Monday, January 24, 2011

A glimpse of what's to come

Last night I came across these pictures of the outside of our house.  We took them this past summer when we initially decided to make an offer on the house.

This is the front enterance to the house.  It faces North.  The view is out over a farm field and the countryside.  We have seen deer, turkeys, and pheasants almost every day we've been there working.  There actually was a deer bedded down right in the front yard the other night.

This is another view of the North side of the house.  The tree on the right is an apple tree that I am very excited about.  We hope to plant more and have a small orchard across the driveway from the house.  You can also see the screen porch on the left side.

This is the West side of the house.  The bay windows are the dining room.  The room that the back porch comes off of is the kitchen.  The plan is to replace the chain link fence with pickets.  This photo was taken from the driveway looking up at the house.

This is the East side of the house.  The screen porch is on the right.  The first floor window that is visible will be the Laundry Room.  I like the idea of being able to take clothes right out the door that leads onto the screen porch outside to hang on the line (or the lattice like the renters that were there did).  I can almost smell the summer breeze just thinking about it.

The next few photos are from the old kitchen.  Really the only thing that will be staying are the floors.  1 1/2" random length solid wood.  We are having a local Amish craftsman make some new pieces so that we can patch where the old cabinets were and replace some very slippery tile near the door.

This is the view of the kitchen from the entry off the back porch.  The wall that we are in the process of taking out is behind the fridge and the cabinets to the right.

This is the view of the kitchen from the door we will use as the main entry to the house.



Thursday, January 20, 2011

The heart of our home…

Just hours after we signed the papers making this house officially our forever home we began pouring our hearts, souls, and backs into it.  Nate and I couldn’t wait to start swinging hammers at the wall that closed off the kitchen from the rest of the house.  We both love to cook and Charlie is already showing an interest as well.  Whenever we are in the kitchen he pushes, pulls, or drags a chair to the counter and says “me, me” until he gets to try mixing or measuring. 

So, we didn’t waste any time and with my dad’s help, the three of us had the old cabinets down and the drywall off both sides of the wall.  Even with the studs still there the change is incredible.  The kitchen will be open to the dining room and living room making a sort of L-shaped great room.  I actually think the house is standing a little straighter and taller now that it has received some love.  It’s like it can tell that we are going to stay and take care of it.

We did get some bad news when a friend of ours checked the furnace and told us that it would need to be replaced.  Luckily, there is also a very nice Woodchuck wood burning stove that is hooked up to the forced air ductwork.  We are still trying to figure out just how much wood the woodchuck needs, you would think that since fire was harnessed in pre-historic times that we in 2011 would have it mastered – that is not the case.  Two stops and a couple of phone calls to a local stove dealer has us on the right track.  Harvey, the Woodchuck master, basically told us we need to give it time and keep trying to find the sweet spot – that perfect burn.  Then we will have a house that we don’t see our breath in.

We have also made a lot of progress with the “stuff” for the kitchen.  The cabinets are ordered, our appliances were delivered today, and my sink has arrived from New Hampshire.  (more posts on those to follow)

Warm thoughts to you as the weatherman predicts -22 for tomorrow morning, oh yeah, that’s without the wind chill.  I think I’m going to be looking for a groundhog pretty soon.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

The start of our ever ever after…

We finally heard the three magic words – WE CAN CLOSE!!!!! 

On May 26, 2010 we submitted our first offer for the house we will now get to make into our home!  It’s been a very long 7 months but it will finally be ours next Friday! 

We decided then that there was no turning back and we (okay, mostly I) have been planning how to restore this property ever since with the hopes and prayers that someday we would be able to make it ours.  There is the house, a small barn, and 1.5 acres that all need quite a bit of love.  It will be an interesting journey for sure as we plan to do most of the work ourselves and we plan to chronicle it here…

Welcome to our new home at Shady Grove Farm. 

Please feel free to visit often!

 
The Farm House


The Barn