As we head into mid-summer, folks around town are asking about upcoming travel plans. Our answer is "we have none at this time." Whaaat??? Yes, we are taking a pause and giving much needed attention to our well-worn, yet charming (at least we think so) home. Let us share a brief history before we share the details.
A few years ago ABN did a bit of research at the local library and City Hall where she found records showing the property was deeded to a contractor for the development of a subdivision in October 1925. Our lot was identified as Lot 5 and was deeded to E.C. and Minnie Cox in 1926, and was deeded from the Cox's in 1947. With that information we believe our house was built in 1926 or 1927, indicating it is nearing 100 years of age.
We happened upon this cute little cottage style house in 2005 but it lacked two of our main requirements, a second bathroom and a garage. We ruled it out, or so we thought. However neither of us could get this charming little house out of our mind. Thus a new adventure was born.
We immediately had a garage and carport built, as well as a bathroom installed upstairs. The following spring, ABN embarked on turning what was left of the backyard
into a garden.
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| This is the 2022 garden. |
In 2007 Captain began his tenure as Chief Project Planner and Manager
by updating the pantry.
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from this
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to this.
A patio was also installed.
Captain added a side deck in 2008.
In 2009 our time and energy was spent doing clean-up and repairs of damages from the epic Ice Storm.
2011 saw a spare room become an office/TV room for Captain.
Things got really exciting in 2013 as Captain, with help from wonderful friends, demolished the existing deck to build a screened porch. (It was okay, the new side deck was left intact.)
This wonderful addition was never appreciated more until our current project left us without air conditioning these past two weeks!
The excitement, for ABN, continued in 2014 when her Christmas gift from Captain was the creation of a real craft studio to replace the craft space in the basement.
In 2015 the renovations came to a standstill as we retired and had less time to invest in home improvement. Yep that is when we started traveling 5-6 months a year. Our "at home" time was spent on maintenance and repairs.
And this brings us to our current project, a dry basement. Although our basement, like most of the basements in our neighborhood, was never "dry," it became wetter over the years. Knowing that some day we, or our heirs, would need to sell our charming little house, we decided it was time to bite the bullet and have a dry basement system installed. This is a major project as we had to remove almost everything and store it in the garage, guest room and on the porch.
The downstairs air conditioner, water heater, washer, dryer and sink had to be disconnected and placed 6 ft. from the perimeter of the basement. We have air conditioning upstairs and were able to shower at the gym. Fortunately the outside temperature has been quite pleasant and a new hot water heater has been installed. If all goes well, the air conditioner will be reinstalled next week (just in time for rise in temperature and humidity.)
It will take weeks to clean up the dust, rebuild the stairs and a few walls, paint, reinstall cabinets and return the craft studio to its previous state. And, as always, we are expecting the unexpected so our travel plans are on hold.
We will update our blog as we progress, not only to share with you, but also as a record for our online journal.
We will leave you with today's view of our home and an invitation to stop by for a glass of wine.
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