First old house after college! (pics)

[James]

I know what you mean about family not "getting it". When i bought my place 10 years ago my late mothers comment was "your out of your God #@%#&! mind!"
Most of them still don't get it.

[jharkin]

Many of them never will get it. My dad, the "restoration carpenter" still tries to convince me to replace my windows.

But a BIG CONGRATULATIONS on the house, and a congratulations to be starting out so young. I only wish I could have bought a house at your age... took me another dozen years to get there.

[jkiac]

sounds like you got an excellent deal! good luck with the house. remember it's a marathon not a sprint

[Eden]

" Very slow pace of life (which I love), yes very economically depressed, but it feels right.. Lots of country, little towns, and old buildings.. There's a local cafe we go to on the weekends and know everyone by name, people wave as you drive by, neighbors help out....its so not like that where I grew up in modern suburban maryland! "

Yep, I'm still in MD and moving to my farm in Oxford, NY in about a year, about 1.5 hours south of you. People are indeed different, helpful, kind and the area is very depressed too, but OMG, the homes are all steals, but need help and are salvagable as you say - will take effort and time. I drive by many w/smoke coming out of the chimney and wonder, judging from the outside, how people can be so poor that their homes are in such a state and they are actually living in what down here in MD would be considered uninhabital with a sign nailed on the door. There are a lot being restored too.

In my area, Chenago County, and south into Broome County, the Italinates were very, very popular. Yours looks to be a cube Italianate with the brackets under the eves, tiny porch and ornate trim on the porch columns. Some are simple, others over the top - I love them, especially w/the belvedere.

Neighbors from nearby farms have all stopped by and the girl I rented the barn to has her horses (7) there and her family and friends, neighbors helped with donated labor and wood to restore it, make more stalls and fence off more of the pastures for the horses. I only charge her $200 a month and she keeps the grounds.

So, stay where you are, it's a comforting way of life - people care, not that materialistic lifestyle I too see so much of in MD - it's the Little House on the Prairie, Andy of Mayberry...
Congrats!

[nickd]

It's been a while since I've been on here, but figured I would share some updates! I moved into the parsonage this past summer, and have been working on it ever since ... A nonstop project for sure... It took quite a while to empty the parsonage of my friend's things (it was storage for them), but once it was cleared out everything was so much easier to evaluate... Since summer, the house has been completely rewired, new plumbing roughed in, heat put in (a couple days ago ), and just in general little touch-ups here and there amidst the massive task of making it livable while demuddling the many, many remuddles. With that being said, the interior is still a construction zone of fairly organized chaos... (hence the lack of interior photos ) And the exterior still has MANY repairs that have to be done. Down the road the roof and one wall of the foundation must be replaced, but for now I'd trying to patch and stabilize.... I must also admit I'm guilty of spending time on cosmetic things like shutters and doorknobs and a little paint when I should probably be more focused on getting the core issues fixed... But its just so nice to come home and see the house all bright and happy with repaired, repainted shutters and fresh paint on the front door!

Oh, and for the record I know the colors aren't near historically accurate, but when it comes to color I just like going with what makes me happy. The main house will eventually be painted a pale minty/creamy green.

My general rule of thumb is that I'm not taking out anything original, but if something is missing or has already been replaced, I'll likely replace it was something old, but it might not be technically 100% "correct". For example, the door knob/ plate dates to around 1905, which isn't what it would have originally had, but I love it regardless.

So anyways, here's a bunch of photos of the progress so far

Outside: Before


Outside: Now


Original shutters were found in a crawl space beneath the church!! Oh and the porch railing was salvaged from a home that got demolished down the road. The spacing needs to be fixed and they need to be mounted, but you get the idea... Porch columns will also (eventually) be replaced with historic ones... (vs. the wimpy 4x4's there now)




Front Door: Before


Front Door: Now









Front Door, Interior Side: Before


Front Door, Interior Side: Now

[Neighmond]

Pretty!

[CountryGirl]

The house now looks loved. Nice work, love the new(old) door and door bell.

Susan

[Texas_Ranger]

The house now looks loved. Nice work, love the new(old) door and door bell.

Susan

That isn't a new door

I'm 99% sure that Nick just removed the storm door (I'd definitely want to have one though) and the plywood that covered the inside of the door!

[nickd]

Yep- you're right! The original door was covered in plywood inside, and had a storm in front of it outside. I may eventually put up an antique storm door, but I like it as it is for now... Oh and this specific crank doorbell is new to the door, but I discovered originally the door had one, and they had just patched over the hole.... Inside you can see the paint evidence of where the bell mounted...

[Don M]

Good progress!