I'm glad you got some good news on that house. What will you do about the mold? Won't that take all new drywall? I know your excited about it. Good luck and I hope it becomes a done deal.
Leslie

Marilyn, that house is so YOU! Yes, it'll be a ton of work, but you're the busiest, most driven woman I know and if anyone can get this house fixed up, it's YOU!

Good luck, I hope you get it and get it soon! Vandals, grrrr! Man, that makes me mad. I can only imagine how incensed you are about that.

I was heartsick about it. I almost cried. Yes, it will need all new sheetrock, but I would have done that anyway.

At least now my husband has a good job and we don't have any debt, so we will fix it up in increments. Remove the old sheetrock, stablize it and save a little and do some work, save a little and do some more, and so on. When I called about it the first time...3 or 4 years ago...I had no money and shrimping was going downhill like a rock. Now my husband makes enough money that I know we can get it fixed up. I knew when I saw it the first time, that it was "my" house. Odd how things work out.

Marilyn I remember you mentioning this house. I am so happy you are finally saving it.

I'm just thrilled to hear all of this,Marilyn! I can't think of anyone more deserving of good things than you are. I hope you get good news soon. How long till you get it moved? Will this same friend get it moved for you? Get the site ready!!! And the utilities ready! WoooooHoooo!!! Marilyn will actually have a house again!!!!

Let me tell you something, Marilyn ... my dear husband's brother was 68 years old when he started building, from scratch, his house in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. And I mean HE BUILT IT. He made up his own plans, 2200 sq ft, framed it himself, scavanged the cabinets and installed them, etc. etc. He only called in contractors for wiring, installing the furnace, etc. He even did most of his own plumbing. He'd never done anything like that before.

It took him four years, and I've never known anyone who has done such a thing before.

Until now.

You will have a ball with your house, just like he did. The only thing he didn't do was take pictures every step of the way, I hope you do that. We here at the KT will love to come along this journey with you, in spirit.

I'm so glad you kept inquiring about it, and didn't let the matter drop. I look forward to the confirmation notice that the sister does accept your offer!

Hi marilyn

I too hope you get your house. My brother in-law updated
he's windows a few years ago and he still has the old windows,
there's about 25 of them, they have the wavy glass in them
and are still in the frames and have the weights on them, they are different sizes. If you are interested in them, let me know.

The moving company will move it. The moving was paid for by the other guy who bought it...who is now in prison. The spot where we will put it, is one that was prepared for a house by the guy we bought the land from...except his wife didn't want to live here, and they ended up getting a divorce. As far as utilities...yes, we have a light pole near it and will be able to get electric to it easily to work on it.

The owner of the moving company is very anxious to get it off the lot...takes up a lot of space. He has moved houses to this area before, so he said there shouldn't be any problems moving this one.

We will have to put a new septic system for it but that will be after we have done most of the construction on it.

One of the things that I like about the house....it hasn't been remodeled very much. It has a second bathroom, that was partitioned off of another room and made a hallway. We would remove that. It doesn't "go with the house"...and we will change it from two bathrooms to one and from three bedrooms to two. There is a big room upstairs, so hope to
use the space from the middle bedroom to put stairs, and the left over area from that bedroom, to be a computer room.

I like the fact that the kitchen hasn't been remodeled very much...except someone added a new sink and counter top some years ago...and that will go, but I will keep the old cabinets.

I have two old glass doored cupboards, very similar to the one already in the house that I will use, so we won't have to have new cabinets built but we will put an island in the kitchen for a better work area. Plan to remove a wall, so it will be 10 x 20 when it is finished. After spending years of having less than a couple of square feet for a work surface, I want a big kitchen...and for all my old dishes, etc.

I am probably the only person on the planet Earth who is happy that the kitchen looks like this. The original old cupboards still there.

That's so great Marilyn! I hope you get it too. That hutch would look great with blue willow dishes in it ;o) and it looks like it has enough room for table cloths and place mats.

Pasula, I am interested, but, where do you live? I live in s/e Texas, near Galveston.

Zipper, I have a huge collection of yellow ware bowls...they are in every color...would be so nice to display them.

I'm crossing my fingers for you Marilyn, that you get the house. I'm sure it will take a lot of work to get it ready, but it will be a labor of love.

Finally, it is really going to happen. Good for you.

What a project.

Marilyn, I love the old kitchen and cupboards! They will look wonderful with a fresh coat of paint.

Keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.

Marilyn, so happy for you!! I just know its going to be yours, & you sure deserve it!!

Donna (^_^)

Well Marilyn,I couldn't be any happier for you and Jody. :)

I too would be beside you on planet earth happy to see something you can call your own...lol

"All good things come to those who wait!"

OMG! Marilyn, If only you lived closer! We have an old farm house that I could give you a deal on, its contents. It is still enclosed and the old kitchen cabinets are in good shape. It has pocket doors and old tall trim around the floors. Plenty of interior doors and details. We even moved a beautiful piano out of there, I now wish we had left. At the time I was worried about vandals. The foundation of the house it really the pits. It sits over a bending basement that is pretty old and needs replacing. It would cost me quite a bit to fix it so I'm planning on burning the place down this fall. DH has made farm ground around it and the huge barn (which I plan on keeping, it's beautiful). I would love to share this house with someone who loves old stuff as much as you do. It even has a skeleton key to get into the locks.

