack bar was located is destined 
to become the great room with sofa, chairs, TV, etc. 
When we walk through the door in the background we 
enter a narrow room where a completely new 1/2 bath 
and laundry will be installed. 

For many years the room was used for storage but there 
is evidence that it started out as a porch that was later 
enclosed. 

The picture below, taken from the laundry at the far rear 
of the first floor, gives us a full length view of this side of 
the house.  The great room which was once the snack bar 

is in the foreground.  The center of the picture is where the 
new kitchen will be located.  In the far background you can 
see the space set aside for a table and chairs that will be 
incorporated with the kitchen and used for casual everyday 
dining.  At this point I would like to mention that new 
hardwood flooring will be installed on this main floor and 
that plumbing has been upgraded throughout the house. 
The blue and white door on the left in the above photo 
leads us downstairs to the basement, another area that 
was out of bounds to Dell patrons. 

The basement, which consists of the rectangular room 
above and an L-shaped chamber behind it, has been 
cleared of trash and debris, cleaned, brightened with 
white paint, and a new door installed.  The basement 
will be heated and air conditioned.  It doesn't take 
much to imagine this space as a man cave or rec room 
with ping-pong, pool tables and what have you. 

Now that we've seen the basement and the first floor 
let's proceed up to the second and third floors which 
were also off-limits to Dell customers. 

The four bedroom second floor is being converted into three 
bedrooms with two full baths. 

The main attraction will be a spacious new master bedroom 
that is being created by removing a wall between an existing 
bedroom and the Ettlines' old dining room. 



The Ettlines' dining room, shown above, will be converted 
into a sitting room adjoining the master bedroom. 

Panning to the right gives us a better look at the Dell's 
second bay window which will be an attractive feature 

of the newly created sitting room. 

What used to be the Ettlines' upstairs kitchen (above) will 
now become the master bath and a closet.  A deck on the 
outside of the house can be accessed from this room. 

Layers of old wallpaper throughout the house are being 
stripped away. Walls and ceilings will be getting new 1/4" 
sheet rock drywall and insulation will be blown into the walls. 

The entire second floor will get new carpeting. Bathrooms 
will have tile floors.  When we climb the stairway on the left 
in the picture above we will arrive on the third floor. 

The appearance of the three room attic is changing rapidly. 
The picture above was taken around mid March.  The next 
three pictures below were taken only one week later. 

The walls and ceiling have been stripped. Soon heating and 
air conditioning ducts will be installed. Incidentally, the odd 
shaped custom fitted window visible in the center of the 
main wall is one of the few Dell windows that will not be 
replaced. 

Drywall will be applied throughout the attic.  The walls and 
ceiling will be repainted and new carpeting will be installed. 

Heating, air conditioning, new walls and ceiling, fresh paint 
and carpeting...with all of those improvements the attic 
could easily serve as a 4th bedroom! 

Shady... that completes 
our tour of the Dell house 
which at the moment is 
an empty nest, but not 
for long. Our goal is to 
transform the three story 
brick structure from an 
aging fixer-upper into a 
beautiful, comfortable 
modern home that will 
retain a great deal of  
its original idyllic charm. 
Once the interior work 
has been completed we 
will be staging the home with furnishings, decora- 
tions and accessories including vintage 1930s art deco 
ceiling light fixtures and chandeliers, colorful towels, 
pictures, hanging baskets of flowers on the porches and 
other personal touches that will make the home as warm 
and inviting as possible. 

Toni, that's music to my ears. The next chapter of Pimp My Dell promises to be the most exciting ever. We'll get to see the finished product and I know it'll blow our minds. The attic already looks like Hef's private suite at the Playboy mansion!

Thank you very much Toni Deroche for 
your entertaining and informative report 
and for bringing us another series of 
fascinating and historically significant 
photographs! 

I would like to conclude this Dell update with one last image captured by Toni from that second floor deck outside the old kitchen. It shows us what the barn/dance hall complex looks like today.

Winters have not been kind. The barn is in obvious disrepair. For those of us who made it our home away from home all those years ago it's nearly impossible to believe that this shabby shack is the same spot where all of that magic happened, the legendary hangout that once rocked and rolled with hundreds of teenagers a night, a place where
the psychodramas and the traumas of countless youth played out, a sanctuary wherein is recorded our own
version of American Graffiti and dwell our fondest memories. The long-term fate of the barn remains uncertain. Dell rats can only hope that it will not be reduced to rubble but will instead be preserved forever.

Have a Shady day!