And...we're back at it with another renovation project! After looking at what seemed like every house for sale - with our wonderful realtor,
Heidi Robbins of Buck Realty - we settled on a project that is new in more ways than one. Unlike our prior projects, we're not intending to completely change the exterior look and feel of this one because we love the original style. Also, it's already bigger than any of our other houses originally were so, hopefully, we have less to add to it. And instead of aiming for a Craftsman-style look, we're thinking of a more modern design this time around. All in all, there should be plenty of new challenges ahead!
Starting from the exterior - the house is a Federalist style, built in 1940 and designed by Louis R. Moss, a DC architect who also designed the Chevy Chase Arcade and Yates Gardens in Alexandria. Some exterior shots:
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| Hi new house! |
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| The house sits up on a big hill |
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| With our trusty pickup truck in the driveway |
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| And from the back (with more hills) |
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| And another from the backyard |
We found the original blueprints in the basement when we were cleaning things out - check them out! We'll frame them and eventually hang them in the house.
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| There were a few changes to the house (most notably, the garage and room above are wider than shown) but the house today still looks much the way it was envisioned in 1940 |
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| Another blueprint of the exterior |
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| And the back of the house |
Moving to the interior, we forgot to take photos on moving day so instead of a big roundup now, we'll be posting before and after shots by room. We're working with our architect and engineer to draw up plans but have also started deconstructing the house. Now that we're on our third major project, we have the (over?)confidence to start demo before our plans for how to rebuild are finalized. We both took a week off from work in July and spent the time gutting the basement and starting to demo the family room. Among other things, we took out a half bathroom in the basement and a full bathroom on the first floor - so as Brian likes to say, we're in the stage where our house is currently worth less than we paid for it. Which to me means, there's no turning back and the renovation is officially on!
From the basement:
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| The basement is/was partially finished, with a storage room and a game/family room off to the side (with the plaid carpet) |
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| View from the other side - all these walls made for some tight spaces |
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| Partially finished laundry room |
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| Getting the demo tools out - time to get to work! |
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| Oh hey, a whole room is gone! |
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| Just taking stuff apart |
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| Now that is a demo job! Still need to get that carpet up but one big room is done |
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| Much better |
Then we moved up to the family room. You'll be shocked to hear we aren't keeping the wood paneling:
