Take a tour of the circa 1920’s farmhouse fixer we bought, plus a few of the plans we have to remodel and restore it to be a house of our dreams.
Okay, so can you guess I’m a tad bit excited about sharing our new house with you guys? I’ve had to wait for a week because of moving and rain, rain, rain, but I was finally able to take pictures to show you. And this is just a sampling – I tried to get at least one from every room so you could get an idea of the house, but it would’ve been way too long to include everything. You’ll just have to be sure to follow along to not miss anything!
If you’re a VIP subscriber or podcast listener, you already saw (or heard) our announcement that we bought an old 1920’s farmhouse (more on the age in a bit) on three acres. This was after 15+ months of house-hunting while living with family. While it is more land than we were looking for, part of it is a woodlot that we can leave natural. And we couldn’t resist this sweet house and setting:
Since closing on the property we have found out a bit more about it’s history. The 3 acres was part of a 100-acre parcel that belonged to one family, some of whom still own part of it. We bought the house from one of the descendants who had grown up in the home.
We recently met a neighbor who’s wife grew up in the home (she is a sister to who we bought it from) and said they would be able to share some historical photos with us, which I’m so excited about! He already told us a couple interesting things – one, he thinks the house is older than 1920 (and I did see some county records that put it at 1900) and there was a general store on the property. So fun- I’m looking forward to learning more!
Okay, now on to the farmhouse details. Just a warning – I’m not calling it a “farmhouse fixer” just for fun – it really needs a LOT of work. I’m trying to not get overwhelmed by it actually, just taking one day at a time and realizing it will take us years to fully redo it like we want – and that’s okay.
While you’ll get a good idea through the photos I’m sharing here, to get the full tour along with all the ideas I have, you’ll want to watch the walk-through video I took for you:
Farmhouse Fixer
So – welcome and come on in, starting with what you see first, the porch. Oh, the work it needs, right? It could be a lot more welcoming with a few of the same things we did to our cottage. Before we talk about the porch details, let’s just get the vinyl siding out of the way: the whole of it is going. It’s broken, cracked, and discolored everywhere. We hope to restore it to it’s original siding, but we’ll keep it white.
Okay, here are just a few of the things I’d like to see changed on the porch:
- New wood door with a window and a sidelite or two.
- Lights moved to beside door (interesting placement right now, huh? Lighted pathway but dark doorβ¦).
- Reconfigured window to right of door. I’m thinking two smaller windows since all the vintage house plans I’ve seen with off-center doors have double windows to the bigger side.
- I’d prefer no railings (less upkeep), but there’s a drop-off on one side that may mean we have to have some. Maybe just regular railing on the sides after making a planting bed to the left front.
- Tongue-and-groove ceiling.
- The shutters are part of the vinyl siding so they will go. I have a pet peeve with shutters on windows that are too big to actually fit if they were real (I know, it’s just meβ¦), so we’ll probably remove all the shutters and go with wider moldings.
- Replace current porch roof with a simple metal shed roof (to then have more room to replace the windows that I’m just sure are supposed to be above it on the second floor!)
And I can just see it all in my mind- sitting on our redone porch and enjoying this view.
Living and Dining
When you walk in the door, you walk right into one big rectangular room. To the right (above) is what will be the living room. Which I’m sure will seem bigger when the walls aren’t dark terra cotta.
To the left is where our dining room will be. The floors are all unfinished laminate (I think I called it vinyl in the video, but it’s low-end laminate) – meaning they never added floor molding, just left all the foam underlay sticking out of the edges.
We’ve already started pulling it up to see what is underneath. Sadly, no amazing hardwood, just 40s tile on plywood. But the plywood is on top of thick tongue-and-groove flooring, which is probably fir, so we’ll keep working on removing it.
Here’s the plan for this big room:
- Replace the fans with a chandelier and flush-mount – including wiring for switches (right now you can only turn them on with the remotes!).
- Redo or new flooring.
