we bought a house.

"It needs work" does not even begin to describe it.

I suppose here is where I try to explain my reasons for starting a blog about said house. Here, I will try to document our progress as we plod through renovations. I can only imagine that there will be as many pitfalls as "money pit" jokes but I hope that there will be many more victories. I know I will be asked many questions by friends and family about the progress being made on this house you've heard and will be hearing so much about as it slowly overtakes our life. It is my hope that you will be able to follow our triumphs by reading along.

Here are a few photos of the house with all of the previous owner's contents (as you can see, there were a lot of contents) from the second time we walked through the house.

Yes, I agree, it is a mess. But we are trying to see the potential beyond the mess. No one in our family saw the house before we bought it so we never really had that slap of reality. You name it, the house needs it - roof, furnace, hot water heater, updated plumbing, plaster work, electrical work, washer/dryer hookups, a new back entrance, a new kitchen, bathroom updating, pointing, landscaping and an all around good cleaning - I'm sure I forgot something. It does not have a driveway or a garage.

Now, before you get all "are you crazy woman?" on me, yes we did have an inspection. We had an engineer's inspection which resulted in a 93 page detailed inspection report. It estimates projected costs and gives the order in which the major repairs should be addressed. If we didn't think we could do it, we wouldn't have bought the house (well, we may have bought it anyway - we do love the house.)
What we do have to work with: good bones, curved walls, bay window, a large yard, lots of big windows, four floors and a sub-basement, double brick walls, 2 fireplaces, a large open attic space with a skylite and in the front, enough space for a parking pad. And it is located in our favorite neighborhood - St. George. The previous owner did not change a thing and we saw it as an advantage. Rather than have to fix bad renovations, we're working with what's been in the house since it was last renovated in 1934.

Oh and I should mention that there are still quite a few contents left in the house and we will be having a yard sale Saturday and Sunday 7/5 - 7/6/08. I have some things that we need to get rid of from our last move too... so come one, come all. Most will be cheap or FREE. ;)