The Sauna Turned Gym, etc.

We're at a stopping point with our renovation of the old sauna. Left to do is paint the fir floors grey - glad some of you like the unfinished look! We're holding off on this task until summer when we won't be using it as much...when we reconvene our evening walks.

Go here to see before pictures!



I am so excited about the new shelves! Hubby recycled these from the old sauna benches he removed. The old table, which weighs a ton, is a gorgeous handmade table that came with the property. It's been tucked away in the barn so we thought we'd finally put it to use.

I'm really happy with what Hubby did with the table and shelves as it's going to provide some much needed storage for a project I'm working on!

I dug out this great old basket I had down in our basement. I picked it up several months ago but found it to be a bit over sized to use for laundry.

And oh yes, the gym!!! Not all that pretty but serving us very well now that the place has been spruced up a bit.

The large wood mirror is something I bought at an auction in Maine many years ago. It was one of my very first antique purchases. I've strategically used it to cover up the hole from the old medicine cabinet that was there.

Here's the outside facade. I'm really anxious to get a new door...which style do you like best?

Option A, except in white, is a classic style French door. I think this would be a more casual look.

Option B, also in white, is more of a traditional front door and I'm wondering if it would make this little outbuilding look more like a sweet little cottage.

What do you think?

Outdoor Dining Patio

If you would have told me how long it would take to put in our outdoor dining patio, I wouldn't have believed you. I simply had no idea of the time involved in completing such a project. Like the fence, it took many, many hours (and many, many weekends) of meticulous consideration and hard work.

Hubby did most of this work. He did all the math, the measuring, leveling and planning. See Exhibit A.

Exhibit A.

As for myself, I was good at pointing around and saying, "like this, and there!" Which hubby was able to translate into a beautiful patio and stairs.

Although it was our intention to have this completed before summer officially began, it has now been completed before summer is officially over!

So the following photos are what it took to create this new space of ours...

Retaining wall was built first. See urns? I'm already starting to decorate.

A concrete pourer came out after hubby framed in stairs.

After concrete cured, pavers were adhered.

There are a lot more photos. Most of them are of hubby up to his ears in gravel, dirt and pavers. And a few with him giving me the stink eye when I interrupted him with, "stop, let me take your picture!" This request was usually met with deaf ears.

Here's hubby ignoring me after such a request.

We are thrilled to have our patio done and are thoroughly enjoying outdoor dining. Next comes all the landscaping! I'm also in the process of looking for a nice patio light to go over the french doors. Any suggestions?

PHOTO UPDATES: July 2010

The Evolution of the Exterior

Before...


This is the front of the house. Notice that you step down into porch.


This is the west side of the house. The future wraparound porch will come to the exterior door seen in this picture.


This is the east end of the house. You can see quite clearly all of the quirky additions that were made over the years.

The farmhouse was built in 1923. It's a simple one and a half story farmhouse that endured a little neglect, some quirky additions, and a very 1970's style 'remodel.' The previous owners were a lovely couple who adored nature. Mr. Winklebleck was a local school teacher and many folks who've come to work on our house, tell us stories about him. He was a very kind man. We've also heard lots of stories about dear sweet Mrs. Winklebleck. She had quite the reputation for feeding any wildlife that came knocking at her door. This included deer, skunk, raccoon, opossum and BEAR. That's right, she fed bear. Right off that back deck.

The home is nestled on 7-acres of land. The serene country setting offers everything we were looking for in a country home...privacy, peace and quiet, oodles of opportunities for long walks just outside our font door and spectacular views of rolling farmland with Mt. Adams as a backdrop.

Although we hadn't set out to necessarily buy a fixer upper, this house had so much potential and offered such a lovely spot in the country, that we decided that it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up. Upon taking ownership of the property in June of 2006, we immediately began working on our vision for the house.

From the beginning, we knew we'd do the following: 1. Add a shed dormer to make half story into master bedroom, bath, walk-in closet and home office, 2. Add a wraparound porch, 3. New windows and doors throughout, and 4. Spruce up existing kitchen, bath and other rooms. We did in fact accomplish all of these things, but as the blog explains, there was a bit more to it than we anticipated (there always is).

Just to give you an idea of how much more involved our little remodel was, I've included a few of my favorite "During" photos.


The benefit of having a civil engineer for a husband is their ability to survey your property so that it you can properly dig out your house. Notice now that the porch, which you originally stepped down into, is now several feet above ground. The ditch is for underground water drainage. By this time, we had already remodeled most of the downstairs. So at this point, we were waiting for the contractor we hired to begin the second half of the remodel.


Here's the kick-off to the second half of the remodel several months later. A large support beam gets lifted into ridge line by crane. This will support new dormer.


Dormer goes in.


Quirky additions get torn down.


Sagging is found and fixed.


