Whew, 2nd post! So for nine years we lived in a builder grade regular house in a regular neighborhood. We worked all nine years to customize and improve that house. We brought four babies home to that house and we loved it. But we were ready for a change. So I kept my eye on the real estate market for several years. We went to look at houses here and there, but nothing was awesome enough to make us leave the house we loved. We wanted more land and another bedroom for our guests. And I really wanted a big porch.
I had seen this house go on and off the market for a couple of years, and then into foreclosure. Based on the address I didn't give it any more than a glance. And there was only one picture.
While in foreclosure, it went under contract several times and then back on the market each time. It seemed no one wanted this house. Then one day, we had an appointment with our realtor to see a beautiful Victorian. I decided to check real estate listings one more time, and wouldn't you know it, this house had come out of contract and was relisted with an unbelievable price. I really looked at the picture this time and I saw two porches! I was intrigued. So we asked our agent to take us there after the Victorian (which proved to be a bust). And here is what we drove up a long dirt driveway to find.
And the back...I saw three porches! Huge porches. We were absolutely stunned by this house!
Here are the photos from our first walk-through...
So needless to say, we were in awe of this house. Over 5000 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3 fireplaces and an attached one bedroom, one bathroom mother-in-law's apartment. We had to come back one more time just to take it all in. And then we dragged every family member and friend willing to come through the house for their opinions. I'm pretty sure some of them thought we had lost our minds. It needed an unbelievable amount of work. The roof was original and had many leaks. The HVAC system didn't work. Every bathroom needed new plumbing and new finishes. There was outdated wallpaper in almost every room. It needed massive amounts of stonework finished. The land was overgrown and had significant drainage issues. Now we understood why so many people had changed their mind about buying this house. But we knew we could make it beautiful again and it would be the perfect home for our family. We moved as quickly as possible to get it under contract. There was some back and forth, but finally it was ours!
And then the work began...