So.. the kitchen...

So after winning the house and closing on it, we got to dig in! We wanted to start with the kitchen, since it was in really poor shape. There were 2 windows that were divided by a brick chimney. The chimney was from the basement summer kitchen. The servants would cook the summer meals down there to avoid adding extra heat to the living quarters. (It didn't matter that some of the servants lived down there, apparently. Just important that the family was comfortable I guess)

We removed the chimney brick by brick and stacked them in the back yard to use at a later date.  The windows were pretty bad, since the squirrels had gotten into the house. So I happened to be on Craigslist and found someone selling a huge window with leaded glass on the top. We were able to buy it from him pretty inexpensively (which is important due to the amount of renovations we were facing). So we planned out the upper cabinets to fit around the new window. This room also had 2 layers of peel and stick vinyl floor that I had to scrape up, to expose the beautiful hardwood underneath. The cabinets were bought online and we built them and hung them ourselves. We are still working on finishing the tin ceiling look, but otherwise the kitchen is done. As with most of the house, the demo, build, wiring, installing, painting and finishing was done by us! We knew early on this was going to be a BIG project, so the more we learned to do ourselves, the better off financially we would be in the long run. And the sense of accomplishment is fantastic!!

 

What's With The Name?

 So... one of the most common questions we get asked about is the name of the B&B.  Who is it? How did you come up with it? And how do you pronounce "Holle"?  Well, here is the story...

So after we won the house on the auction, Pete started wrapping up everything in Virginia to move to Wisconsin.  I spent my days coming to the house and starting the cleaning process.  It had been closed up for a long time and was pretty bad. So every day I would spend hours cleaning and envisioning what this house could look like.  I would talk to the house and tell it I was going to make it pretty again. 

One day I was on the phone with Pete when I pulled into the driveway. "The house wants to be named 'Katherine'" I told him. When my daughters were little, we named everything. From bikes to cars, stuffed animals to basic objects. Everything had a name. So that day I walked in and said "Good morning, Katherine! We are going to make you beautiful again!"

It became a running joke, on how much fixing up our friend Katherine needed. But it made it feel more real for me, our very own Victorian home.. I was spending the days cleaning it, and the evenings researching Victorian architecture. I wanted to know why it was laid out the way it was, what the purpose of specific areas were, and how we could achieve making it look Victorian, but feel cozy and comfortable.

Anyway.. one bitterly cold day after Pete had moved here. We got to the house to clean and work on it. All of my cleaning products had frozen over. We had exactly one extension cord running up from the basement for any power. No lights, no heat, just one cord. We decided to go to the library and do research on the house instead. So we sat (in the warm library) going through old city directories looking for our address, so we could find out who lived there. Finally, Pete said "Here it is! 119 North Church Street! I found it!" I got all excited and grabbed my pen to take notes.  "John Thauer."  he said, as I quickly wrote it down.  "Oh wow... and his daughter... Katherine."  (Back then, they listed family members in the city directories, as well as occupations. But that's another story)

Needless to say, we were quite shocked.  I now think she had a hand in helping us win this auction.

So we decided it HAD to be Katherine, and we have received gifts and so much support from my mom's side of the family, that we dedicated the family last name of "Holle" to naming the house. Yes, it sounds just like "Holly" but prettier!

Are you serious???

 "Ummm.. what?!?! Are you serious? Did we really win?"

Pete seemed to take a deep breath. He was silent for a minute.  I started getting nervous.  "What's the matter? Didn't we win? Why aren't you talking?" I asked.  He replied with "Oh, sorry. I was checking my fitbit, and just sitting at my desk, my heart rate was 120! And, yes. We won!"

Earlier that day, I had taken our cat to the vet for a small surgery to remove four of his teeth that were bad.  I suddenly realized I was supposed to go pick him up at 4:30. "Oh crap, I have to go get Shadow.  I completely forgot!"

I drove to the vet's office, my mind spinning. What did we just do? Did we just take on The Money Pit? Do we really think we can restore this house? It is in REALLY bad shape. Ugghh... 

The Vet Tech came out with a very groggy Shadow, and started to explain to me that once they got in to remove the teeth, they ended up taking out 17, not four! I tried really hard to pay attention, but I had to stop her.

"Please, can you write down whatever you are saying right now? I can't think. I just won a house."