Yes, that's right, this is our home. This one picture alone I think pretty much sums it up. I'd like to just remind folks that somewhere in this image of a shipwreck, lives one newly wed couple and one anxious dog. This was taken in early December 2007.

And finally the after...


With new wraparound porch, new dormer and new dining room addition, the front looks much better.


The Marvin windows and Simpson doors create a whole new look to the house.


I love the Emtek door hardware. Amazingly, it's very similar to the original.


This is the west end of the house. The window in the half story is the master bathroom window.


This the west end entrance. It offers a great view of Mt. Adams.


West end entrance.

The Guest House

Before...

This is the only before picture I have of the guest house. Nevertheless, I think wood paneling and 1970's carpeting pretty much sums it up. This cozy one-room apartment is where we first lived while we were gutting the main house.

Before we moved in, we removed the carpeting (relieved to discover hard wood floors) and painted all of the wood paneling.

After...



I bought this pie safe when hubby and I were dating back in Idaho. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit in our kitchen in the main house, but it works quite nicely here in the guest house.



The kitchen cabinets are original, we just put a fresh coat of paint on them. The oak table came from Maine and had been my kitchen table for many years. The oak chairs are from my Grandmother's house.

The guest house had been rented out as an apartment and had a stove and refrigerator in it when we bought it. We removed those items but someday we would like to install a small refrigerator under the counter top.



You can see the main house in the reflection of the cabinet glass. This little cabinet was purchased back in Maine, but looks like it's been in the kitchen forever.



To the left of the pie safe is the bathroom door.



Small but sweet.



I love this old Eastlake nightstand. I got this for $95 in the city and just fell in love with all of the intricate notched carving.

Both the dresser and the mirror are pieces I picked up in Maine. The door to the left is a closet.

We still have some work to do in the guest house. Eventually, we'll refinish wood floors, put in new windows, install new kitchen counter top, add little refrigerator...and other odds and ends. For now, it offers guests a rustic little space of their own while visiting.

Upstairs Master Bath

BEFORE

Not a true before as this room had parkay flooring. There was also a superficial wall up but it wasn't in the right place for bathroom placement so hubby framed in a new wall. This was before the contractors showed up. In fact, we had the upstairs plumbing put in when the downstairs bathroom was gutted (black pipe is sink line). By stacking the bathrooms, one on top of the other, the plumbing was more straightforward (a.k.a. more cost efficient).

Drywall helps rooms take shape.

AFTER...

It's a small master bath, but it feels like a luxury to us as it's our first.

Upstairs Master Bedroom

When we first saw the house, it reminded me of an old Cape Cod. Capes are simple structures, often with half-stories, and often found with large shed or gabled dormers. Having lived in Maine for over a decade, and having lived in a Cape the entire time, I quickly saw the potential for the upstairs half-story.

Shed dormers have flat roof lines and offer more ceiling height than a gabled dormer. I knew that by adding such a dormer to our half-story space, we could really transform the upstairs into a really wonderful master bedroom. The half story was plenty long, had a back ell extending off from it (which would become the future walk-in closet) and with only two bedrooms downstairs, it would really add to the spaciousness of the home.

Here are a few pictures of the upstairs before the dormer addition.

Before...

As you can see, the stairwell going upstairs was quite dark.



As you come up into the half-story, you can see that there is very little light. There's just one window at each gabled end and one small window at the end of the back ell. The window you see in this picture is the window to our future master bath. The large open room in the foreground is our future master bedroom. Walk-in closet is off to the right.



This is looking towards the east end of the house. The proposed dormer will be going in on the right side of this photo - the south side of the house. Notice the limited floor space on right side of stairwell. Also, the window you see in this picture will be the window in our future home office.



This is after they took the ridge of the roof line out to make room for new support beam.



Once the beam was in, the roof was removed to install shed dormer. This is me taking the first swing.



They moved fast as it was their goal to get the dormer up in one day.


Stairs are illuminated.



Dormer framing up! Look at all the extra floor space and ceiling height!



New Marvin windows. We put six, six over one double-hungs in new dormer.



Over the course of the next several weeks, came insulation, electrical, drywall and paint.

After...

This is looking towards the east end. New dormer is opening to the south.

The half-story is now full of light.

I was thrilled that this old Empire dresser from my Great Great Grandparents fit here! It matches the larger one on the other side of the room.



Cute rounded door and door frame to walk-in closet. This is on the north side of the room.



This is looking towards the stairwell, which is the original stairwell. We spruced it up with a nice railing and added a stairwell light fixture. Look at all the extra floor space we gained with the dormer. Before there was no room to walk on the south side of those stairs. Big difference! Door on left goes to home office.



The stairwell is narrow as most staircases were in the 20's. We were a little worried about getting this old Empire dresser upstairs but it made it up easily. This dresser came from my Grandmother's house, it was her Grandparent's dresser at one time. As I child, I use to explore every single one of these drawers. : )