9 Months later - No more Scary House
I find it interesting that my last post to our home blog was the month we got pregnant with London and that our last project took us 9 months. While having a baby/ toddler is challenging, this project was by far the most complex and challenging thing we have ever done. It required us to manage multiple vendor schedules and a rush to beat the winter cold. When we started I thought it would be 6-8 weeks and cost $x. It turned into 9 months and 3 times $x. Don't get me wrong we planned correctly but as we got into it we just kept adding on to the project. When we bought the house, formally known as Scary House, everything about it was dark. As we started to bring light to the outside of the house we wanted more and more.
It all started after the winter of 2014 when the front step cracked and started to fall apart. It started as a safety issue. To replace the step meant replacing the entry walk which meant new landscaping which meant redoing the porch which meant fixing the porch roof issues which meant painting all the windows which meant replacing all the wood work on the entire roof line which meant 2 years after the step cracked we finished.
Months after we moved in to this house a friend said to me "What made you think you could do this?" "This" being renovate a 130 year old house. I remember thinking "What is the big deal." Well this project taught me that what we have done is a really big deal. Restoring a home to its natural beauty and filling it with love and laughter is a really big deal. Living in an area that is becoming overrun with builder grade developments I realize how important it is to preserve what we have in this house...history. I recently found a picture labeled "Cousin Han" taken in early 1900's. I found it laying in a random place in the house. Think about it....for over 100 years this picture has survived outside of a photo album and a frame. To randomly find its way onto a shelf in a room that Cousin Han likely once sat. What an incredible gift.
If you know me, you know I was the one who came up with "Scary House". I was so scared of it in a lot of ways. The look of it, the spirits that live inside, the cost to renovate and upkeep it, the problems it faced....on and on and on. But as with all great relationships over time you fall in love, you accept the bad, and more importantly you enjoy the good. Once you find peace and happiness...it can no longer be Scary!
Enjoy the before and after pics..and especially the pic of Cousin Han Cain.
Vendor credits: All are amazing and totally recommend them.
Roof: Top Notch, Havertown
Painting: M.R. Cockerham, West Chester
Porch: Decks R Us, Lancaster
Landscaping: Paxson Landscape & Design
It all started after the winter of 2014 when the front step cracked and started to fall apart. It started as a safety issue. To replace the step meant replacing the entry walk which meant new landscaping which meant redoing the porch which meant fixing the porch roof issues which meant painting all the windows which meant replacing all the wood work on the entire roof line which meant 2 years after the step cracked we finished.
Months after we moved in to this house a friend said to me "What made you think you could do this?" "This" being renovate a 130 year old house. I remember thinking "What is the big deal." Well this project taught me that what we have done is a really big deal. Restoring a home to its natural beauty and filling it with love and laughter is a really big deal. Living in an area that is becoming overrun with builder grade developments I realize how important it is to preserve what we have in this house...history. I recently found a picture labeled "Cousin Han" taken in early 1900's. I found it laying in a random place in the house. Think about it....for over 100 years this picture has survived outside of a photo album and a frame. To randomly find its way onto a shelf in a room that Cousin Han likely once sat. What an incredible gift.
If you know me, you know I was the one who came up with "Scary House". I was so scared of it in a lot of ways. The look of it, the spirits that live inside, the cost to renovate and upkeep it, the problems it faced....on and on and on. But as with all great relationships over time you fall in love, you accept the bad, and more importantly you enjoy the good. Once you find peace and happiness...it can no longer be Scary!
Enjoy the before and after pics..and especially the pic of Cousin Han Cain.
Vendor credits: All are amazing and totally recommend them.
Roof: Top Notch, Havertown
Painting: M.R. Cockerham, West Chester
Porch: Decks R Us, Lancaster
Landscaping: Paxson Landscape & Design
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| This was the day we made settlement: July 2011 |
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| And today: May 2017 |
Cousin Hannah Cain from West Chester
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