Monday, January 19, 2015

Here We Go Again!

It's been almost two years since we did any major work on the farmhouse. During that time, Vance's Country Guest House has gotten off to a great start with our cozy suite for two. 2013, our first year, brought six rentals, and last year, only our second, we rented the house 19 times! We're eager to finish more of the house to share with guests and thus expand our little business. Finally, phase II of renovations began today!

I took a few photos of the rooms we'll be working on in all their pre-renovation glory. Don't be shocked: they're pretty bad!

Downstairs, we're tackling "Grandfather's Room." One of two rooms on the front of the house, it is closest to the rooms we've already finished and will allow the Guest House to sleep more than two. It's called Grandfather's Room because Robin's great-grandfather claimed it, especially during his old age.This is what it looked like a couple of years ago:


Since then we used it to store kitchen cabinets, scrap lumber, and various and sundry other things. It was chuck full, with barely a path to walk through. Many thanks to our helpful neighbor, the late Hume Taylor, who helped us out a great deal by emptying the room and hauling all that stuff to the barn.





This room has a closet! Yeah! It's long and narrow and awkward, but still a closet. Closets of any kind are in high demand in old farmhouses, you know.


The original plaster and wall paper will be covered with dry wall. Yep, this is the original wall paper! Throughout the entire house, there is only one layer of wall paper.


Doors and all the other woodwork will get painted a nice bright white.


The original wood floor has hooved up in places. That will get fixed and the entire floor refinished. Then, the fun part begins: decorating the room with furniture, rugs, window treatments, and more.

Upstairs, Robin's Aunt Helen occupied the two rooms at the back of the house, over the kitchen and dining room. We're starting with the very back room, over the kitchen. The goal for this room for now is to get it finished so that we will have a clean place for storage. As you can see, we have a long way to go!



I moved all those chairs out last weekend, in anticipation of the contractor's arrival today. Here, we're removing the wide boards on the walls, installing much-needed insulation, and putting the boards back on. Then the walls and ceiling will be painted and the wood floor scrubbed. Once it's all clean, it can be used to store furniture, lamps, clocks, boxed household goods, and more until we can use them in the rest of the house.

Todd and Cody arrived bright and early this morning and got to work. By late afternoon, they had made a lot of progress pulling off boards and removing all the original wood shaving insulation.




So, we're off and running on this second phase of renovation. Although there's a lot of work between now and then, I'm really looking forward to the day, hopefully in a couple of months, when I can transform these two rooms into comfortable places once more.

18 comments:

  1. Oh, this certainly is project and a half. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product. Good luck with it all.

    Diana

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    1. Thanks! And thanks, also, for stopping by This Sweet Life.:)

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  2. Oh..I am in awe of this wonderful place! I miss our cabin in Fancy Gap, VA. What a gorgeous setting!

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    1. Thanks for visiting! We're in Virginia, too, about 50 miles west of Staunton, in the mountains. Maybe you can visit escape to our Guest House sometime.

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  3. First visit and definitely not the last to your blog. Visiting from The Enchanting Rose.

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    1. Thanks so much for poking around This Sweet Life. Hope you find a blessing here!

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  4. My first visit too, I'm off to investigate further.

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    1. What fun it is to have so many visitors! Thanks for taking a look at This Sweet Life. Blessings to you!

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  5. Wow, what a lovely place and an exciting project! I can't wait to see the grand finale, Nancy :) Have a blessed week. Hugs!

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    1. If you ever find yourself in Virginia, maybe you can come see the house in person. Would love to meet you!

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  6. Oh this is a great old house with lots of character! I like the old fireplace mantel, doors, and the wide plank walls in the upstairs room. It will look amazing I'm sure when you're done the work. Have a good week!

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    1. Hi Pamela! Thanks for visiting. Thanks for your vote of confidence. I hope it all turns out like the pictures I have in my head!

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  7. What a great project. I look forward to seeing the finished project. I'm sure it's going to be stunning.

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  8. Hi Nancy
    this is my first visit in a long time - Happy New Year!
    What a project!
    I love the era of the house, the wide plank walls, that lovely engraved door plate and handle, the fireplace - it's all beautiful and what many of us are looking for today. It would suit me to a tea - oh and can I bags the rocking chair to sit by the window and dream of times gone by!
    A great post and so lovely to catch up with you!

    Hugs for 2015!
    Shane

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  9. Hi Nancy,

    It's lovely to meet you!

    Thanks for the invitation to the second phase of the reno of your farmhouse! How pretty it will all be; I can visualize the finished rooms looking fresh and clean and colourful. Are you going to use heritage hues, in keeping with the age of the house? The old furniture, piled up in the centre of the room, to me, are little treasures ready to be rediscovered. Are you going to refinish them, too? Best of luck with your new project! Looking forward to the reveals!

    Poppy

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  10. I just love the character of old farmhouses and this one has it all! Reminds me of the one I lived in almost 20 years ago. Can't wait to see the transformation.

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  11. Nancy,
    It's exciting to see this progress from afar! The house's "two sides" always brings to mind childhood books and stories about mysterious houses with hidden passages and so forth. And the miraculous closet reminds me of the same circumstances in my former 150 yr. old home in Fauquier County (a closet maybe 5 inches deep more like a space between the walls . . .)
    We are all looking forward to being back soon and again to hopefully be among the first guests to occupy the newly expanded rooms.
    Laura G.

    PS Alice Lohr's buckwheat pancake recipe from the cookbook has become our favorite . . . We started out making it with buckwheat flour from the old mill in Millwood (Clarke County) back in Nov. and now settle for what we get in bulk at the market. It's so simple and the most delicious--topped with your maple syrup of course (we still have a small supply!) Leland's breakfast of choice every weekend!

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    1. Alice Vance, I mean of course--it is too late at night for me obviously!
      Laura

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Thanks so much for stopping by! I appreciate your time and hope you found a blessing at This Sweet Life!