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