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Heite Consulting, Inc. has bought a property in Frederica for our new World Headquarters (WHQ in the Ned vernacular). It is supposedly the only header bond building left standing in Delaware. The building is the old Delaware Hotel and had a hardware store and a 1 story "shotgun" country store added later and an antiques shop in it in later iterations. The old 3 story hotel part has been renovated for offices. The 2 story hardware store part is used for storage (it comes with a trapdoor and forklift) and the "shotgun" 1 story store is the map room and lab.

We moved into the new WHQ on November 2. The magnificent pressed tin ceiling above the 1960's fiberboard version where the new office will be located has been cleaned and is now on view. The pattern is a floral variant that is not to be found elsewhere in the repertory of panel makers left in the country. The two support columns in the old part had a standard repetitive pattern so we were well pleased when the ceiling was re-discovered.

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If you stand on the corner of Market and Front, you can see 4 centuries of architecture as you turn. Quite the view!!! And we're not far from the Murderkill River (wonderfully edgy name) where a cannery and shipyard were once thriving Frederica businesses.

What we haven't seen yet is anything from the 17th century, although there is one building that might be a possibility.