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lavender_lass

And so it begins....

lavender_lass
12 years ago

Tomorrow, we start cleaning out the farmhouse. It was too wet and rainy, in June and last weekend we got our 16 tons of hay in the barn...so now, we start on the farmhouse. There is so much stuff over there, it will be fun and overwhleming, all at the same time..but we're hoping to find some treasures. There's a dresser with mirror that I'd love to take a closer look at...and although the veneer is pulling away, it looks like good wood underneath.

So, here's the plan, which were 'cut and paste' from three earlier plans. The sunroom area is hard to read, but the wood stove is in the corner (more than 10 feet away from the taller roof line) and hopefully, the rest is a little easier to read. If things look slightly out of scale, it because I had to reduce one plan to get the utility/mud room area, but the measurements are on there, if you can read them :)

I hadn't posted for quite a while, so I just thought I'd give anyone, who is interested, an update. Thanks for all the help and good suggestions and I hope you're all having a wonderful summer!

{{gwi:1477806}}

Comments (12)

  • natal
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Image has been deleted. You know what might be a good idea ... take photos of the actual space and include with your revised plans.

  • natal
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Btw, meant to say ... you'll probably get more traffic for this if you post on the Discussions side.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Natal- I like your idea about posting photos. I'll try to take some in the next few days. It's easier on the weekends, since the light is not that good, in the evening...and indoor lighting is scarce, over there.

    We got the dining room cleaned out this past weekend and it looks so much bigger! The kitchen holds a lot of storage, but we got it sorted out and it's easier to get into, at least for now. My mom had a bunch of stuff stored in the dining room (from her move) so she found stuff, she forgot she even had. It was fun, watching her open containers...it was like Christmas in July! LOL

    Next is the living room and bedroom (which has a lot of boxes and storage against the back wall) and then the basement. That will be scary and probably will take more people...maybe we can get a work party (free beer and pizza) pulled together, in August. Anyone who wants something to take home, should have to help clean, right?

    My floor plan is a bit of a mess (with the cut and paste) and I realized, despite my best efforts, I got one section that is the wrong scale...so things don't fit as nicely as I thought. I also discovered that the view out the back bedroom is even prettier than I remember, so I may have to shuffle some rooms around and put my kitchen/dining area back there. Anyway, I should know more soon, so I'll try to keep everyone (who cares) posted! :)

    Thanks for following along and hope everyone has a wonderful summer!

  • natal
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    LL, it's been a few weeks. How's the cleaning coming along? Did you get a chance to take photos?

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Natal- The cleaning is going well, but still need to move some stuff around, to get a good picture of the fireplace. The kitchen and dining room are looking a bit better, but I need to get more light in the kitchen. The flash is not doing much good...probably my camera.

    Also, Summerfield is back (yea!) and has offered to update my floorplan. I plan to post pictures of the house (at least a few) and the new floorplan, when it's done. Very exciting! :)

  • pinch_me
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Are you still alive? I haven't been back since I was told my opinion was worse than useless and I shouldn't be expressing it so don't know what you're up to. Did know to look for you on this side of the kitchen site ;-) Wish I could help you "clean out" but I'd have to bring a semi to take "my" stuff home!
    Waiting to see those pictures.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Pinch me- Hi! So good to 'see' you :)

    You opinion is NOT useless, in fact...isn't that just someone else's opinion? Don't pay any attention and jump back in, if you decide you have something you want to say!

    As for me, my BIL was in the hospital for a few weeks (better now) but the gardens need a LOT of work...and I haven't taken any pictures. Maybe this weekend, if I can get a little weeding done.

    We got a lot of cleaning done this summer, but there's a lot left to do. If you find a good deal on a semi, give me a call. (LOL) We were hoping to get a dumpster, to get rid of all the stuff no one wants (and is too trashed to donate) but that may have to wait a bit longer.

    The good news is...I'm getting closer to a 'final plan' at least I hope so. Being out in the country and wanting to do more gardening, I really want a greenhouse and a screened porch. Outdoor spaces are so nice, but mosquitoes can be a problem in early summer.

    Here's Summerfield's plan, with a few changes. The master bedroom can be downstairs, or upstairs (which has space for two bedrooms and a bath...or master bath/study. I like the flexibility and it gives us some options. And, since resale isn't an issue, why not have some fun? :)

    Oh, here's a link to a really pretty screened porch I found...the swing is so neat and I love all the wicker! {{gwi:1549241}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

    Here's a few 'inspiration' pictures... {{gwi:1549242}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures
    {{gwi:1549243}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures
    {{gwi:1549244}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures
    {{gwi:1500131}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures
    {{gwi:1549245}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

    Here is a link that might be useful: Link to screened porch

  • pinch_me
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    How much of your house plan is original and how much is added on? The picture I saw of the outside of it a long time ago didn't look as big as the floor plan. I don't see a garage. Will that be freestanding somewhere else?

    I stole your wood burning stove pic. Someday.........
    Doing my house history research I saw some old houses like mine and really need a big pile of money to put the gingerbread and the porch back on. And a real picture of mine when it had a railing of some sort around the 2nd story walkout.

    I've been stalking dead people. I started researching the previous owners. In 1847 it was still the Louisiana Purchase. I know more about the people who've owned it than I do my own family! I planned for it to be a 2 month project but now I don't see any end to it ever.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Everything is original but 3' of the bumpout on the entry...and a few feet on the back of the bathroom...except for the addition. This would be the pantry/powder room area, the mud room, greenhouse and screened porch. The last two are not heated and are more outdoor space.

