Once upon a farmhouse renovation

It’s been three weeks since we’ve moved onto the property we purchased and started this farmhouse renovation, and during that time we’ve uncovered a lot of things we had never seen and never heard of. I like to think of myself as a city girl who spent a lot of time on a farm in the summer, but I never really knew the ins and outs of how these old houses work.

Well now I know, and it’s been a revelation, let me tell you. The house that’s on the property was built in the 20’s, and they added onto it in 1947 and later in the 50’s. The house itself is sloping, so in order to get it straight again, we have to jack it up.

I’ve had contractor after contractor out here and tell me to push it down and start over or avoid jacking the floor because we’ll cause more problems. We’ve gone back and forth on living in the house the way it is, and keep coming back to jacking it up.

Why? I want to save the house. It’s the cutest little farmhouse ever, it has a lot of history, and thanks to Pinterest, there’s literally no limit to what I can do with it. Plus, I have a huge love for all things vintage, and this is about as vintage as it gets.

The more we uncover, the more we realize this place has stories in every beam—and surprises in every corner. But with every new twist, the costs keep stacking up. There’s a part of me that wants to keep pushing through, hang onto the charm, the creaky floors, the crooked door frames.

But there’s also the reality check that sometimes the dream starts costing more than it gives. So I started looking at other routes, ways to just step back and let it go, and in the middle of that search, I came across www.cardinalhousebuyers.

It’s a relief to know there’s a way to hand things off without a big production or waiting months. If we decide to take that road, at least it’s one that can move as fast as we need it to—and that counts for a lot when you’re standing in a half-leveled kitchen wondering what comes next.

So this week we’re jacking the house, and after that we’ll have the framer in to see what he can do inside.

As far as the property is concerned, we’re in Heaven. The hummingbirds come along every morning and hang out with me, the wood peckers pound away on the old dead tree in the meadow, and the ducks walk by whenever the dogs aren’t around. The dogs have zero interest in the ducks, but they do like chasing the horses around.

We’ve got a farm name too! Because of my love of everything Disney, we’ve called our farm ‘Ever After Acres.’

I’ll be back with some photos of jacking the house, but in the meantime, here’s a look at what we uncovered in the floor.

From 1947!