I have a dream (no, not THAT kind of dream...thought that would be nice too). No, my dream is to restore old farmhouses to their former glory. You know that old saying, "They don't make things like they used to"? Well, in the home building industry, I'd have to say that the saying is pretty much right on the nose. Take the above home for example. Yes, it looks like it's about to fall down. Yes, it looks like the only inhabitants are of the deceased kind. Yes, there is a mummified—rather LARGE—rat in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Seriously, it's huge. But here's the truth behind the disrepair and the large, dead rodent: the house can be saved and once restored, will be amazing!
Let's take a closer look (don't be too frightened).
The house was built in 1898 and is 828 square feet, small but efficient. There are three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, dining area and living room. Of course, in it's current state it's uninhabitable. But with a little love (and some money - funny how money is always involved), the house could look like this!
Shall we take a peek inside? I think so!
The dining room is in the rear of the house and needs some work. Okay, a lot of work...But here's what I envision the end result to look like:
First thing I would do (besides making sure the entire house was level and had updated plumbing, electrical and running water) would be to remove the blue fiberboard walls. Because, wouldn't you know it, underneath that fiberboard is amazing SHIPLAP! Next, the 1970s vinyl flooring would be pulled up to expose the wood floors. Given the slope of the house, it would be safe to assume the floors in the dining room most likely need to be replaced, but you can't ever tell until you bring them into the light. I'd also add a second window to the room to open it up.
Okay, how about a peek at one of the upstairs bedrooms?
Here's how I see it could look after being restored:
Once again, SHIPLAP people! And exposed brick from one of the TWO chimneys. Back in the day, wood floors were often painted instead of stained, and in trying to keep the house in the correct era, I would strip the current wood floors and paint them a warm gray.
So here's the deal: I'm having a REALLY hard time not buying this place. Obviously in it's current state, a bank won't loan money to buy the property, so the dilemma is do I walk away or do I dive in and go with the owner financing option and cross my fingers that I don't spend the rest of my life regretting the decision I made to purchase it?
What do you think? Should I do it? Would you buy a place like this to restore? Do any of you out there want to buy it for me to restore and you can live there? Haha! It comes with a barn, an old root cellar, an outbuilding, 2 apple trees, 2-3 pear trees and .92 acres of land. Trust me, it's a gorgeous piece of property.
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