Not that farmhouse!

I have always wanted to live in a hundred year old farmhouse

    

This wasn’t what I had in mind….
The farmhouse of my dreams is a grand old beauty in a picture perfect setting. Surrounded by rolling hills that are spotted with hay bails and an occasional oak tree (you know, to picnic under).   My house is white, with fantastical trim, black shutters, and a huge wrap around porch.  Don’t even get me started on the gardens!

But this farmhouse just needed a little love. And, you have to start somewhere…

Actually, the house doesn’t look bad in this picture. You can’t see the hole in the roof, the 3 shades of brown on the siding, and the inside…..well, lets just say it needed some work.

Im not complaining, mind you. The setting is lovely.  We have a few acres, and from the kitchen table, we look out at this magnificent sycamore tree and a small apple orchard.

The inside, well, lets just say my husband and the carpenter suggested a tear down was the way to go.. There was nothing really original left in this simple victorian. The foundation, according to the structural engineer, “should last another 20years,” and, is quite lovely. One room. Just one, has the original floors. Glorious, naturally distressed, 122 year old floors. And, a bonus, this old door that I like to claim is original. It had been abandoned in the basement long ago. I am happy it stayed there for me to rescue.

Again, the husband and carpenter sided together, insisting it could not actually be used as a proper exterior door… Humph!
So I brought it inside!  It now separates the kitchen from the laundry room.

What the house did have was mismatched windows and doors, a hole in the roof,  severe water damage, some mold, and about a 3-5inch slope from the front to the back.  Several owners and a few additions, left the house choppy and awkward, but did give us some extra space (we must stay positive).  It was more work and money than we bargained for, and there were many compromises, but we did end up with the home of my dreams after all 🙂  I wish we had the time, money, and patience, to give the house an authentic makeover.  But we didn’t.

We did what we could,  and came up with this:

I   mean, seriously, look how lucky I am.  I just had to get up from writing this blog post to take a picture of the sunrise… I missed the real color by a minute or two, but can you see how it glows pink on the side of the house??

You can.  Because she is no longer 3 shades of brown.  She is white. With black shutters, and my dream home:)

  Thanks for stopping by,

  Christine