This old girl looks forlorn and abandoned. All the paint has disappeared from years of hard winters, scorching heat, torrential rains, and neglect. You probably can’t tell from just looking at her that we have been working on this project for almost a year. Last winter you could not have seen the house for all the snarled underbrush and scrub trees that have over taken the home-site. The spinster who lived there was too ill to care for anything but the basics of daily living.
My husband purchased this mess simply because he loves me. May all of you have someone who loves you as much as my sweetheart loves me.
What on earth are you looking at in this photo? This is an interior wall of our new home. The house was built in 1817. My ancestors were hard working farmers but they were on such a tight budget that they could not afford lathe and plaster for the walls. Instead they used a special cardboard that they covered with wall paper. No RH factor to it. The wind whistled through the thin walls. Jim said he had heard about houses built like this but had never, in his many years of construction, actually seen a house without plaster or boards. Can you image living in a house with no insulation? Makes me thankful for all the tools we have now like foam to spray into our electrical sockets and blow in and batting insulation we can find at Buchheit.
The main floor measures less than 600 square feet. Many of my friends could fit my new living space into a single room of their homes, but I know that this space is just right for Jim and me to retire. This is a photo of an exterior wall that Jim and Josiah have reworked. New wiring, lots of insulation, and sheetrock that also can be purchased at your local Buchheit. The green colored sheetrock at the top is specially treated rock that will not mold if it gets wet as Jim found a longstanding leak in the valley of that roofline.
The next step will be taping and bedding the sheetrock. Jim makes it look easy but it is like most skills, honed by years of practice. Master craftsmen who are able to work plaster need to pass on this dying art so I will make sure to take detailed photos. His goal is to make it look like old fashioned plaster so he is using real plaster instead of the bucketed mud.
Jim and I will be sharing our journey as we prepare to leave our beloved 7 E’s Homestead to our new much smaller homestead. I am truly coming full circle with this project. I used to run across the field to visit my Grandma Mary who lived in this tiny farmhouse. Happy memories live here. l can’t wait to see how we rework this little gem. Keep reading as I will be updating you more regularly now that we have geared up to finish the interior. Be blessed today! Annie
Oh Ann! What a lovely tribute to Grandma Mary’s, and now you’re, new home. Those who cannot see the history and relive the memories for the newness and change are missing out on grace, beauty and functionality. You are making this now your home to meet your needs and will be perfect for you and Jim to enjoy as ancestors have before. As my mom says, the past is the past, look toward the future. We can always remember, but you are giving this homestead a future…. I will always remember but will enjoy the future of this 100 year old home …. <3 (P.S. I had a much more eloquent response written, but glitch in typing my email address lost it… this is the best I can remember what I wrote before HA!)
This is a great story! So many times I have passed by old abandoned country homes and wondered what happened that they were left to decay and fall in. So many times I had fleeting thoughts wishing I could remodel them. I hope your “new” home will be all you dream it to be. Enjoy it and your memories for years to come. Your one of the lucky ones who gets to live your dream! God’s Richest Blessings On You And Yours!