07 Jan Our Farmhouse Restoration
Jill and I got a lot done last year, including a couple of major improvements to the farmhouse. Mostly we’ve been working on the barns and sheds and property because all of that was most pressing. But we managed to strip all the wallpaper from the dining room, re-plaster its walls, then restore the room to its former beauty. The only thing missing are the Pennsylvania Dutch stenciling, which we plan to replicate.
We also gutted the first-floor bathroom and rebuilt it as a more era-appropriate facility. This is the third bathroom I’ve done on the farm. I hate building bathrooms, they’re so time-consuming and fussy. But I’m getting better at it. Not faster, but better. On this one, I replaced the conventional door with a pocket door because the original door was cumbersome and impeded traffic in the dining room.
The next big project in the farmhouse will be the library. That’s where we’ve installed the wood-burning stove. We’re not sure when we’ll get to it. No predictions because I never know, from day to day, which project will foist itself upon me. the biggest accomplishment this past year was the barn–a huge project that included public bathrooms, a performance stage, and some way-cool features. I’ll post that soon. And this spring we’ll finish the “casita,” the tiny house studio, which is another way-cool huge project. Stay tuned.
