Stage Two

Emma was anxious to move into her new home but no way was she going to carry her water from the spring and use the old privy. So there was a lot of work to be done before she could move. Luckily she had a thrifty nature and had had good jobs ever since she graduated. With the added money from her inheritance from her grandparents she had been able to buy the property outright so now she had a good basis for a mortgage for enough to make the house habitable.

The first thing was basic repairs and renovation. She found competent craftsmen in the nearby small town who could do the work for a reasonable rate. The electrical system had to be brought up to date, the roof repaired and plumbing installed. Much of the old siding had rot and would have to be replaced also. As that was being done, Emma had the dogtrot enclosed also to make another room. The carpenter who did that work was also able to build the cabinets she needed in the kitchen. While all that was being done, Emma spent as much time at the house as she could doing much of the interior work herself. She hadn't spent her years in architect school just doing design work. There had been a lot of hands on stuff in some of her classes and she had always worked for construction companies in the summers, doing finish work. So painting, papering, tiling, all of that she was competent to do herself. The larger of the two pantries/closets behind the stairs down to the cellar she closed in to make a small bathroom. Once the electrical, plumbing and heating work was done and the kitchen cabinets and plumbing fixtures were in she went ahead and moved in. She could enjoy it even more living here as she watched each project reach completion. The bathroom was the first room that was completely finished. It was tiny and far from luxurious but it would take care of her needs and was pleasant to look at when she was in it.

View from the shower

Next was the kitchen. She loved the way the stuccoed walls and tiled floor complemented the custom cabinets. It didn't take her long to add a number of homey decorating touches.

View from dogtrot


View from back door

The next project was the newly enclosed dogtrot. Some of the old siding had still been in good condition, including that lining the dogtrot. Rather than pull that down, she took other good sections to cover what little bare wall existed on the two new sides. Most of that space was taken up by two double wide windows on the rear and one on the front next to the spacious new front door. Emma left the old hardwood floors the weathered silvery color they had attained, doing nothing more than sanding down the rough spots and sealing them to prevent splinters. The old stairs she had sanded and painted a soft ivory. She had had to move the door to the living room when the new front wall was put up. It was now at the foot of the stairs. Now she had a place to put the old furniture that her grandmother had left her. Neither her mother nor her aunts and uncles had been interested in 'that outdated stuff' so she had gotten it all. It had been in storage since her death three years before but now it would have a home and love again. She thought the old siding and flooring were a perfect backdrop for the old furniture. She even had a painting of her great-great grandmother to hang on the wall.

View from the front door


View from foot of stairs

Emma was quite pleased with her 'parlor'. It was tiny but it definitely had an aura of her grandmother about it. She set up bird feeders on the front porch and outside the rear windows and loved to sit and watch the colorful creatures crowd around. But now it was time to move on to the big living room. The carpenter who had done her cabinets had been quite complimentary of the work she had been doing and now seemed to be dropping by a couple of times a week to see what else she had gotten done. He was a young man, not much older than she was, and though far from handsome, had a pleasant face and personality. She rather enjoyed his visits and if he wanted to lend a hand with something while he was there that was alright too.

In the living room she sanded down the hardwood floors and stained them to match the door. She covered the walls with fabric: a sturdy burlap on the upper walls and a tighter woven fabric of the same shade below. Then she added a chair rail, baseboard and ceiling molding. Leftover burlap she made into a couple of big floor pillows. She also renovated the old fireplace and installed a new mantle. Most of the furniture for this room came from Pier One. Grandma's piano and a number of family portraits fit right in.


View from door


View from left of fireplace


View from right of fireplace. There is a bookcase in this corner not visible in any of the pics.

Emma was really pleased with what she had accomplished so far. It had taken months but the whole first floor was now done and was a comfortable place to live.

Aerial view of first floor

True, she was still sleeping on the couch but that was more comfortable than the sleeping bag had been. Ellery Blood, the carpenter, had gone from dropping by to see what she was working on, to asking her advice on projects that he was working on, to asking her out to dinner and a movie. Their relationship seemed to be warming up nicely. And she had to admit she liked him better than any man she had ever dated. And he had a connection to this old house himself. His mother had been a Twiddy and had lived here as a little girl.