Fridge placement dilemma opinions welcome

[JRC]

I hate to see that done to original cabinets, but I understand where eclecticcottage is coming from. And, I'd rather see this, than to have the house sold to someone who would rip out the entire bank of cabinets. It's also likely that, since they're painted, whoever bought it wouldn't think twice about throwing the whole assembly away.

This relates to my "old house lovers vs. the world" thread. eclecticcottage has to make hard decisions to make a compromise between preservation, and renovation so that as much can be saved as possible, in a short time frame, and end up with a house that's going to retain some of its character, and still appeal to the largest audience. Yes, she could do a museum restoration. But that's likely to cause the house to stay on the market longer, waiting for the right buyer, eating away potential profits, as more mortgage payments are made. And, although I don't know the neighborhood, it's possible that the buyer wanting a fully restored house aren't even looking in this neighborhood.

[eclecticcottage]

I bet if you finished that cutout with beadboard or car siding it would look like it grew up that way! If the icebox's behind pokes through perhaps some nice built-in on the other side would make it easier to get on with.

Beadboard is exactly what I was planning to use! Once it's all boxed in and cleaned up, it should look like it was meant to be that way. And I will be able to set the broken drawer and door aside to fix later while I'm waiting on this place to close.

Thank you JRC, that is pretty much what it is. I didn't take this decision, nor the one to remove WAY more plaster then I originally planned lightly. And most especially not the windows. I was really set on repairing them until I really evaluated them, the timeline, my skills, and the people I was able to locate for repairs. The same for not refinishing the original floors, which are in not so great of shape. I am just patching the holes (yes, holes) and covering with with a quality, pretty laminate. In the future, someone with a lot more time will be able to take up the laminate and repair and refinish them if they desire. I won't ruin them, but I can't refinish them with my budget and timeline. They need a lot of work, but they will be there if someone wants to do it. I am not going to get into the specifics of certain issues with the house in deference to the fact that I think things just got out of hand for the PO's due to some medical issues. I know I've not posted a location, but IMO, it's their story not mine. Some of those things lead to decisions I've made. Let's just say that they didn't want to leave but they just couldn't keep up with the house and the situation. I've met the younger son (he stopped by Saturday when he saw me painting the porch) and I can't say that I think they were/are bad people, just had a bad situation.

I fully understand the cringe worthyness of the loss of the windows and the changes to the cabinets. I am sorry things had to be done, but I know I had to do them-this is quite literally my retirement fund. As much as I am interested in history and preservation, I need to at least not lose my money on this. If I can manage to pull this off and make money, I will do it again. I know I am not completely restoring this house, but the chances are, it would have been gutted to the studs and HGTVized otherwise-it's not uncommon here. Old houses that are truly untouched are, well, old to most buyers here-and not in the good way. My husband and I were at the pizza place talking about my house and someone overheard and joined in. As she put it, big old houses just aren't worth as much as the nicer newer ones here. I can work to change that perception, and this is a start, but it is kind of a fact of life in a lot of more rural areas I've lived in (which is why I can hoard old doors and sinks and the like-not because of flips or them being broken, but because someone had the money to replace them). I plan to try my best to work with what is original here and make it an asset-but I cannot make a complete restoration happen. IF there was a truly workable by 2017 standards location for the fridge, I would have replaced the plywood in the built ins and fixed them up as they were. But there wasn't.

I have to face reality. In 2017 a new owner will get the keys. We (as a society) live a lot differently than we did 90ish years ago when this house was built. We have kurigs and microwaves and flat screen televisions. We want hot and cold water in the same faucet. We have I-pads and cell phones and side by side refrigerators because we don't shop by the day and milk isn't delivered in the morning anymore. We cook with electric or gas not wood. I need to make this house fully functional for today's buyers while retaining as much as possible-so that at least in the forseeable future they can leave those original features and still enjoy and love the house. If things are obsolete or disfunctional, people will replace them with whatever the newest fad is-if they can function with the new things, they will keep them.

Quite honestly the decision to purchase this particular house was a snap decision made within about half an hour. I had been looking at a different property in the town to flip, although I was actually originally looking for a new rental property. I had to drive by this one to get to the other one-which was a really run down cape. I had some questions about that one so I called the town the following week, got my answers, called my agent to make an offer and found out it went pending over the weekend! However, the same questions applied to The Bungalow Project-and it came on the market the next day. I drove over at about 9pm, walked through and wrote the offer. I intended for it to be a flip and it likely still will be, but it's been tempting in some ways to move there-it's a really great house with great neighbors and a good location (walkable). I didn't look specifically for an old house, but this one basically fell into my lap. The morning I heard my offer was accepted, before my agent texted, I quietly asked my grandpa (who passed about 10 years ago) if he thought it was a good solid house (he was a mason, carpenter and GC so I would trust his opinion on it) and that I could do right by it, to help me get it. About an hour later I heard my offer was accepted. It might just be coincidence, but I can't shake that thought, that he said it was a good house and that I could do this. It keeps me determined to do this.