Our house

In February of this year we purchased our second home.  The house was built in 1973 and was decked out in all it's vintage glory.  Orange wood paneling, patterned blue and gold carpets, peeling paint, and gold handles one just about everything.  It was a beauty.  To make matters worse, the elderly woman who had lived here since it was built, was a hoarder.  Capital H hoarder.  This meant that on move in day (in February mind you after multiple cleanings) the house was crawling with bugs.  All that aside we couldn't pass the property up.  Included in the purchase was a 2.5 acres, a barn, shed, green house, and a cement out building we call the smoke shed (which it eventually be).

What sold me on the place was the landscaping.  The woman was a master gardener and she planted like it.  We have lilies, irises, daffodils, tulips, Siberian pea shrub, peonies, aspes, pines, lilacs, raspberries, bamboo, and so many more living and thriving plants.  Our kids call the woods in front of the house Terebithia.  It really is a great place.

The work it needs is overwhelming most day.  In the first 30 minutes after closing (not exaggerating) we ripped out the entire kitchen to reconfigure it, ripped out carpet, and started paint swatches on the walls.

Here is a peek at what we saw that first day clear back in October (yes we had a 5 month closing, it was....awesome).



The back of the house sported weather worn siding, out dated doors and windows, and over grown plantings.



The barn with decrepit fencing. Was used for horses at one time. The barn is 1/3 filled with manure.



The double decks and west side of the house. Covered in peacock poop (haven't I mentioned the peacocks yet? hmm) and rotting where they stood. The large tree in front of the deck has died due to the unfair treatment said peacocks gave it. At move in day there were 35 peacocks running around, down from 60 in November.



The lovely, lovely driveway. In the spring it was absolutely splendid.



This is actually the front door but is on the side of the house. No one knows where to enter the house. We have people walk around to the sliding doors on the decks or to the back door. Rarely do people come to the front door. We are changing that.

More updated pictures to come.