A few weeks ago, my son and his friends took a late night haunted house tour in the house and the barn. I had a good laugh hearing their stories after they returned. I know there is an old buffalo hide in the basement, its really creepy looking by now. During the DAY it is fun to look around there. I don't have a need or want for much of the stuff in there but I do see the usefulness it could still serve.

Tbis is great news!! I am excited for you. My SIL and her DH are doing this very thing in College Station. It has taken longer than they thought b/c of some health problems. In the meantime they are living in the garage apt. that goes w/ the house. I can hardly wait for your stories about this project. I love older houses. Congratulations!! I think us Texas girls will have to come visit when this is completed!!

I'm happy for you!

Vannie, you will have to come visit me because with all my animals, I can never leave again.

Toni, please try to find someone to take out some of the old details in the old house. There are so many people who are looking for stuff like that, and it gets harder and harder to find all the time, and expensive too. You could mention it on the Old House Forum at THS and I guarantee, there will be people who want it.

You'd probably have to be crazy to want to do something like this, but for sure, I qualify in that category.

Marilyn, I'm happy you are getting your house...finally!

That built in kitchen hutch looks so much like one my Aunt had in her kitchen..I used to love that old thing. I can picture my blue Willow dishes in it as well. :)

Lots and lots of work ahead..where in the world will you ever find the time as busy as you already are with all your critters. (Ken may need to find another helper; I think you do too much for him anyway..you're a better person than me.)

Actually, when we got married, 43 years ago, I got a service for 12 Blue Willow dishes. We fought so much tho, throwing dishes, etc., that there aren't many of them left now, but I have no shortage of old dishes...to fill them up.

Ken is an invalid, so no one to take care of him. I am the only person who can get along with him...so that will continue, but I do get paid for it, so it helps me out, and it helps him too. The only bad thing is the 40 miles round trip to take care of him, but as far as time goes...whatever you think is important, you will make time to do. Too, I will have help working on the house.

((Marilyn)). A great big YAY for you. I know you are thrilled to death and just full of plans!

Yes, please, take us along on this great old house journey, would you!?

Wow Marilyn you are so lucky. You have to document every step of the process...from handing them the check to moving in. We have pictures of everything that happened at our place. What fun to do it yourself....Congratulations....

********************CONGRATULATIONS********************

I'm sooo happy for you!! Wishing you the Best of Luck.

Marilyn I copied the picture to my email and brightened it up and sent it to you I hope you got it. I don't know how to post it here. the kitchen looks great

Thanks, Minnie. I haven't gotten it yet, but will check when I come back home. This is the best email to use when contacting me. collins.marilyn@gmail.com

Marilyn, this is the neatest news ever. You deserve this house and I think it was meant to be.

I would love to follow the steps you go through making this house your home.

I just couldn't be happier for you, I hope it all turns out for you.

Trin

LOL I cracked up when I read what happened to your Blue Willow. We used to have a set or two of those when I was a kid.
Leslie

Marilyn, I so happy for you, and I hope it all works out perfectly. Five years is a long time to wait. I'm sure if any one can fix that beautiful old house up to picture perfect shape, it would be you.

I'm looking forward to pictures of progress!

How exciting. What a homey feeling home it will be!

Thanks I forwarded it to that new address too

I can almost hear your excitement and am so happy for you. But having been there/done that I have to say you are in for a hard ride. Take pictures of every room and nook and cranny for before/after shots. We did that and I look back and wonder how the heck we had the fortitude to do it.

Round up friends/relatives to help. Anyone with building experience was most welcome at our re-do. They liked coming because I fed them well and often! Just about everyone has some kind of experience--I had two women putting up the roof on ours with the rest of the men. (Our roof was about 18' above ground.)

Can't wait for your progress pictures. Just be prepared to work harder than you ever thought possible--and enjoy!!

This is wonderful news Marilyn. To be able to restore an old, neglected house is one of my dreams so I will enjoy hearing about your progress towards living in your own home. It sounds as though you have heart and energy in abundance and deserve to achieve your goal. Beth

Thank you, everyone, for the good wishes and kind words.

We've done this before, at our last house....also over 100 years old...and we had to do everything to it, and we said we wouldn't do that again! But, there is something about an old house that is special. And being able to save one, is special too. Sadly, when we sold our other house, the new owner tore it down. I'm not surprised. It was a small house and he built a huge house on the spot. But, he gave me anything I wanted out of it, and I have the glass doors that came off the cupboards, and doors and other things.

I just bought a pair of doors at an auction a few weeks ago.
They are beveled glass french doors...panes on top and solid wood on bottom. I don't know where I will put them, but they were so cheap...at an auction...I couldn't pass them up. I gave a little less than $90 for each one. We plan to put a porch all across the front of the old house if we get it...so perhaps we can use them for front doors. The original door is laying smashed in the floor and it was an extra wide door.

