It feels so long ago, but there once was a time where I shared so much about us renovating our home. In pulling together some photos from the finished product (we sold our home this year), I realized I have never really shared full before and after photos. This was probably the greatest accomplishment (aside from our kids) that Dustin and I have had together, and being that many years ago I would blog about the progress here and there, I felt like I needed to bring it full circle.
In 2010 this home burnt in a fire that started in the kitchen. When we bought it in 2011, it had been sitting vacant with a huge hole in the roof. In addition to the house, the farm included acreage, two horse barns, a pond, two guest cottages, and several outbuildings for equipment and storage.
In 2013 we started the long exhausting process of demo and then subbing out every part of the renovation while we lived in one of the guest cottages. We were young, dumb, and so naive to what this project would require financially, physically, and emotionally. After 2.5 long years doing a bit here and a bit there, we finally finished the renovations and were able to move in in the fall of 2015.
Throughout our time here we also re-did the landscaping, the apartment in one of the horse barns, painted all of the fencing, and re-planted pastures…not to mention all of the day-to-day maintenance. During construction we primed & painted the entire house, laid every last bit of hardwood flooring, and Dustin worked alongside one of our contractors for hanging cabinets, among many other smaller projects.
Even once we moved in we still had so many projects left…trim work, finishing the shower in the master bathroom, staining the concrete floors, installing safety fence around the pool, cabinet hardware, finishing out the laundry room cabinets & counters, etc.
While we always knew this wasn’t our forever home, it will forever be a huge part of us and I think we will always look back fondly and miss big parts of our life here. I could probably write a book on all of the things that we loved about living here…from the obvious things like the pond and big pastures, to the little details like how magical our back yard felt (especially for the kids!) and how sweet the figs are fresh off the tree in July. We’ll miss the jasmine trees, the azaleas blooming in April, how cozy the house is with a fire going at Thanksgiving or Christmas, all the oyster roasts, lowcountry boils, and crabs we shared with family and friends. Many many many hot days were spent in the pool and riding our horses all over. Knowing that every last inch of that house, we poured our hearts and souls into…it’s the best feeling.
This house and this farm took so much of us at times but it truly is the house that built us. Here’s a look back from the beginning to the end…2011 to 2021.
The finished product…
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