Once upon a time…we didn’t live in My Old Country House.
We didn’t even live in the Country.
We lived in the booming metropolis called
Charlottesville, VA.
What brought us here you ask?
Sadly, it was not some long held yearning to get back to some form of a simpler life…see, Charlottesville was simple enough for me…
I am a BIG City girl at heart.
No, as it tends to be, at least in my life…
…it was THE KIDS.
THE KIDS.
And schools…and my Kid’s School…
The school was in the country…and so after one month of doing a daily
hour long round trip drive to First Grade, my husband and I had an “ah hah” “You owe me a coke!” moment…put the house on the market,
sold it in a month (GOD I miss the old days)
and Green Acres…here we come!
I have gotten some requests to see photos of our house
BEFORE
we began fixing it up.
Actually before we even lived here.
BEFORE
we began fixing it up.
Actually before we even lived here.
I have posted some, here and there,
with various makeovers…but never all together.
with various makeovers…but never all together.
These go back to 2004.
We originally moved into the house as a rental and bought it one year later.
We originally moved into the house as a rental and bought it one year later.
The gentleman who owned it, a business associate of my husbands, had just purchased the house and its 100 acres from the only family that had ever lived here.
The house had been vacant for 3 years and was completely empty,
cold and full of nasty little critters.
The house had been vacant for 3 years and was completely empty,
cold and full of nasty little critters.
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| entry way… that carpeting on the stairs was disgusting…the floors were so dark and had HUGE splinters. The kiss were not allowed to go barefoot. This hall is 30′ x 10′. |
The owner,
who lived out of state, and bought the house for it’s land,
allowed us to coordinate the basic,
allowed us to coordinate the basic,
get the house LIVABLE “renovation” which, though mostly cosmetic, included
having the floors redone, putting in new bathrooms, painting every inch of the house.
Every inch of the house was wallpapered, including the ceilings.
The only full bathroom was one giant 18′ x18′ room and we carved that
into a kids bath, master bath and a closet in the master. Sadly I never got a before photos of that Bathroom, but I got all the rest…and here they are!!!
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| walking into the living room, and looking into the original dining room. I will never forget seeing that mirror for the first time. Even with the crud, it was majestic. Anything in this photo that looks white was really a golden yellow, dingy and stained from years of smokers. |
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| Dining Room looking into Living Room |
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| nasty kitchen |
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| I am so sad to say, we still have the oven. I kind of liked the whole stainless top by the range. |
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| yuck |
now we go upstairs….
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| My daughters room as it looked into my sons room. The downstairs had undergone a face lift in 1967, we found a box of all the end rolls of wallpaper and the invoice in the attic. The upstairs had not been touched for over 50-60 years |
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| more Phoebe’s room |
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| Phoebe’s room |
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| Boys Fireplace |
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| Boys Closet |
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| Upstairs hall chandelier, these fixtures were in all of the bedrooms and the hall. They were a standard fixture for the early 1900’s. |
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| the old sleeping porch |
…well all I can say is that we have come a long way!
from this……
to this….
and thank God for that!!!!
I really sort of like the old light fixture & wallpaper in Phoebe’s room. But I’m a total sucker for old things in their natural state.
I think you should totally make this tour a part of your sidebar(so people can find it quickly). Its phenomenal to see how far you’ve brought this house!
Done! Thanks for the feedback!
Your house is amazing, but even more so after seeing the before pictures. What a transformation!
Amazing!!! We are doing a total renovation on a seventy year old house. I loved how yours turned out. It is a ton of work! Isn’t it? We are doing almost all of it ourselves except for the more complicated trades.
Wow, is all I can say…you have did a wonderful job!
Hey there Lesli, I hopped over from YHL today after seeing their house crashing post…anyways, I just love old farmhouses. And I especially love what you’ve done with yours.
I live in an old farmhouse in Ohio. And I hope that someday mine is a fraction as cute as yours. Here are our before pics. 🙂 http://makingittooperfect.blogspot.com/p/tour-of-our-new-home.html
P.S. I love what you did with the existing kitchen cabinets! Great idea to just make new doors.