6/28/13

Proposed Floorplan

Mr. D.H. completed a floorplan with our proposed changes. Here are the two side by side (click on it to enlarge).

The proposed plan adds 3'3" to the back of the house. This would be used to create a hallway off the utility room to the master wing, add closet space to the corner bedroom (and an AC closet), and enlarge the utility room. Here's a second proposal which would add a screened porch to the back of the house (under the same roof line). We would love to have that, if the site is large enough, but I'm not altogether sure how I feel about the length that would add to the house.

6/27/13

Is it Craftsman, Foursquare, Prairie, Hybrid...?

I tend to want to call the house a Craftsman, but some internet research has left me confused. It does have elements of a Craftsman, but the exterior tends to more resemble an American Foursquare (an off-shoot of Prairie, sometimes called a Prairie Box). The primary difference is that almost all examples of Foursquares are two (to two and a half) stories. This is a good article on the American Foursquare, and it does make mention of the "lesser known" One-Story Foursquare. http://www.oldhouseweb.com/architecture-and-design/american-foursquare-1890-1930.shtml

This is a good article on the Craftsman: http://historichouseblog.com/2012/08/02/historic-style-spotlight-the-craftsman-bungalow/ (and looks to be a fascinating blog which I look forward to exploring in more detail). The Craftsman tends to be the style in which the porch is incorporated under the same roof line as the house (as ours is). Both styles feature the interior columned room divider.

This photo came from an images search (hope it's not copyrighted), and is actually called a Craftsman although it doesn't include many of the traditional defining features of a Craftsman. It looks very similar to ours.

Here is the current floorplan of our house. Mr. D.H. did this with something called Visio...he promised a version incorporating our proposed changes, which I have been waiting for before doing this post, but he hasn't gotten to it yet. I'll add it later.

We kept puzzling over the the isolated middle bedroom, which would have seemed to be only accessible from the outside before the back porch was enclosed. I had noticed that there used to be a window between the back bath and the former back porch, but it hadn't occurred to me that maybe it hadn't always been a bath. Last weekend, Mr. D.H. discovered a walled-up door between the kitchen and back bath, and, ah hah! That bath used to be a hallway between the kitchen and middle bedroom. We theorize that they enclosed the back porch and turned the hallway into a bath as their family grew.

CHAPTER 3 - THE HOUSE

The House is Ours!

Front

If you go back to my post of 9/6/12, you will see the house I have been obsessed with for 10 months. A grand old dame built in the early 1900s, she has just about everything I had been searching for. Character, good bones, huge wrap-around porch, workable floorplan...found on craigslist and priced at $5,000 (to be moved).  It took 10 months of thinking, pondering, getting bids, crying, negotiating, and saving...but finally the house is ours! We started out getting bids from house movers, but not only were the bids out of our comfort zone, but on further reflection we decided that taking a different direction would work best for our situation. There are several factors that make moving the house impractical, primarily 1) the land is not accessible and not ready, and we don't have the funds to address that right now, and 2) we also don't have the funds to immediately make the house weather proof (it would lose the roof in the moving process). In addition, it's really unlevel and parts of it are too far gone to save. Mr. D.H. is not too keen on having a roofless, unlevel, partial house, cut into three parts and then "tied" back together. Sooo, he came up with the idea of having it dismantled/deconstructed, cataloged, and stored in the barn on our land until such time as we have both the time and money resources to rebuild it on a new infrastructure. (We plan to rebuild it as an almost exact replica; we may lengthen it by a few feet and slightly reconfigure some interior walls.) This led to a whole different set of bids, with complications along the way which I won't go into, and several months of saving. Ultimately we were pressured by the church that owned the house into pulling the trigger a couple of months earlier than preferred, but finally last week we signed contracts for both the house and dismantling. Now we just have fingers crossed that the process will go smoothly!

Here's a detailed look at what was known as the Chalmers House (I will address the history of the Chalmers family in another post.) Underneath all that 60s-70s paneling and carpet are solid wood shiplap walls, wood ceilings, and wood floors, along with 10-foot ceilings and 6-inch thick walls.

Edited, 11/18/13: I have been in touch with members of the Chalmers family and found out that this house was actually known at the Rector House (Mrs. Chalmers' parents). The Chalmers lived down the street.



Porch

Side Porch



Side Front



Side

Inside Front Door



Room Divider into Kitchen



Front Right Room



Front Right Room into Bath 1

Clawfoot Tub 1



Back of Divider Towards Front Door



"Utility" Room

Utility Room into Enclosed Back Porch



Enclosed Back Porch 1



Enclosed Back Porch 1 into Bedroom



Enclosed Back Porch 2



Bedroom



Bedroom

 

Clawfoot Tub 2

6/17/13

The Barn

Update on Improvements

I hadn't realized how long it has been since I've updated here. The biggest improvement we've made so far is having a metal barn constructed.  Here's the barn which was finished in March.

We can't afford any other major improvements right now, but we have been spending about a half a day a week doing whatever clearing we can do ourselves, having invested in a chainsaw and gas trimmer. Next up would be a riding mower if we had the funds.

Mr. Chainsaw

Wildflowers and Windmill

The spring brought out more wildflowers than I was expecting. I love this one with the windmill. Now that summer is here, the weeds are getting out of control and the heat is making the work very hard. Sometimes the scope of the project feels very overwhelming!

CHAPTER 2 - THE LAND

Starting the Improvements - Fence and Gate



Entering the property

Fencing



Leaving the property

Now that we are finally land owners, it's time to slowly start the process of improving the acreage and getting ready for the house. First up - finishing the fencing. The acreage was fenced on three sides, but open on the entry side. We had the fencing completed and a gate installed. Eventually we plan to build a "fancy" gated entry, but this will help secure the land for now.

LAND OWNERS AT LAST!

Last week we closed on the 14.22 acres near Burnet described in my last post! It's hard to believe we have accomplished Step 1 of the journey (and it's a baby step to be sure). There is so much work to be done we hardly know where to begin! Most of the initial work won't be anything we can do ourselves (land clearing, fence building, road building) but we need to get organized and start lining up contracts.

Here are a few more pictures.

From the bottom of the hill

On the hillside



From the top

This May Be "IT"



View from a high point

Well, the offer on the previous land was rejected; I was pretty sure it would be. They want way more than we can offer, so we let that one go. BUT, as fate would have it, we may have found a better one! It's in a great location, right outside of Burnet, and 55 minutes from our house. Off of a paved county road and, like the other one, not directly on the road, but this one already has a rough road to it. It's a little over 14 acres, a little long and narrow, and has more neighbors than the other one, but it's also across from a huge national wildlife refuge which will limit future growth. It has too many cedars and not enough oaks, but more oaks than the last one for sure. The best part(s) - fantastic views and a fantastic price! AND, a windmill (swoon)! For some reason I'm just really attracted to windmills and desperately want one. It's priced at a very reasonable $109,000, so we're ready to go for it. After only two "dates" (well, three if you count the initial "drive-by" but we couldn't see the land on that one, only the area), we're putting in an offer. Although we're starting low to have some negotiating room, I don't think we should have any trouble getting this one. Keep your fingers crossed!

Another view

A possible home site

The windmill

A lower area (windmill and hills in background)