Another OHW Transplant and a New-Old House (1851)

[Blue Farmhouse]

Hi, all! I'm another transplant from the Old House Web website. I've been reading their message boards since 2004, but I only posted a couple of times years ago. I honestly couldn't add much to the discussion because we didn't live in an old house. We built our house new, and although we've looked at a number of older homes since then, we've never made the move, until today. We wrote an offer on a house built in 1851. We're looking to "downsize." I use that term lightly because the new-old house is actually larger than our current home but the payment will be much lower, as will the taxes.

We actually got into a bind because our current house has sold and we didn't realize the buyers wanted/needed almost immediate possession in order for this deal to work out. So, after a marathon of looking at houses since Friday, we decided on this one because it was the most house for the price and also had the least amount of compromises.

It has three bedrooms (two up, one down) and two full bathrooms along with a large family room, an equally large dining room, an eat-in kitchen, a good sized basement/cellar, a nice sun room, and a laundry room.

It needs interior paint (only because I like color and don't like wallpaper) and a couple of little cosmetic items, but all in all, it's in surprisingly good condition for the age and price. Someone has taken good care of it. It also has a huge lot and a detached garage/workshop, which is a hard to come by commodity in our historic district.

Anyway, since we haven't even gotten too far down the road in this process, I'll leave it at this for now. If all goes well, closing is set for July 15th.

I'm glad to have found everybody again!

[christiner (WavyGlass)]

beautiful house and looks like a nice big lot! can't wait to see your painting results.

[Blue Farmhouse]

beautiful house and looks like a nice big lot! can't wait to see your painting results.

Thanks! I wish I could get in there right now with a paint brush and a couple of gallons of paint, but soon enough. I wasn't keen on the green paint in the front entry hall at first, but it's starting to grow on me. The rest of the rooms are painted that plain beige color, except for the dining room and upstairs bathroom, which sports pink tile and matching wallpaper. (No plans on changing that anytime soon because it's actually in good shape; our guests will just have to contend with pink!)

We're also planning on painting the exterior a different color, but that probably won't happen until next Spring/Summer. There's some sort of application process through the historic board where they have to approve all improvements/modifications made to the exterior of the home. We have plenty of other items to take care of in the mean time, like moving . . . And spraying for bugs! No-one has lived in the house for almost a year now, and creepy-crawly things have taken over outside. I hate spiders.

I'll post more pictures when something actually happens.

[Texas_Ranger]

Honestly, I'd try to get that paint off the exterior rather than repaint! Looks like there's some nice red brick underneath, but there seem to be some moisture issues - could make paint removal easier.

[maironad (WavyGlass)]

Congratulations on finding that gem!

[Neighmond]

Standing seam roof?

[Blue Farmhouse]

Thanks, guys.

And, yes on the roof. This picture shows it a little better.

[Blue Farmhouse]

Well, we're moving right along. We accepted a counter offer from the owners of this house today, and our current house is now under contract with the couple who wanted to purchase it so badly. I'm going to try and make it back down to take more pictures of the house on Sunday or Monday, depending on what's convenient for our Realtor. The calm before the storm of packing and moving!

I'm pretty excited about moving to this area. The entire downtown is a National Historic Landmark, which I believe encompasses about 133 blocks of houses and buildings.

[Blue Farmhouse]

I forgot to include some pictures of the town in my last message. Here they are.















. . . I have hundreds of pictures that I've taken from throughout the years, but this should give you all a good idea of what it looks like.

[Gothichome]

Interesting home Farmhouse, I really don't know what to make of the style. Looks like the rear section was an add on but is as old as the home. Interesting the back section, has no windows. Was it used as a warehouse at some point or a at the least a place of business in the back and living to the front. The town looks like it would make a great movie set. Welcome.