When we bought the old homestead it was in need of some serious attention. The stone building was solid but inside the plaster was crumbling, wiring was knob and tube, and the plumbing was not up to the standards of today.
We had to contemplate what our vision of the home could become without destroying the integrity that the house carried under years of wear and tear. It was tired and we could have just wired, plastered and plumbed but we wanted more.
Our greatest concern was the back part of the house. It was the oldest part and most likely was part of the original log home that first graced the land. Unfortunately a lot of the beams were in poor shape and in the end we realized it would have to come down. The structure was all mortise and tenon, the logs hand hewn from pine and white oak from the property. The flooring in the upper part was made with 18 and 20" pine planks, not to be found today. We salvaged what we could.
Our plans were to replace the structure with something similar but more suited to our needs, so we decided on a two story structure, kitchen below, media room above.
We had to contemplate what our vision of the home could become without destroying the integrity that the house carried under years of wear and tear. It was tired and we could have just wired, plastered and plumbed but we wanted more.
Our greatest concern was the back part of the house. It was the oldest part and most likely was part of the original log home that first graced the land. Unfortunately a lot of the beams were in poor shape and in the end we realized it would have to come down. The structure was all mortise and tenon, the logs hand hewn from pine and white oak from the property. The flooring in the upper part was made with 18 and 20" pine planks, not to be found today. We salvaged what we could.
Our plans were to replace the structure with something similar but more suited to our needs, so we decided on a two story structure, kitchen below, media room above.