- Paint walls white.
- Wood ceiling (maybe with wood beams).
- Replicate original molding around windows.
- Maybe add a wood wainscoting of some kind.
- Widen doorway into kitchen.
Interesting note: in the video I mention it’s odd not to have a fireplace in such an old house and that our inspector couldn’t find remnants of one. The neighbor we met after filming that told us there was a fireplace – it was in the middle of the living-dining area in a wall that separated them. Mystery solved! And it explains the different colored roofing material in the center of the house’s peak.
Kitchen
This is the view walking in from the big room. You can actually see the stove wall when you walk in the front door. The stairs are to the left and sink to the right – with a window into an enclosed side porch that was being used as a laundry room. Everybody’s dream sink view, right? π
And here’s the view of the kitchen looking from the doorway of the hall that goes to the main-floor bath and bedroom. The kitchen is a fairly large room with lots of potential and nice light. You can see here better how widening the doorway just a bit would help the flow.
Do we even want to start a list of kitchen ideas? It’s basically a gut-job, though not down to the studs. Well, this list will give us a start:
- Rebuild stairs to be same width at top as at bottom and deal with head clearance and safety issues (plus replace the lovely metal trailer-park railβ¦).
- Remove wall between kitchen and enclosed porch, enlarging the space.
- Create a large island and new work triangle of stove, sink and refrigerator on this side of the kitchen.
- Replace current stove-frige wall with a wall of butler’s pantry like cabinets and counter, similar to what we had in our old house’s kitchen.
- Add character with shiplap walls.
Main Floor Bath and Bedroom
There is a main floor bath just around the corner from a bedroom and we plan to make this our master bedroom and bath. I like the idea of the bath being accessible to guests, though, since people don’t like to use a bath they have to walk through a bedroom to get to, so we won’t have the door in the bedroom.
As you can see it’s pretty small and we hope to gain a couple feet with the bedroom bump-out.
This is the main-floor bedroom (and yes, that’s a good representation of the color!). Right now it’s about 7 feet long by 14 feet wide. The plan is to bump out the wall 8 feet, using 2 of those feet for the bathroom and creating a master bedroom that’s about 13 x 14 (with a wall of closets where I’m standing taking the photo above).
So lots to do here:
- Move shower to bedroom wall, opening up outside wall for a window and vanity.
- Move bath door 1-foot into hallway (just wasted space now)
- Add outlet to bathroom (there’s NO outlet!)
- Add period character with subway tile and shiplap walls.
- Find something unique to use as a vanity.
- Two new larger windows in bedroom to match rest of house.
- New flooring and period correct molding.
- Paint all walls white.
- Wood ceiling.
- New doors for both (reclaimed?).
- New wall of closets – maybe with french doors?
Upstairs
The upstairs consists of 3 bedrooms and a half bath. All the windows up here have their original molding, thankfully. This is the smallest, a cute little dormer room that will become our office and where Brian will have is iMac for video production.
This room, like the others upstairs, will be simple:
- New flooring (we’re going to try and see what was original here, too.)
- New paint.
- New closet doors.
- New light fixture.
- New door and knob (there are no original doors, unfortunately)
- New period moldings around door.
It’s hard to see in this photo, but I’m really excited about this room. It will become my new studio and when it’s painted white, the light form the almost floor-to-ceiling windows will bounce around nicely for photography. And this room has the best view of probably the whole house (well, the little dormer office room has it, too).
Unfortunately, the doorways into this room and the guest room from the hall are short and we’re not sure we can do anything about it because of the roof slant. I don’t have to duck, but Brian does. It’s like some of the really old east coast houses – and I always see the British ducking through doorways on PBS shows, so maybe we’ll just be like that. π
There is a matching room next to the studio that will be the guest room. Both these rooms will need:
- New flooring (the current one is built up almost 2 inches!).
- New paint.
- New closet doors.
- New light fixtures.
- Maybe some type of wood on walls for character?
