Week 12: A Little Detour

Hi Friend,

I finally have a bit of time, so I thought I'd check in. We are still in a state of flux - even more so because I've had to put the brakes on this new house project to take a sharp turn towards giving attention to our rental house, out of which our long-term tenants just moved. I had no idea that this would push me over the edge. My mother-in-law used to joke that her brain was a shrinking iceberg, on which only so many penguins (tasks, ideas, etc.) could fit before jumping off. I have felt that with this new house, my iceberg has been jam-packed with penguins; our rental house's cry for attention forced at least half of them into the water. It's been jarring to get out of this groove and change paths, but since I'm on the detour, we might as well try to enjoy the journey a bit, right?

The story of this rental house actually started with my mother-in-law. To our shock and dismay, she passed away suddenly in the summer of 2015. In the months that followed, Mickey and his sister sold their childhood home, and we knew we'd be getting a portion of the proceeds. We had just finished renovating our own home in the country, and I thought it'd be fun to fix up another one (you must know by now that I’ve got a thing for old houses!). It just so happened that I passed this old Folk Victorian farmhouse four times a day while taking my kids to and from the Waldorf school up the road.

Visible problems inside and out, but I knew we could save it

I could tell that no one was living there, though someone was still mowing the grass. It wasn't listed for sale, but one day, I saw that a post in the garage had rotted and the roof was starting to collapse.

Yikes! We needed to act quickly to salvage the rest of the structure

I knew it was time to take action. I looked up the owner's name in the tax rolls, sent him a note with my phone number to his mailing address, and got a call 3 days later. "You want to see the house?" asked the elderly man. This house was built in 1870 and had been in his family since the late 1920s. In that time, it had been a sandwich shop, an inn, and a two-family home, which explained the interior's cobbled-together state. He had moved out 8 years earlier but had hoped someone in the family would want it, but they didn't. We met him a few days later and purchased the property in December 2016. Friends thought we were nuts; one contractor-friend had called it a teardown. Nonetheless, our family actually spent Christmas Day there because we had just rented out our own house as a vacation rental.

What a sad little room and tree! But there were nice gifts and a fun visit to family

My Christmas present: getting to open up walls!

The journey of bringing this house back to life took much longer than I had hoped (the plumber had a life crisis and was MIA, which literally halted the project for 6 months!). I'll save you the rest of the saga and will get to the fun part: a few before and afters.

I could see the charm past the peeling paint and sagging porch

I found some nice vintage garage doors to add to the garage wall

The house is happy again with its life extended

This wall and the shed behind it were torn out for a new kitchen and a back view

The kitchen is big and bright now, with the crown jewel: the 4-oven AGA

That post was actually holding up the roof! Had to install a steel beam to take it out

We built a fireplace with a mantel and gas stove for a warm focal point

The low, wavy ceilings in the big bedroom upstairs had to go!

We made a cathedral ceiling and turned the weird room next to it into a full bathroom

If you're wondering about the new house, there has been activity over there. Judah's done more interior wall sheathing, and some carpenters have done some exterior window trim (to cover up those white vinyl window frames). And thankfully, these plumbers have stayed on site to do the job. They've been here nearly a week, but we were quite shocked when the bid to install a gas water heater instead of an electric one raised the project's price by $12,500! More photos next week ...

Until next time,

xo

P.S. Have you ever fixed up an old house before? If so, would you ever do it again?

Next post: Week 18: Imperfect Action