Not as Bad as I Expected, But...

What greeted us as we pulled up the drive.

Well, today was the big day.  I was ever hoping I would be off from work to be able to attend the one Open House for this country farm home.  And thankfully, I was off today!

So I rounded up Mom and Dad, and off we went!

As we pulled up the long, muddy drive, we joined quite a number of cars!  That was the theme of the day.  People coming and going.  Seriously, though, with the melted snow, it was a muddy mess, so much so that the owners asked that we all remove our shoes for the new owners.

One has to wonder if that isn't yourself.  While a bit annoying, it's also like, "Hey, yes, yes, EVERYONE remove their shoes!!!  Please keep the mud off of MY new home, please!  ALL SHOES OFF, FOLKS!!!"

I was less annoyed thinking about that possibility!

We all had to take our shoes off before we entered in!

But I digress.  First and foremost, I started with the exterior of the home.  My job was to find a portion of the (likely) asbestos siding that was missing or damaged so that I could see underneath.  I NEED to know what's underneath that ugly cement siding!!!  And wouldn't you know it, I couldn't find a piece!  I mean, it's good to know that the house is all wrapped up, but in the same breath, I was kind of shocked and disappointed!  I REALLY want to know what's underneath the siding, because that would be one of the first things I would do if I purchased the home!  That ugly stuff just has to go!

We made our way inside, and we entered into the kitchen.  It's not much to look at, but it's functional.  It has 9 x 9 ceiling tiles, though, and those would have to go.  They are likely asbestos, as well.  I did notice one cabinet missing, but that was great because I could see the original hardwood floors underneath!  Woo hoo!!!  The current owners have OSB floors down only, so that looks really odd.  But the auctioneer said he told them to not finish the floors since the new owners will want their own tastes anyway.  Plausible, I suppose.  But it really made the kitchen look blah with cheap wood flooring on the ground.

Notice the unfinished plywood floor.  It looked really weird.  That waste basket on the right is where you can see the original hardwood.

From there we entered into the dining room.  It's all drop-down office tile and wood paneling.  UGLY as can be.  Actually, the first thing I would do is gut these rooms!  The wood paneling HAS to go!  The drop-down ceiling HAS to go!  Open these rooms back up to the tall ceilings!!!  I wondered what was above the drop-down, though...what secrets are hidden?

The dining room.  I hate wood paneling!!!

This room flowed into the living room where there was a noticeable drop in the floor.  Actually, it seems that all room divider areas have bumps which is really odd.  I can't figure that one out.  But the floors are all covered in 1960's or 1970's carpet.  Seriously, that has to go!  These rooms would all be just ripped apart!  No more carpet, no more ACT, no more wood paneling.  Of course, I would likely have smiles or tears when that happened with what these items are hiding, but I just can't leave the home as it is.  It was not made to look like this!!!

The living room.  Old carpet, old paneling, business-office ceiling tiles.

The living room has a front door, although we weren't allowed to use that.  It also attaches to the Master Bedroom which I presume to be the original parlor or cigar room or cards room or whatever.  But it has been converted to a Master.  It had the high ceilings, and I loved that.

This attached to a shared bathroom with another bedroom on the other side of the house.  It's a good size, but they all just need cleaned up!

The bathroom has been updated.

The bathroom is updated, although Mom rightfully mentioned that it has no tub, only a shower.  "Parents wouldn't like that."  Hmm.  Interesting thought.

We then headed upstairs, and I was finally able to see the original (and slightly cracked) plaster walls.  Yes, yes, this house is ooooooooooooold.  And it was cooooooooold up there, too.  It had absolutely zero air-conditioning going on, so it was un-heated in the dead of winter.  BRR!!!

The plaster walls finally in view!

All of the upstairs rooms are a bit rough.  One room had rotted carpet, and you could see water damage in nearly all the window sills.  It has newer windows, so it's hard to say if it's recent or older, but one area was so bad that the plaster had fallen away.  The good news is that I could see the lathe, and it looks like a solidly-built home!  The wall cavity is 100% empty, though.  NO INSULATION, as expected.

