Renovations over the last few years

Since the last post we've accomplished a lot! I'm ashamed I haven't kept up with the blog better. To the best of my recollection, the first thing we did since the gas fireplace additions was to begin remodeling the upstairs bathroom and main level powder room. These were begun in July of 2012 and several other projects began and ended before we wrapped them up. The following is a sort of timeline of events...

Zack was a big help!
Here's a shot of the space after the bathroom had been completely demolished.

Just a picture of Lynn and Zack from around this time period that I love!

Chalkboard paint in the kids' play room.

Removing the carpet in the main hallway

Even though we hated to replace the old shutters, we felt that the home needed it. It also helped relieve a major bat situation! The new shutters are built out of composite material so they won't rot and are resistant to insects. I had them built in a panel style instead of louvers so they didn't act as bat houses. All of the faux and window shutters were replaced with these in January 2014. The works was done by Rex Bell.

In the upstairs bath, a new 2x6 wall was added to continue plumbing to the the third level within the cavity. This picture shows the new tile shower walls and the exposed brick wall (always a messy job but we love the results. This was a slow project. I bit the bullet and hired a pro, Chris Mull Homes to complete the job. April 2014

 This is the vanity wall. It's tough to photograph the small/tall room. We had the door built to mimic the original tall doors with transoms. We were able to us an old door which helped tie it in very well. We went with slate floors.

Loading up all the old shutters (June 2014)

Also in June of 2014, I got a wild hair to convert the spring house into something we'd get more use/enjoyment out of. I gutted it, demolished the back side wall, removed the doors and windows, put a new deck inside and converted it into a sort of outdoor living space. Can't believe I didn't think to do it sooner. We love having this area to sit, watch the creek and kids play in the back yard. It's an excellent space and wonderful addition to the property!

In July of 2014 we had the box gutters in the back part of the home framed over and replaced with standard hang-on gutters. I hated to do this but after battling a lot of water damage and continued leaking, I felt we had little choice. The box gutters still remain and work beautifully on the main section of the home. At the same time we had the soffits rebuilt with composite material and all of the decorative cornice work cleaned and repainted. All of the other painted sections of the exterior were also painted. This work was done by Rex Bell.

 Ella and I built a model for a school project of hers.February 2016

Treehouse modifications. 2016

Full moon

Gas Fireplaces

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. I'll need to think about what I've forgotten to post since my last.

Recently we had our wood burning fireplaces converted to gas on the main level. Until this point we used alcohol burning canisters in them on very rare occasions. The fireplaces include the living room, library and master bedroom. Lynn's uncle Eddie Geier was gracious enough to do the work for us. He is a newly retired pipe fitter from Belden. He is not only very knowledgeable but also very in tune with the historic nature of our home. He was perfect for the job. I've attached a rather comical sketch he later delivered to us. Ella (age 4) and Zack (age 2) really enjoyed his occasional visits. I think Eddie really enjoyed coming over also. He and the kids got some bonding time in that they would not have otherwise. I'd say Eddie had to make around 10 visits to complete the work. As expected, he did an incredible job. All of the gas lines are ran immaculately and in a way as to not disturb the integrity of the architecture.

We're very excited to put all three of the ventless gas fireplaces to use this winter. Who knows, maybe we can enlist Eddie's help one day to do the fireplaces upstairs too :)

Living in an Antique

Our friend Dick Brown sent this in the mail. It's an article from The Courier-Times, New Castle, IN, Monday, December 18 1995 newspaper...

Woman's History Club Visit

This is a clipping from the Nettle Creek Gazette, Wednesday - May 5th, 2010 after the Woman's History Club toured our home.

Christmas Home Tour - Western Wayne News, Nov 5, 1997

Behind the Mantle

My sister-in-law Kim sat her necklace on the mantle in our bedroom. It somehow slid behind. I pried the mantle away from wall slightly and found these things dating from 1865. We can not identify anyone in the photos but it was nonetheless very interesting.

History Club Tours House

Today the Hagerstown History Club toured our House. It seems that approximately 20 people attended. I gave a brief summery of what I knew with everyone gathered in the foyer. Lynn took one group and I took another around the home. We walked room to room and shared information both ways about the home. I think it turned out to be more of a general open house than it was an informative historical tour, which is my fault. Truth is, I don't have enough of the history memorized to give a very good tour. Hopefully most are like me and can just soak it in and appreciate it for what it is. For the tour we chose not to focus on the renovations too much, just made mention of what we'd done (since it was for history's sake).

For those interested, key renovations to date include:

New Roof

New Driveway

New Furnace

Rebuilt Chimneys from the 3rd floor up

New Windows

Conversion of two bedrooms upstairs to a large family room

Rebuilt Balcony off of upstairs family room

Conversion of one main level parlor into a master bathroom, closet and vanity

Stripped wallpaper, paint, carpet, light fixtures

New Drainage from Springhouse to creek

Demolished privacy fence on south side

We were a little nervous about what some in the History club would think of the more modern renovations like the upstairs family room and the master closet/bath area. It's not like we were giving the tour to the "Mess with Old Homes Club". I suspect some didn't care for those spaces or how we've handled them, but most seemed to approve. Lynn said someone asked what made us want to buy this place, to which she answered that she initially liked it, toured it and didn't like it as well, and then was convinced by me. I was asked if we ever got or do get overwhelmed. Lynn and I both get overwhelmed, and especially did at the beginning. Most of the projects have turned out to cost double what we anticipated and we are presented with unexpected projects on a fairly regular basis, not to mention I think the general upkeep is much more than we dealt with in our last home. I think we're now used to it and have completely accepted that we have a life long project on our hands. All in all we are very happy here and feel very fortunate to take care of it and call it home. It hasn't done us in, we don't think it will, and we feel very good about raising our family here.

One of the attendees seemed to believe that the house wasn't built as early as we think, claiming that construction began possibly as late as 1850's and for the Newcomb family. The abstract seems to suggest otherwise so we'll stick with that (1835-ish for Abraham Kinsey by George Gillespie). I have a difficult time keeping previous owners and dates memorized so I was helped in that respect on a couple of occasions. A couple attendees mentioned that they had done writings or reports on the home. I really hope we can get copies of those. We chose not to tour the basement which I think upset some. I apologized, but explained that it is currently a very messy and dangerous area that we preferred to not take a big group through. Sorry!

All in all, I think it went ok. The group was very appreciative and kind. I'm not sure how much information was new to them but hopefully they enjoyed seeing the house and I think some were just as interested to see what we've done and how it looks with different owners.

This was not the first time for most of them to tour the home, which we fully anticipated. Some even made mention that they had looked at or considered buying the home at some point. I wish I was keeping track of all who've said that to us over the years, it must be more than 30 people who either have or know someone who has considered. They obviously chose not to buy for a reason, and sometimes that makes us go "hmm." It's a strange feeling to live in a place that so many are so familiar with and have stories of. It can sometimes feel like we're guests.