We are officially three months into our next project and still have not updated it here. We're the worst, we know. Let's go back a few months and get everyone up to speed. We bought the Jarrett house back in March and it has been slow going getting started. The house is the biggest project we have tackled to date and needed a lot of preparation and planning to just get started working. With that in mind, we received our permits a little over a week ago and now the real work can begin. After The Emerson House sold, we were prepared for the long process of finding another project house, but just a few days in we found Jarrett. To add to the excitement (and stress) of finding our biggest project ever, we also found a house for ourselves as well. We don't mess around. It's been a pretty eventful spring to say the least, and can imagine summer won't disappoint either. Enough of that, let's tell you about this house!
Although these are not the real "before" pics, you get the idea! This is right after the asbestos siding was removed. The house needs everything, no surface will be left untouched which excites us because we really have the chance to change things up a bit with the exterior and interior. We plan to modernize the facade but add back that traditional character we love so much. Window layout and style will change and although we haven't chosen a color yet, we plan to paint the exterior in a bold, masculine tone...more on that later. The exterior of this house will be unrecognizable when we are done.
Upon our first walk through of Jarrett, it was obvious the place had been empty for some time. There's this smell that is synonymous with old, vacant houses that can't really be described until you experience it. We always take that smell as a good sign that this place is for us...it's in our nature. After getting over the smell, it was evident this house had a lot of potential. One thing stood out...space! The house was huge. Our past projects have been on the smaller to medium size regarding square footage but this house was big, so much room for us to play with! The original layout offered some decent sized rooms but it was not ideal. We would describe the original layout as a typical Bungalow layout. Large living and dining opening into each other with a closed off kitchen at the back of the house, then all the bedrooms and only bathroom lining the other wall from front to back. Our plan includes combining the living and dining into one large living area and creating a unique eat-in kitchen which we are super excited about and that is all we are saying for now!
The original kitchen was a great size and quite charming so our plans will open and modernize this space while bringing some of that traditional feel back.
The original two bedrooms and only bath in the house were decent sized so we decided to keep one bedroom and the bathroom in (mostly) their original state when it came to the layout. The second bedroom will now become a space for a grand set of stairs that will be one of the main focal points for the house. The original set of stairs will be removed and made into a long hallway. These changes have already taken place and the main floor flows perfectly! Can't wait to share more!
Now this area is where we fell in love. The pictures don't show it well but the upstairs was massive and in it's original state. It kinda took our breath away. It felt like an old barn up there, it was incredible! Since there was so much space, our plan involves adding two bedrooms and two full bathrooms to the area, one being a master suite. Like I mentioned before, this area is already framed and we are in love with the changes.
Somehow we didn't get any pics of the basement or the landscape but huge changes in those areas as well! Probably the biggest changes out of anything in the house since the original foundation was in bad shape and a whole new foundation needed to be added. Along with that, the ceiling height down there was incredibly low so our plan involved digging out the existing slab and down two feet for eight foot ceilings. Like I said, huge project.
For now, that is the general idea of what lies ahead. So much needs to be done and on a large scale too. The next month we will see huge transformations with the new roof, windows, siding, basement foundation and slab, etc. It's looking like a busy month but it will be gratifying! More to come, but until then, keep up with us on our Instagrams for more day to day action.