Marilyn, how exciting! Boy, perseverance pays off, doesn't it?

My house has that double-plank construction, too, except my interior planks are 12" wide like the outer ones. The former owners stripped off most of the sheetrock (and in some cases linoleum) that covered the planks, then stained them. So most of the walls are wood, and most of the ceilings are beamed. I like that rustic look.

I know you'll have fun with your new house!

Susan, that is what one of my friends suggested doing. I don't think I would do it in the whole house, but I might do it in a small area, like half of the bedroom that I plan to turn into a computer room. This house was built out of used lumber...at least the planks on the inside and outside walls.
Someone told me they are cypress. I bet they are as tough as the nails that hold them in place.

Yes, perserverance does pay off. That is one thing about my husband...he will never quit. Plus, we never did get a final answer on it...just call back, call back. So my husband finally got the owner of the company, and told him we have been trying to buy this house since September. We have cash...we don't need anyone to finance it. We need a definite answer because we are getting ready to put the money in another house.

In this economy, most people aren't going to turn loose of cash and we are probably the only ones who would want a wreck of a house like that...because it will cost more to fix it (the way I want it) than to build a new house. The mover jumped on it...said it was a win/win situation for everyone...the guy who owns it needs the money, we want it, and the mover wants to get rid of it.

It just makes me sad that we have had to wait so long and the house has been vandalized and more rain in it that has ruined a lot of the hardwood floor in the living room.

Oh, well. I am happy. It will keep me busy. ;)

LOL, . Like you aren't busy now? I know it'll be a labor of love for you Marilyn. What will you do with your present house? Or are you going to connect them somehow?
Leslie

Oooo, I'm seeing such possibilities for that house! I LOVE IT! Good luck, Marilyn!

Leslie, I don't have a house....that's just it.

When we bought the land, there was no house. We built a building, 24 x 36 to hold my husband shrimping stuff and welding machine, tool, etc. Had plans drawn to build a house.

Then had a very traumatic incident in our lives that ended up costing us $60,000 and at the same time, daughter getting ready to go to college and shrimping going downhill more every season. When the traumatic incident was resolved, I was so broke...in every sense of the word...that all I wanted to do was get away from everyone. My husband was working every day, trying to get back to even, and so when our daughter left to go to college, I moved here, and moved into the building. I had lights, but no water. I have lived the past 10 years with no kitchen, no decent bathroom,
nothing.

We framed up inside the building and made rooms and planned to make it into a house, but never had the money to do anything past that.

For a year and a half, we lived in an old RV that someone gave us, but it started leaking so bad that sealing it, tarping it, and doing everything you can think of, did no good, so I moved back into the "shop". I'm not trying to illicit sympathy about my situation. We turned down a half a million dollars for this property. I could live in any kind of house I wanted...but if I had to live close to people, you might as well shoot me. And, I would live under a tree before I would leave this place...mainly because I have big time issues with privacy. I can tell you every detail of my life...that doesn't bother me, but if I walk outside and see another living soul, I am stressed.

Sooo, my husband went to school to get his tow boat license, and now he has a good job, and we have money again. So, we have saved since he started it in May to go on a house.

Oh gee Marilyn. I didn't mean to open any old hurts. You deserve a break, and I'm so glad you got your home coming. I hope they get it moved quickly for you.
Leslie

It's okay. It doesn't hurt me to talk about it. I've mentioned it before. Was brought on by a deckhand that my husband fired for using drugs on the boat, and he got his girlfriend to file some trumped up charges against my husband. It took 15 mo. to resolve...but all charges were dropped. Something like that takes a lot out of you tho. I am a happy person. You can probably tell by my posts. I have a good life. I'm not complaining. Just getting old, so need to get a lot done. ;)

Marilyn,
I am so glad that the house deal is close to resolution.
I completely understand how you feel about that place - the right houses just feel right.
Enjoy!

Marilyn, I don't know too many people that deserve that house more than you. You are so giving in the care that you give the animals...you deserve so much more. I wish you all the luck in the world in making it your dream home. If I lived closer, I would be there with you, helping you get it fixed up. I know it is going be be so nice! You are going to be a busy lady soon! Congratulations on your "new" dream home!

That is something DH and I have always wanted to do...we both love old houses and would love to restore one. Takes lot of time and money though....we should have done it years ago! I am anxious to follow along with you though on this house..So much can be done! Good luck with it!!

Wow, great news for you! I don't envy the work that you have ahead of you, though. Can't wait to see the pictures during the fix up. I love old houses, they have a lot more character than new ones.

Marilyn, our Re-store always has all sorts of old windows with wavy glass. We have a big pick-up and an 18' trailer that would love a trip to the country!! You would just have to come up and pick out what you want, or call them or something....
I surely do have my fingers crossed that all will go well for you. I can't think of anyone who deserves it more!
J

Soi much work! I can tell how much you are going to love doing it! congratulations!

I'm so excited for you, Marilyn! Hope it all goes well for you and also hope for updated pictures along the way. I just love the character of older homes especially when they have been thoughtfully and loving re-brought back to life. Good luck!