- New doors and knobs.
- New period moldings around doors and floors.
Ah, and here we come to the last room of our farmhouse fixer “before tour,” the upstairs bathroom. It’s really fairly large, and yet is only a half bath. So odd. And yes, another room that pretty much needs to be gutted. We’ll need:
- A new a tub.
- New flooring.
- New vanity.
- New light fixtures.
- Paint, molding, etc.
Whew. Do you think that’s enough? Ha – I wasn’t kidding about the fixer part, was I?
Before we get into any ‘fun’ stuff, we have to take care of the major issue: there is no foundation. The posts are actually on large boulders! Isn’t that a hoot? Talk about use-what-you-have. We’ll do the bedroom bump-out at the same time and once these are done, we can start chipping away at the other things on our lists.
We did offer a lot less on the house because of the foundation issues, but with the market the way it is here in the West, it’s wasn’t a screaming good deal. We’ll need to be very creative in order to do the other things we want after the foundation and bump out are completed.
In the meantime, I’ll give you a peek at where we were able to move into:
One of the pluses to the property was the legal other home that had been rented out. It very comfortable and it’s so nice to have all our stuff out of storage again. But we know it’s not a forever home, and so we hope to not be in it too long – though we know we’re blessed to have a place right on the property to live and manage the remodel.
So that’s your first full tour of our new farmhouse! I’d love to know what you think and if you have any ideas for us. I’m so glad to be able to share this journey with you!
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Mindy Northrop says
Yeehaw!!! I just randomly popped in to see if you’d found a house yet, and lo and behold. So stinkin’ exciting!!! It’s going to be AMAZING! Where abouts did you end up? That would be crazy if we were in the same neck of rural America now. π
Jami says
I know, so cool right? Just when I had about give up. π I don’t think we’re close – we’re still just south of Eugene and you’re still up near Portland, aren’t you?
I just think your farmhouse and grounds are SO cool – I’ve see the pics on your FB page. Our grounds have nothing in the way of gardens, just a couple random plants (like 3 – really) and some trees that I’m waiting to see what they are. I look at yours and think how nice to have has some structure already in – but then I know it’s nice to start from scratch, too, and add just what I want. Always pros and cons, ha!
Mindy Northrop says
We’re in Amity….so about an hour or so south of Portland. And don’t miss it one bit!
I’m getting so excited for spring. So much to do, but it will be so fun to garden on more than a city lot. I started soaking my peas today….I just couldn’t wait. π And I FINALLY have an asparagus bed. I don’t know how old it is, but I’ve been coveting one since seeing your huge plot. I’m anxious to see all you do…inside and out. So dang exciting.
Jami says
I know where Amity is – how fun! And an established asparagus bed? You will love it – getting food in March and April while everything else is just starting to grow is amazing. π
Juls Owings says
I showed your front porch to our contractor of our new house (project binder for house alone is 3 inches thick.) He thought instead of railing to install a bench seat like a pew bench with flower boxes(rigged to drain OFF the side of porch and more like round wood barrels to keep with the farm house) on the sides.
I’m excited for you. I definitely understand the financial challenges.
Blessed be
Jami says
Oh a bench is a great idea Juls – thanks!!
Sarah says
This is awesome! It’s like a dream fixer upper with the other place to live on the property. Can’t wait to see the progress. I just found your podcast and am loving it!
Jami says
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the podcast, Sarah!!
Carole says
Congrats – you have your work cut out for you and it’s going be fun to watch it all unfold. I couldn’t do another fixer upper so I applaud you for moving forward because it takes strong people to take on a task such as this Looks amazing and I love that light green color in the bedroom. This place would make a neat country bed and breakfast.
Jami says
Well, Carole, I do hope we have it in us! I kinda thought we wouldn’t do something this needy, but a property like this is rare out west, so we’re jumping in and hoping we can keep up. π Yes, that bedroom as the one color in the house I like!