    I need to fix up the stairs and change a few doorways...take down a wall or two...but the overall layout (or most of it) is the same. Living room, bedroom, bathroom, stairs, kitchen are all in the same place. The sitting area (off kitchen) is currently the dining room and the new dining room is the current porch.

    Upstairs are two bedrooms and downstairs is a bedroom, family room (with brick fireplace) and cellar, under the kitchen area. I'm heading outside in a few minutes and I'll try to take a few new pictures. Maybe I can get one of the living room fireplace...if there's enough light :)

    Glad you like the stove picture! I think that's so charming. Good luck with the porch. I've read that gingerbread can be expensive, as can porches, depending on the foundations and roof supports.

    How fun to research your home's history. Wow, most of our architecture starts around 1870. Our house was built in 1904 (at least the left side) LOL with the rest added in the 1950s. That's when the fireplaces were built, too.

  • pinch_me
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My dogs are singing with the coyotes. I hate it when they do that. I can hear the dogs down the road, too.

    I'll need the pictures. My imagination doesn't work like it used to.

    My house was supposed to have been built in 1880 but I question that date. I think more 1900 but I can't pin that down. I know who owned it but I don't ever find them living on this side of the road. Every census puts them on the other side of the road. So maybe they moved the road or section line. And wouldn't you know, that family is no longer around here. That's been my biggest stumbling block. In this land's history is a merchant/soldier, famous steam boat builder, lawyer, minister, wagon maker, musician, bank teller, Ice manufacturer, realator, and the regular farmers and probably some I forgot. Most of the time it was the women who owned it but when they passed it around it was the men's name on the abstract. Drove me crazy until I got the deeds with "and wife" and she had signed it with her full name. Then I could put families together. The Scott family did that in particular. From Ohio to Iowa to Tennessee. And then go to ancestry.com and trace the family. I got lucky and hooked up with some people who have been doing this for a long time and had things to share with me. On occasion I had information they didn't have and I shared. And like a spider web I found people who "knew stuff" and they, too, were very helpful. Actually, this whole project is florantha's fault. I asked her one question at the beginning and off I went! She knew about land warrants. I had never heard of them.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That's so cool! All I know about our farmhouse is that my husband's grandparents started renting it, back in the 1920s and ended up buying it, with about 320 acres. We still have 80, which is great for the horses.

    Here are a few pictures...it was getting dark so most of them didn't turn out, but here's a couple of the house (one is the porch) and the old chicken barn, in the back. The big barn is no longer standing...and a picture, from what will be the screened porch :) {{gwi:1549246}}From Farmhouse pictures
    {{gwi:1549247}}From Farmhouse pictures
    {{gwi:1549248}}From Farmhouse pictures
    {{gwi:1549249}}From Farmhouse pictures

    Here's the old cupola, from the top of the big barn. Too bad everyone used it for target practice for years...but we did manage to save it, before they tore down the old barn. {{gwi:1549250}}From Farmhouse pictures

  • pinch_me
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Can you save that outside door with the double arches?? I would kill for something like that left behind here. I did find the old kitchen door and put it back. Your view wins over mine without question. the interstate went through this farm in 1970. Right through it. At an angle no less. That's when my house almost got bulldozed. Whew! The copula would make a great patio focal point even with the bullet holes in it. Wish it was mine.

    I was able to get a professional photo of this farm from 1954 from the daughter of a previous owner and 5 professional aerial photos from 1975-1996 that I found on a web site. I wish the other owners who have told me they have photos would get them out! They're all gonna die and I still won't have the pictures! How can I impress that on them? Gimme your stuff before you die.

    I was just at eBay looking at kitchen cabinets, trying to date mine. No success but found a bunch I wish I would have found 5 years ago. My kitchen would be unfitted. The price is certainly more user friendly than the cabinets i bought! Go look at the one I linked. You need that one.

    The lady who owned my house the last 30 years stopped at my invitation to see what I'd done. Not too sure she approved. she told me her husband had made those new cupboard doors (in the '80's). I showed her that I had recycled them into bathroom shelving. Another sore point. A remuddler owned this house for nearly 2 years before I got it - would you believe I should have bought it then but it was too much money so I paid a whole LOT more for it 2 years later. He had torn out most of the bathroom which I then tore out. At least he got the blame for ripping out the Formica wall surround and bath tub. She did like the kitchen cabinet style though. She had been here once before when I had the new carpet put in. That's something they would have done but she didn't want to move all the furniture! If my choice would have been moving furniture or keeping green shag carpet.........

    When you get done building, let me know and I'll help you backtrack your farm. You would be shocked at what you can find out on line about the people who lived there. - As long as they're dead! Fair warning: you will never get done finding out stuff. Now it seems like my computer knows what I'm looking for and I get really good returns. Even my work computer is getting better;-) One of these days I'll be called into the office, I bet. But seriously, you can find out stuff from before your family got it. You need your abstract even though some transactions will be missing and a friendly abstract company who will be willing to waste some time with you. Then you need unlimited time at your courthouse. Take something baked when you go.

    I'll try to come back and see what's happening but leaving here was a good thing. I'm doing so much more than I was - sitting here every night and weekend reading about other people's kitchens. I'm actually playing in mine with a big smile on my face. Doing the house history. Gardening/canning/making jelly! Reorganizing my sewing room today anticipating winter. Trying to figure out how I can retire so I have enough time for the stuff I want to do and yet still pay for winter heat.

    Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen cupboard

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