Remodeling plans for the old farmhouse

13 years ago

Well, this is really OT, but with all the snow, I decided to draw up my remodeling ideas for the old farmhouse, next door. No one has lived in it for years, but it was built in 1904 and added on to in the 1950s. Some people have told me to tear it down, but it's got a lot of family history, a beautiful fireplace...and possibilities. At least I hope so :)

Also, Bing Crosby once ate dinner there. Of course, you could say that about lots of Spokane and surrounding areas, but I thought it was pretty neat! LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: Farmhouse before and after

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Comments (5)

cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
13 years ago
Oh, how I would love to remodel an old farmhouse! It is neat about the Crosby connection-just think of the psychic connections every time you listen to or watch "White Christmas"-way cool.

I would love to see exterior pictures at some point, too. Do you own the house? Is it for sale? Keep us posted! And thanks for the link. Not sure how I missed it before.
lavender_lass
Original Author
13 years ago
Cyn- Thanks for your very positive response! :)

At some point, I'll go take some pictures. We own the farmhouse (it was my husband's grandparent's place). In fact, we live next door to it, on our farm, in a manufactured home.

It's a very nice manufactured home, but our home based business takes up about half our space. At some point, we'd love to remodel the farmhouse and have the business over here. It would be nice to be able to "leave" work, at the end of the day. LOL

Obviously, I'm still in the planning stages, but it's fun and it gives me some idea what all this is going to cost. For now, I love living where we are, but it would be nice to have more space...and the Bing Crosby thing is pretty cool! :)
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From what you describe your family like, I think the new plan works much better - for you. Opening the walls will give you the room and feeling of more space as well. I would love to open the wall between my kitchen and dining room, but cannot bring myself to do it because of the wainscoting and built-in in my home. But, my family is not that large, so it isn't a necessity for me either. I would love to see interior photos of the 'before' look to your farmhouse. Some farmhouses were built to be just basic farmhouses, without the lovely parts some old houses have (built-ins, large moldings, intricate details), some had more character than others. In doing your remodel, if you started with the first, you could make it the latter....., I think a lot of old house folks don't necessarily mind tearing out walls, but tearing out the character gets them upset! The PO to my house could never understand all the work I have been doing on this house, saying, "It's just an old farmhouse!" Well, to her it was, but to me it was so much more- by highlighting the special things (moldings, built-ins, plaster walls, divided light windows) and getting rid of the stuff that covered them up-or replacing those that she'd torn our- it made even this old 'farmhouse' better. Btw- she didn't know what she was talking about- it may have been a 'farmhouse' to her, but it's truly a craftsman style, and now those details really show! I love your pantry/laundry area. What a great idea and so close to the kitchen will make doing chores so much easier. I'm afraid I have to keep mine in the basement- not due to space, but keeping it there gives me more exercise going down stairs and after all the sweets this winter, I'll need it!
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A total gut would be very expensive. Like one of the above posters said, many people do it and go broke. Maybe you could have someone local look at it and determine if there are things you can do to save costs. Is the plaster in half way decent shape? Can it be repaired? There are lots of people that do that and it's not overly expensive, at least not from what I've seen. Also, an experienced electrician can rewire the house without making holes everywhere and save some money. The plumbing is probably going to be expensive to update, but adding a bath and probably updating the kitchen is well worth it, especially in a house that size. I have no idea what you are paying for it but I am in sosuthern New England and $100,000 for rehab is pretty realistic, but if there are structural repairs to be done, you can probably at least another $50,000 depending on how much needs to be done. Someone I know just spent about close to $35,000 in repairs just to fix powderpost beetle damage on the first level of her house. That was treatment and fixing the floors and some of the sills. They were looking at about $160,000 in total repairs of a house that was probably similar to yours but here in CT and I believe they were looking to do some of the work themselves. Those figures I'm sure would be different in NY but you get the idea. It can be spendy. If the house is done close to period and the trim and other architectural features saved, the house will probably look great when you're done. Get estimates from local licensed insured tradespeople and see where you end up. Don't forget, there is always the "I didn't expect it " cost, like the totally rotten sills or whatever you have to keep in mind too. It's some Murphy's Law thing that it always happens. A remodeled old house is great though and can be very beautiful. Either way, good luck whatever you decide.
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Your situation is almost exactly like ours. Similar family, similar home. We did as Sophia describes. We did a old-style new barn addition, that is sympathetic to the history of the house. The original house contains the bedrooms and office. The kitchen spans the old and new portions. The new barn-style addition contains open-concept living space for a young family. When we got estimates on doing a structural reno, they were as much or more than the cost of adding the new addition. We will be renovating the old house but mostly cosmetically. Also an architect was helpful. Ours had young children as well and she made good suggestions in that regard. It cost money upfront but saved money long term. The budget Sophia suggests is accurate in our experience. We are in New England area. Finding financing was a challenge because equity was lacking due to the recent market meltdown. Even though prices have come back up, appraisers were using comparables that were several years old. In the end, we were able to free up money via loans with our state, using incentives to renovate old structures and apply green energy credits. You might pursue that if you have a similar financing challenge. Also, agree with the "live with it for a year, at least" advice you are getting here. We did and it made a huge difference in our thinking and identifying needs we hadn't initially realized we had. I'd love to see how this progresses.
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aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
13 years ago
Lass, you are in a very enviable position, actually owning the property is more than half the battle. Both myself and my daughter would love to be in your position, we LOVE old houses. The Bing Crosby connection IS very cool indeed.

This has always been a dream of mine, to buy and restore an old house, they have such carisma. Did you ever see the 1942 movie "George Washington Slept Here" with Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan? I'm sure your farmhouse is not in the same condition as the house in the movie was :).... my daughter and I went through an old house in just about the same condition as the one in the movie, it was a two story, with several rooms with bay windows (all smashed) a kitchen with pantry, a big covered verandah. It had a spectacular wide staircase leading up to the second floor and the bedrooms. This old lady was sitting in a small wooded acreage overlooking the water. It could have been restored into a thing of beauty. Such a sad day when it was torn down.

Annette
lavender_lass
Original Author
13 years ago
I think I saw part of that movie, years ago. It also reminds me of Mr. Blandings building his dream house.

It is sad to see these beautiful old homes get torn down. When they have that much potential, you hope someone would take the time (and money) to restore it.

The house is not very big...as you probably noticed and I hesitate to post pictures. Maybe the snow will help! LOL It does have potential and it would be great to fix it up and make it livable again.

Right now I'm in the planning stages...so of course, my plans are still changing. While I love a big open kitchen, I'm also playing around with keeping the dining room in the front and maybe adding a very small sun room. We'll see how it goes...at least planning doesn't cost anything :)
lavender_lass
Original Author
13 years ago
Change in plans for the kitchen...so here's a new link, if anyone want to take a look. I explained everything pretty well (I hope) but would love to have your feedback :)

Here is a link that might be useful: New plan

Remodeling plans for the old farmhouse

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cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)

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Remodeling plans for the old farmhouse

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cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)

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