Della says
Wow, after watching that I can see that you are not a woman prone to exaggeration, lol!! So glad you finally found a place you love! I do love a fixer upper. It’s such fun to take something and make it truly your own with your own special touches! I look forward to seeing everything you do. Thanks for sharing the journey!
Jami says
Nope, Della, this is a case of the outside looking a lot better than the inside. π We hope to change that, though!
Gillian Hill says
Hi Jami, congratulations on your new purchase of an old farmhouse fixer! I can see why you are excited – and you are also very brave! Thanks for sharing the video. Such a beautiful property and so great that you can live there while you’re doing all that hard work. Looking forward to watching how it all unfolds into your dream home with your creative talent and vision. Best wishes!
Jami says
Oh, thank you so much, Gillian! We really feel blessed even with all the work ahead of us. π
Mary says
Your new farmhouse has loads of character and the view – oh my, that’s the best, Jami. Thanks for the tour. It will be fun to watch the transformation. I am especially excited to see how the kitchen turns out – and the porch! Really great you can live in the manufactured home for a while. How many lots would have such an option? That’s the best.
Jami says
Thank you, Mary! Brian and I totally thought of you guys when we stood on that porch and realized how great it would be to hang out there. Maybe I can get you guys to visit when it’s redone and you can hang out there with us? π
We feel pretty blessed, even with all the work ahead of us, to have this situation be something we could afford and work on. It makes us feel like we have to chance to invest in something rather than a lot of the properties we looked at that if the market fell we could’ve been underwater. Whew – so glad to be out of it!
Juls Owings says
Congrats. As I am in rehabbing a farm house that started English then went to Amish…I can tell you our contractor said 3-6 mos with him having 28 employess under him to work on it not including the 6 months of work we will be doing ourselves. I rehabbed a 300 yr old house by myself while being a widow and raising 3 kids…took 5 yrs. The toilet is in that spot because they used to put toilets in closets. I hope the cast iron sewer pipe has already been changed to PVC other wise that’s not going to be an easy job. Been there and done that one. A lot of old farm houses didn’t have banisters on stairs at all, that’s usually a requirement due to house ins especially rentals along with the drop off on the porch ( I’m glad you are changing that end as it looks…you know) Our porch lights were on the post. Family that sold it was the decendents of the ones that built it said it was because you didn’t put gas lights against your house due to fire…. and they just put the electric were the gas lights was. IT really did help show the sidewalk when walking up to it in the dark.
Have fun. OH I did a project binder and it’s really help as when I got it together and was inputing things on the whole house layout, we flipped two rooms , thankfully before anything work was done.
Jami says
Wow, I can see you will be a fount of knowledge for me as we navigate through this, Juls! I’m impressed with all you’ve done – this is way more than our typical DIY projects. π
We do know that all the plumbing we can see has been changed – but not sure about what we can’t see, of course.
That is so interesting about the lights and makes a lot of sense. I was thinking about leaving one to light the walkway, as I think that’s a good idea – I just don’t want a dark door.
A project binder is a fabulous idea. I have started one for some parts and need to be a lot more organized as we get going, for sure.
Really appreciate your input – thanks xo
Michelle D says
Wow! That is all such fascinating information, thanks for sharing! There’s always a reason, even if sometimes it’s “well we did it that way because they did it that way before even though the safety reason has been gone for 70 years.” HA!
Jami, I grew up in a 1912 Craftsman farmhouse that had been “remodeled” in the 40s and 70s, and then BEAUTIFULLY restored back to historic photographs in the 80s. So much of this looks familiar! My parents’ house still rests on 3 boulders and a large stump, except for a foundation under a master bed/bath addition. We’ve always joked that in an earthquake it will just roll down the hill! I called my dad after our small earthquake a couple weeks ago, and he asked if I was calling to get his new addres! The layout of this house felt wrong in the video, and then reading this it TOTALLY makes sense when you say the fireplace wall was removed! Great rooms were not as much a thing, but a house divided into 4 mostly-equal sections totally was!