The old wallpaper is intriguing, but your mind is taken to the water damage below the windows.

I looked inside the lathe cracks and noticed no insulation (as expected).

The 2nd bedroom upstairs was in fair condition.  The original hardwood floors were exposed although in various shades of color from paint and scuffs and whatnot.  But I picture the beauty these could be!!!  This room had likely lost its plaster ceiling, though, as it was all turned to OSB!!!  It was the weirdest look ever.  Why use OSB instead of drywall?!  But the ceiling was all OSB, and it looked terrible.  This theme continued into the side sloped closet area.  Hmm.

The original hardwood.

I hopped on this bed to lift up the ceiling tiles to inspect the ceiling.  It's in good shape from what I could see.

The third bedroom was decent.  It, too, had drop-down ceiling tiles, though, so I hopped on the bed and stuck my head up to take a peek.  It appears clean, although it was really weird how they attached the drop-down structure.  They just took a 2 x 4 and mounted it to the ceiling somehow.  Very odd.  That all has to go!!!

There was no bathroom upstairs.  Up here would need a lot of old-fashioned work.  Sanding especially.  But the rooms are GREAT sizes!

From here, we walked back downstairs, and at the bottom of the stairs, you could just feel the heat again.  Oh, it felt good!

And then it was time for the basement.  With no shoes allowed inside and a dirty basement, my parents didn't even come down.  But to me, THIS was the most important part of the home.  Who cares really what is up top?  THIS is the part that really matters.  I was happy to find a mostly-intact basement.  There is definitely signs of leaks underneath some of the windows, but that didn't appear to mess up too much structurally.  The bricks need tuck-pointed, though.

But the wood looked in great shape.  And speaking of the wood, WOW!!!  The floor joists are rough-hewn and just incredible.  The floor boards are clean as could be.  And the outside will is a mortice-type joint with the floor-joists.  So neat to see.  And these are some BIG pieces of wood.  Very beautiful.

The wood floor as viewed from the basement.

I took note of the gorgeous limestone foundation in part of the house, although I was disappointed to see quite a bit of leaking going on underneath one of the windows which rested on top of one side of this room.  It made the stone look terribly dirty!  But what a neat limestone foundation.  So clean and beautiful in parts.

How cool is this?!

I was in the basement so long that Mom asked what I was doing down there.  "I'm checking out the most important part of the home, Ma."  It had an updated high-efficiency Carrier furnace.  But it also had a wood-burning furnace (not attached) and an old gas boiler furnace (not attached).  It was kind of a mess in parts, as there is even a hot-tub down there.  Talk about moisture issues?!  But all in all, I was pleased with the condition of the foundation.

Back upstairs, I made small talk with the auctioneer.  Dad had already seen enough, so he was long gone ahead of us.  Mom was kind enough to wait behind for me.

I then checked out the old barn and the massive machine shed.  These are two structures that just make this place fun.  The house is so-so (with potential), but having a barn and work-shop is really why I am interested.  All cleaned up ($$$$), this homestead would be absolutely stunning.

I can finally store all of my stuff with something this big!

So how was it?  Well, it's in better condition than I thought.  And it's in worse condition than I thought.  It's hard to explain.  I think I am just chewing on the hard reality that this house would be WORK.  And do I mean work.  I REALLY think it would shine, though, with it brought back to its original condition, but how do you even get there?  Lots of sanding floors, lots of ripping out pieces that have been added over the 150 years, lots of sweat, frustration, blood, and likely tears.

But a gorgeous farmhouse with a barn, machine shed, piggies, cows, chickens, sunrises, sunsets, a long drive, wildlife, memories, fun, and on and on and on.

I have much to chew on.

I knew Dad saw it as junk.  I didn't know what Mom thought until she spoke later.  "I think you would be better off waiting for that other country house to come for sale."  She is referring to one where an old lady lives who is thinking about selling...sometime in the future...at some price.  It's an unknown.

As for me?  I just don't know.  LOTS of time and money.  And LOTS of both.

But LOTS of love, too.  I mean, this house is incredible.  I can see the end result, and I am in love with it.

What to do, what to do...