The Downtown Farmhouse

When we bought the old house, it was a boarding house. The front porch was the entrance to 2 of the apartments and the stairs. The door on the right led into apartment 1 known as mean lady and naked girls room. The middle door led to apartments 3 and 4 on the 2nd floor.

This door led to apartment 2 also known as the “druggies” apartment. Sorry for the names but COME ON!!! Look at the locks on the door.

One by one the doors have been removed and closed up to either create a wall (druggies apartment door) or to create a new front door. Yeah!!!! The gentleman in this picture is our city inspector. He signed off on the insulation yesterday. We like him:)see the stairs ? Today they will no longer be there. They are being removed and relocated. No longer will you have to walk around the staircase. No longer will they be the first thing you see as you walk in. No longer will you feel like you may plummet to your death as you walk up and have to navigate the weird half step at the top. No longer will you feel as if you need a shower if you have had to touch them in any way. Ok you get it. I hate those steps.

One more day of putting plywood over the front door opening. I promise you won’t be disappointed. I can hardly stand the suspense .

Today the drywall is being loaded in. Monday we will begin to have real walls. The old house is really coming together.

Love,

the girl who worked 11 hours yesterday. She’s tired today……

This week we celebrated our 6 month “Reno-versary. So many exciting things are happening and it’s exciting to see the old house going back together.

Tomorrow (Monday) the insulation is going in. All exterior walls will be insulated as well as the ceiling in the apartment and the attic walls,ceilings and storage. Drywall has been something we have dreamed about for a long time. It feels like a HUGE step in the renovation process. Walls? Yes we will have actual walls.

The renovation has been quite a family affair.

Steve aka the boss: He runs the show. He is the Chief and we are the Indians. He has skills and we all know it. He makes sure that the subs are all contacted, supplies are bought and delivered but most of all he is the talent behind the work. He knows what to do and how to do it. He amazes me with his talent. He is tireless and is an inspiration to his crew. 

Charma aka Steve’s assistant and designer: I do whatever Steve tells me to do when onsite at the house. At home after hours, I am the purchaser and the researcher. I know what I want the end product to look like and that takes time and perseverance.  I am the encourager and try to keep the morale up and positive. I work a part time job and have numerous extra curriculars that keep me hopping.

Vernon and Bea aka The Parents: Don’t tell me the people over 75 or 80 have nothing to give. These two have more than done their share of work at the old house. They are pretty much responsible for removing all the plaster and lathe in the 4400 sq ft house. This included hammering every square inch of plaster and then using a hammer and pry bar to remove every piece of lath individually. For the last 8 weeks that have removed, sanded, repaired, reglazed and reinstalled everyone of the old 113 year old windows. Not for the weak people. I even caught them on the lift scraping the upstairs windows this week. Mom also keeps us fed and in clean clothes. Don’t think for a minute her pure selflessness isn’t loved and appreciated.

The parents have a way more intense social life than Steve and I do. They are faithful (every single Tuesday) Taco Tuesday participants and you will see them out to eat on Friday nights.

Justin, Courtney and Kyle aka The Kids: Justin and Courtney will be getting married at the Old House in August. They have a vested interest that it’s not ugly. For weeks that have shown up and pulled weeds, moved mulch and worked on just about anything we have asked. Kyle doesn’t even live in Ocala and whenever he is in town, he faithfully pitches in. He has also been the “mover” each time we have had to move. I am pretty confident that when we move 1 more time, he won’t be disappointed.

Chris aka The Constant: We have for the most part renovated this house with the help of family minus the sub contractors but we were blessed to be able to bring Chris into the family of workers. He has done anything that Steve has asked him to do. Even if he wasn’t sure what or how to do it, he figured it out. He has been such a blessing. 

We have even had family visiting from Ohio that has come and put in hours. It’s unbelievable the amount of love we have been shown. Thanks is just not enough.

Love,

the girl excited to see the DRYWALL!!!!!

Since day 1, the attic has been an exciting piece of the old house puzzle.

This hole, where the ladder was placed way too low for this girls comfort, we saw the awesome-ness of the attic. The original wood ceiling where it was patched with any kind of wood they could find. Where the two brick chimneys run through to the roof. Where dreams were made to create another space. The possibilities were endless.

The main house alone is enough, but what do we do? Create another floor of living space. A place where we will definitely spend a lot of time. A place where we will have friends over, hang out with our family……a movie room.

As the plans were made, Plan A, B, C and D didn’t work due to the headroom needed for a staircase. However while the plans were being created, the work started. It not only would be a movie room but it was also the ideal place for air conditioning duct work. We started by placing plywood over the rafters so there were places to walk. Scary? yep. Smelly? Yep. The old insulation made me sneeze and cough.

I would shimmy up the ladder, scootch onto the piece of plywood barely on the edge of the attic floor. Lay down and pull myself onto a piece of plywood that I was sure would move and plummet me to my death through the ceiling of the second floor. Dramatic? Yep

The ceiling rafters of course were not all the same size – so  2 x 4’s had to be installed to level them up for the recessed lights to be installed

Once the plan was finally finalized on where the stairs would be, the ceiling was removed to prepare for the new stairs and the ladder was moved to a new giant hole in the ceiling.

The stairs will start in one of the bedrooms on the second floor.

There will be a landing and the stairs will turn and enter the media room

Here is the new ridiculous ladder I must climb

At the top of the ladder there are 2 knee walls.

Permitting requires 3/4 plywood to be used as a floor. We first insulated the floor and then laid the plywood. Just think about the carrying of insulation and super heavy plywood from the truck up the first flight of stairs and then up the ladder.

In each corner of the attic there are storage rooms. One is filled with air conditioning equipment and the other will be free for anything we need.

Yes we still smile and we still have fun with each new adventure.

This past weekend, the stairs were put in. No more ladders to the attic!!!!

Things are moving along and we are super excited.

Love,

the girl who is grateful for stairs.

Our yard is like walking through the episode of the movie Jumanji when the giant vines start growing through the house. There are vines, not trees that are 10″ around. It’s crazy. They are on the ground, they have strangled huge trees and they have to go.

Steve and I were walking through the yard today marking trees for removal. There are a lot of them and the tree guy said we needed to mark each tree with orange tape so the city can know with a glance when they come to approve. As I wrapped orange tape around each tree I felt guilty, like I was sending these trees to their death. I guess I am but some are already dead and most are so sickly that they need to go.

There are 4 very large trees directly in front of the house that are being removed. They are covering up my porch for goodness sake. I am expecting haters to arrive when the bucket truck shows up to start removing the trees. They are camphor trees which are referred to as “scrub trees.” They die from the inside out and I would rather take them out now then when they fall on mine or someone else’s house.

See the vine in the last picture on the far left? And the large tree in the center? Totally dead and strangled by the crazy vines. THEY GOTTA GO!

love,

the girl who is going to go rewatch Jumanji