I am so excited to follow along with your progress! I can see why you fell in love with this property, and honestly, with space and views like that, I could probably have lived there as-is, too. I know it will be incredible (and have a MUCH higher resale value!) when you’ve put your touch on it! I’m super interested to learn more as you dive in… Especially what’s lurking behind those sealed-up doors!!! Congratulations!!!
Jami says
That is so funny about your parents home, Michelle – we’ve been told by our realtor and one contractor the same thing about homes being build on old stumps. Talk about “use what you have.” π
I actually can’t believe we haven’t pulled off those doors yet – we’ve just had so much else going on. We’re planning on filming it though – hopefully it won’t be anything scary, ha!
PW says
Oh Jami,
Am over-the-moon happy for you & so glad that that you are still in Lane County. The tour is tantalizing & know that you will make it a lovely haven for you & your family. Bless you in your new home!!
Sincerely,
PW
Jami says
So sweet – thank you!
Lynn says
Jami, Love it. I can see the potential and why you fell in love with it. I look forward to seeing your updates!
Jami says
Thank you, Lynn!
Michele says
Looks like quite a project- but a fun one! Will you have to redo the plumbing and electrical and roof? I can imagine the foundation will be costly. I can see through your excitement how lovely it will be when it’s restored…can’t wait for the updates on your creative renovation! Congrats!
Jami says
Thank you Michele! The house is actually really sound except for the foundation issues – it checked out much bette than I thought it would when we had it inspected after offering. Everything’s been updated – plumbing, electrical, heating, and almost all the walls are wallboard. It’s probably one of the reasons there’s not a lot of original things left. The roof has 5 or so years left on it, which we’ll take since we have so much else to do before then. π
There will be lots of blog-worthy updates, that’s for sure!
Beth M Negrey says
When you did the video of the downstairs/master bedroom, the camera angle didn’t show the old light fixture. And since I LOVE old/vintage/repro vintage (which is what I have) light fixtures, you simply MUST do this! LOL
One of the things that is just so cool about this lovely old house is that there’s so much room to bring it back to a well-loved and period home. From one part of the video it looks like you’re fairly close to the main road. Where are the rest of your 3 acres relative to the house(s)? Have you sited your garden(s) yet? I keep thinking of that house you guys saw with the “moat” and how much better this wil be for growing all kinds of good things. Oh, and what kind of tree is that (the tall narrow one) outside (I think) the downstairs bedroom window? Any fruit trees you’re inheriting. I just wish you both so much joy working on this amazing project and I can’t wait to watch it unfold. Love, Beth
Jami says
You are not the only one who has mentioned this about the light fixture, Beth! I thought I was showing it, but it’s hard to tell when you’re shooting live on the phone. π I will take a picture of it and add it to this article.
The acreage is a rectangle, lengthwise to the road. It’s at the corner of a main road and a dead end road and sits back from the road at least 100 ft. or more, so it doesn’t seem like we’re close to it. The house is on one side of the acreage with a small hill with woods on the other part. There might be one fruit tree but it’s actually hard to tell right now. I’ll have to wait to see if any bloom. There is a perfect place for a garden – and it will need to be completely enclosed because there are lots of deer droppings around! Stay tuned for more on that for sure! (and yes – WAY better to garden here!!). xo
Beth M Negrey says
A friend and her husband are similarly blessed with deer…. They tried Liquid Fence, which worked for the deer, but the skunks were crazy over it! π
Jami says
Oh, that’s too funny – I’ve never thought about something that would draw skunks!
Sydra Krueger says
Wow! The work of it all. I come from an old Iowa farm house w/bees in the walls and mice in the ceiling. At least you’re good to go w/o that! You’ll need pro advice about covering the dark paint! We faced that here w/navy blue on all 4 walls & ceiling! 5 coats of paint to bring it to “almost” white! Foundation sounds like a major do, but a great chance to widen your place! Show more outdoor views when you can! Love that so much. How long do you think the re-do will take? God is good! He has another nice place to call home while you work! How Wonderful. Do hope you can work, afford and have a pleasant home when all is done. God Bless. sgk
Jami says
Um, yes – glad to not have bees and mice (well none that we can hear or see that isβ¦) and that the house all checked out as sturdy and updated with the inspector.
