Author: sarahbrazill

Demo

big wall BEFORE demo.
big wall AFTER demo.
mud room BEFORE demo.
mud room AFTER demo.
middle room BEFORE demo.
middle room AFTER demo.
work room BEFORE demo.
work room AFTER demo.
work room / middle room AFTER demo.

While we wait for our construction loan to go through, Billy and I have been busy with demolition.  It’s not demo in the traditional sense, as we’re trying to salvage all that we can to reuse it elsewhere in the renovation.

Towards the north side of the barn, there was a giant wall of 11″ wide planks, separating the main room (by the hay mow) from the room that’s over the garage.  We’ve taken out that entire wall.

On the south side of the barn, there were three rooms below the hay loft.  The side entrance led into the mud room, there was a room in the middle, and then a work room towards the front of the barn.  In our drawings, the mud room will remain in roughly the same place, but the other two rooms will come out to form the great room.  So, board by board, we tore those out as well.

Here are some before-and-after photos of demolition.

Interior tour

main room; looking out the barn doors.
main room; view from barn doors
main room; view from front corner.
hay mow; view from hay loft.
hay loft; view from ladder.
room over garage; view from small door.
hay loft upper left, 3 rooms underneath.

These are a few interior shots of the barn before we did much demo.  We had done a little work (as evidenced by the piles of salvaged wood in a few of the photos).  The biggest change was the hay mow; that space had been entirely walled in (about 5 ft. high, with a short ladder to get inside).  We pulled down each of the boards to reuse them elsewhere. (All were tongue and groove and toe-nailed in, and we’re trying to keep them in good condition…… so needless to say, demo has been a relatively slow process.)

Exterior tour

east elevation (front of the house)
south elevation (side entrance)
west elevation (back of the house)
barn door and side entrance
under the overhang

Here’s a quick exterior photo tour of the barn before we did much work.  The only change we’ve made shown in these photos was painting the milk house; (when we bought the property, it was a light blue to match the farmhouse, and we painted it gray).

We never, never, never would have thought of taking on this project if it weren’t for my uncle, Tom Woodruff.
Basically, we asked him 1. if we’re crazy, and 2. if he’d help.
I’m not certain he ever answered the first question…… but he agreed to the second.  He’s the General Contractor for the renovation, and we’re so fortune to have his talent, support, ingenuity, and enthusiasm.  In a word, he’s awesome.

To contact Tom, write to TGWoodruffLLC@gmail.com.

It’s time for some promotion of the people who have been (and will continue to be) integral in helping us realize our dream.

First, Katie Kennedy and EveryHome Realty.
Bottom line, she didn’t laugh at us.
Instead, she’s been helping us to figure it out as we go.
And we promise that she’s the best agent in the history of real estate. Ever.

To learn more about Katie and EveryHome, visit http://www.everyhome.com/.

sold!

We don’t feel particularly patient, but I suppose we have been.  Today was a very (very) long time coming, but worth the wait.  The farmhouse is sold, a huge milestone in our project. Essentially, all of our renovation money has been tied up in that house, so since we bought it and the barn back in April, we’ve been doing (delicate) demo, and waitingwaitingwaiting.

But today was our closing, and the farmhouse is officially sold. 

Not only is it sold, but it’s sold to really rad people.  Who will be our future-neighbors. And we can’t be more excited.

It’s a bizarre dynamic, selling to people who will be your neighbors. 

Most real estate transactions are:

“Hi, nice to meet you, sign here, thanks for buying our house, good luck and we’ll probably never see you again.”

Ours was more:

“You like our house?  Cool, cause we love it too.  ps. We’ll be living next door, in (six/seven/eight) months, when construction is done.  How do you feel about dogs / composting / split-rail fences?  Sure, you can borrow our tractor / chainsaw / driveway.  See you next weekend!”

We’ve been in touch with them a lot leading up to closing, and we think we’re off to a great start.  We’re pretty pumped about it.

So, the farmhouse is officially sold. 

And all that’s left to do is……… everything.