Progress on the main house

We had to halt work on the apartment until we get some paperwork straightened out around dividing the property into two lots. Creating a "subdivision" is complicated!

So work has shifted to the main house, and it is sooooooooooo cool.

I took some photos over there just now, but looking at them on the real screen does not do the project justice, so I am going back over there tomorrow when there's light and take more.

The kitchen has been gutted and expanded to include what once was a pass-through -- the ceiling now goes to the rafters instead of being '60s-era dropped acoustic tile. We're plotting cabinets and countertops.

Half of the wall between the kitchen and the living room has been taken out, opening the space and improving flow.

The two upstairs bedrooms are becoming one master -- the wall/closets between them have been knocked out. The floor underpinning those bedrooms has been jacked up an inch and a half -- it is noticeably less cockeyed!

Plans are underway to expand the bathroom at the end of the master beyond its 8-foot square.

On the other end of the house, the stairway that once turned a corner down into the basement has been straightened out. We lost some cabinetry in the process, but gained breathing room and safety.

And in that basement, the crazy collection of walls and closets and windows and such are all out -- it is one big space that will become the kids' bedrooms and bathrooms, my office and the laundry/utility room.

Every day is something new -- it's so interesting!

Stuff lying around the place

Part of the fun of this restoration project is finding what's here.

Like this woodstove that used to heat the party room-turned-apartment.
Like the copper light fixtures.
Like the emblem that was on the front of the kitchen sink.
Like the old clawfoot tub.
Like the kitchen cabinets.
Like the really, really good pencil sharpener that is in the strangest place.

Soon there will be walls

Work on the apartment is proceeding nicely. The floor is leveled up, the layout is mapped. We have a tub. No water yet, but so?

Cumberland Tree Service has worked some magic, too.

I see the earth move

The bulldozer was here yesterday.

Making space

In the basement of the main house, there were two partially finished rooms with no door in between them. To get from one to the other you had to go upstairs and to the other end of the house and back down.

Not anymore!

The kids' rooms will be down here, and a bathroom and the utility room and my office. (The pictures don't show where the utility room and the office will be.)

The big house

The living room in the main house had an old, acoustic-tile dropped ceiling, but based on what we could see elsewhere, we hope hope hoped that the tongue-and-groove wood went all the way to the roof peak.

And it does! After a little restructuring, there will be less truss work and a much more expansive, exposed-beam look.

 
We'll have a little shelter for unlocking the door if it's raining. And the apartment got a little love today, too.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Remember this?

Now look:

Shaping up

The apartment building is taking shape -- it will be "dried in" soon! The shingles will be green, and are ones that were sitting there already in bundles indoors left over from a couple years ago when part of the main house roof got done.

Priorities

The kids have been all over the map about this move. They'll be okay for a few days, and then I will go to wake them and there are handwritten signs in their room: "NO MOVING!" "We are never leaving this house!"

But the surprise lure of a dog, it is strong. (Parenting hat tip to Richard.)

Janey has been googling all the dogs, and her current favorite is a Bernese Mountain dog.

Elliott was very perceptive: "Mom, do you want a lazy dog? Because Janey and I will be at school, and Dad will be at work. But you work at home all day with the dog."

Such a smart boy. Who spent his book fair money yesterday on a 3-D book about puppies.

Roof going on!

The first priority on this little building was getting a new roof on, since the existing one was, um, ventilated. The contractor (Jim Scott, A2Z Construction) sent us this photo -- it's amazing to see how much can happen in a day.

You've been waiting for an overview

Well, you haven't, really. But that's the tie-in to the cheesy muzak that accompanies this photo montage.

The Realtor montage at that link gives you a little more perspective on the property. There is a greenhouse! Plans are in the works to grow kale all winter long. And lettuce and maybe spinach.

The apartment is the first order of business, though, in case our house sells faster than expected. We are tearing off the carport to open up the driveway. The roof will get replaced using a stash of shingles that was already there. Score!

This building has a garage underneath, and what you can see there is now just one big room with a hardwood floor. It was a party room, mostly, built in the 1960s. I estimate it at about 1,000 square feet, which will get carved up into a lovely little two-bedroom apartment for some utterly reliable and gracious tenant.

Buckle up!

We own this. Oh, my. It is one of the original resort cabins connected with a now-gone resort and hotel. You can read about that here.

Our plans are to update and renovate it to live in, and to turn the freestanding garage into an apartment.

The property is beautiful, unique and verging on historic. And Richard has promised the kids that when it's all done and we're all moved in we can get a dog.