They say that a house is made a home by the people who dwell in it; I believe this is true. I also have come to learn that making a house a home requires tender loving care. My husband and I weren’t always the best at that. Blame it on youth, careers, not having the money, spending it elsewhere when we did.
All those years, when our focus was on other things, we still kept the place clean and decorated for all the holidays, we painted and did the things two unhandy people can handle. Then drains started clogging, the roof leaked, the carpet was GA-ROSS. No matter how sturdy our 1906 brick house was, time had taken its toll. There was no denying what needed to be done. Every room inside could use help in some capacity, the porch, the detached garage, yards front and back no different.
We found a wonderful contractor, Tom, who spent his life in construction. Now segueing into retirement by way of his own company of one, there was nothing he couldn’t do. Although A House Of Horrors at times, not one frightening surprise phased him. My constant gushing over his expertise and talent was embarrassing to him. Be it ever so humble, there’s no one like our contractor.
I should clarify the our abode wasn’t falling down. The scariness only refers to a structure over a hundred years old and its revelations as the layers were peeled back.
The work began by Tom tearing up the front porch floor then replacing it as well as its roof and ceiling. The original storm door was restained, protecting the beautiful interior door, also here from the start.
The original bathroom pipes required replacing, the cast iron tub removed to do so. A new shower and soaking tub combo, sink, vanity, and medicine cabinet were installed.
Vinyl flooring was laid throughout the house after the previously described carpet was pulled up. Where there was wallpaper there is now paint, where there was paint there is new paint. All the original windows were refurbished and received new blinds. Every room was given a new light fixture.
The old rotted wooden hot tub in the impractical mudroom at the back of the house was removed, a new door and windows appointed. It is now a beautiful sunroom.
The heart of the home, the kitchen, received new granite countertops and tile backsplash. Our beloved 1950’s stove and farmer’s sink remain.
The front yard was rescaped in every way. The backyard bricks were pulled up, all 2,108 of them, cleaned and relaid. Trees were cut down, a new fence was put up.
A 1906 house didn’t require much storage but a 2020 home does. An enormous closet was built the length of a bedroom wall, the wood and stain matched to the original gorgeous trim found in every room to perfection. You would never know the closet did not exist the first 114 years like its other parts had.
The garage was built the same time as the residence. It was once used to protect chickens, horses and a carriage. The roof was shored up with new joists, the outside painted, a new garage door and windows set in place, the cement floor dug up and repoured.
Among the new decor to compliment the work done, the pièce de résistance is a framed photograph of when the house was four years old in 1910. Beneath the image, a small shadow box containing a brass nail used in the original porch construction and the skeleton key that fits all the interior doors, for at one time boarders lived here. Both hang in the entryway.
The work was completed a few years ago. We now are on top of anything that needs our attention. In a house that has seen a century and more, the past will not repeat itself.
Dear Friend,
We are merely your custodians, tasked with your maintenance. We always loved you, even when we failed you. And yet you never let us down, continuing to shelter us from the literal and metaphorical storms. You hosted our parents, all gone now. I got ready here on my wedding day, it is where I woke up blind. You were waiting a week later when I came home from the hospital. Everyone was worried about me being home alone during the day but I knew I would be okay. We’d been together 20 years by then.
We fell in love with you all over again while bringing you back to life. We hope you feel the same about us, that your faith in us has been restored. For as long as we are fortunate to be your stewards, we will honor and take care of you. You are a historical, beautiful house. You are our home.
Love, Sister and Mister Rain
#sisterrain #alittlesightalotofheart #legallyblindwriter #restored