A few puzzled looks later, and I was on my way home with the cat.  I decided to drive by the house just to look at it again.  I sat out front for a few minutes and just stared.  Well, things happen for a reason, I thought.  There is a reason we won this house. It needs a lot of love and a lot of work. I looked at the dilapidated porch, the terrible siding, all of the trees and plants that have taken over the yard and made the house almost invisible. And then I closed my eyes and visualized a warm, inviting, beautiful Victorian.  Yes, I said out loud to myself, this is our house.

 Our first walk through of the house..

So, once we got through the initial shock, we decided to explore.  The house was originally a big single family home, but was turned into an upper/lower duplex. The front bedroom on the first floor, we discovered, was actually the original foyer. The staircase had been ripped out, and the ceiling was covered over to create a bedroom. A staircase was enclosed on the porch to access the second floor apartment. As we took in all of the sights (and smells) of the house, my brain immediately started seeing what it could be versus what it actually was. I started noticing the gorgeous hardwood floors, the 3 sets of still functioning pocket doors, the servant's staircase up the back of the house.. 

Before we even got through the entire house, we looked at each other and said "this is our house."  Now, just to win that auction! 

The auction was open for a month, and we started watching it.  The price stayed pretty low for quite a long time. I was really excited, until Pete reminded me that most of the bidding happens on the last day.  And so, we waited patiently until the last day.  He was still living in Virginia, getting everything in order to move here.  He stayed at work later than usual, because we figured his work internet was faster than the home internet. All the better to hit the "place bid" button! 

The bidding was set to close at 4pm.  But it had a "soft close" from 3:50pm on, so that anyone who places a bid extends the time another 2 minutes to make it fair for others to keep bidding as well.  So 4:00 came.. and the bidding continued. 4:10.. 4:15.. we apparently were in a bidding war with another person. Every time they would place a bid, I would say "Pete!" and he would reply with "I'm on it!" 

4:20... Me: Ugghh how can people do this regularly?? I think I'm gonna be sick!"

4:25.. The other person placed a bid. "Pete!" I practically yelled.  His response was different this time.. "Keri, if I place the bid, this is all the money we have. If he outbids us, we are done. Do we go for it?"  After a deep breath I responded with "Yes. Let's do it. If the house is meant to be ours, we will win the auction." So Pete placed the bid.  And then we watched the 2 minutes click down.. slowly.. I felt myself holding my breath... 1 minute... 30 seconds... I tried to distract us by asking him about work. It didn't work. The clock went down to 3..2...1. Bidding Closed.

I sat back and released the breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Oh my God, I am never gonna do something like this again."  

Pete:I think we won.

Me: Ugghh I can't even think about it right now.. 

Pete: Hey honey, I just got the email. We just won a house. 

 Why Hello there! 

So I've decided to start this year off with a blog about our crazy journey renovating a 1902 Victorian home that was, should we say, a bit rough.  We have had a lot of challenges, found some really cool stuff, learned a lot about Victorian architecture, and made some incredible friends along the way. So.. here we go!!

In May of 2017, I had recently moved back to Wisconsin from being away for 20+ years.  I never thought I would be back to the land of BRRRR and that dreaded 4 letter word that begins with "S" and ends with "now".  Yuck.  But my dad died the previous summer and I had spent over 6 months making the 800 mile trek from Northern Virginia here every 2 weeks or so, to take care of my mom and sister.  We finally decided I would move here and be closer for them.  Anyway, I passed the house, and, never noticing it before, suddenly saw an auction sign in the front yard.  I called Pete, who was still in Virginia at the time, and said Hey, let's look at this house. It's up for auction. We could get it and flip it! 

It looked pretty rough, but that's where diamonds are made, right? So I called the auction company to view it.  I remember her saying "Sure, you can look through it, the door code is '1234', just lock up when you leave."  I responded with "Um, aren't you coming with us?"  The long pause and "No, you can go yourself, but just be careful, it's a 'proceed at your own risk' house."  And we soon found out why..

We walked up the sagging steps to the porch. Actually, to the plywood thrown across the beams acting like a porch.. And when we opened the door, we were assaulted with the smell.  The house had been closed up for a long time, and the smell was overwhelming.. we began to look around and see just how "challenging" this house would be to renovate. Some of the floors and walls had come down and pipes had burst throughout the house... and the electrical (30 amp/120) was pretty much non existent.  We weren't deterred yet.... 

Hooked yet??? It gets better and better!!! Come back next week!! -Keri