That is such good advice on covering the dark paint – we’ll definitely do our research on that. Luckily, there won’t be many of the purple wall left in the main floor bedroom, but we’ll have to deal with all that brown in the other rooms. Sigh. I know it’s a look people like, but I just crave light and bright in our gray dreary days here in Western Oregon. π
Stay tuned for an exterior video as well as one detailing the garden plans we have so far. Dreaming is a fun stage, right?
Charlotte Moore says
I am sure you all will make this into a very pretty home. Anxious to follow along and see all the progress.
I am not one that has patience to do anything if I can’t get it done quick. Haha!
Jami says
If I had the money, I’d hire most of it out and try to get it done quick, too, Charlotte. Without that, we still dream – just a little slower. π
Charlotte Moore says
I completely understand. We built our first house like that but it took years.
I was young then. HAHA!!! No patience to do that now.
Kim says
Wow! It is a charming little farmhouse. I know you will labor to make it into a lovely place. I look forward to the privilege of “joining” you on your journey!
Jami says
Thanks for following along – it will be interesting, that’s for sure!
Kristy says
It’s an already lovely home with lots of potential, congrats!
Jami says
Yes, it has lots of potential and good bones.
Dana Fleming says
I am so excited to watch you turn your Farmhouse Fixer into your home! We are planning on doing exactly what you’re doing–moving from Eugene into the surrounding countryside onto our own little farm, as soon as our youngest finishes school at SEHS. And you have the exact acreage we’d like to have, complete with woods! Congratulations on your find!
Jami says
How fun, Dana – I hope your dream place is waiting for you. π
hjc says
When you mentioned the lack of fireplace in the video, I thought “It was in the middle of the room!” Our 1912 homestead house revealed such a configuration when we pulled up the 1960’s sculptured shag carpeting and the original narrow oak floor sported a square-shaped burn mark in the center of the original room, which is now our living/dining room. We also had no foundation! We’ve lived here almost 30 years now, and we love our old house :-). Looking forward to following your renovation adventures!
Jami says
Oh, this is encouraging – that you had no foundation and the same type of configuration! Did you ever try to replace the fireplace somewhere? I keep wondering what I’m going to do without a mantel to change with the seasons. π
hjc says
Hey Jami – No, we never put in a fireplace. We talked about it over the years, but it never happened. We talked about a lot of things that never happened! π It’s okay though, the house was a great place to grow our family, and now, all these years later, the neighborhood has changed so much I’m glad we didn’t improve too much because our little house will probably be torn down and our lot developed. Interesting how things go sometimes.
Jami says
Oh, that’s kinda sad, though I know things like that happen. π
Roger Haynes says
Dear Jami,
I have had on my computer your recipe for a Homemade Garlic Mint garden insect spray, for years now, but have never tried to make it up. Currently I have about 9 gallons of Garlic juice which I bought to use as a deterrent for insects on my roses and wondered if you could help me modify your recipe for the Garlic Mint insect spray to make 25 gallons which I can then spray on my 10,000 square foot Rose garden. Hopefully I can find enough Mint and Pepper extracts to make up my spray without having to use a food processer. The Garlic juice, in my experience, didn’t work by itself, but I thought if I had the correct calculations for your mix it might be far more effective. Let me know what you think, and thanks for your help. ~ Roger Haynes.
Jami says
I don’t really know all the math you’ll need, but I read that 1 garlic clove = 1/2 teaspoon garlic juice. So just add the amount of juice to equal the recipe size you’re making. I’d still let it sit, but maybe not as long and no need to strain if you’re just using juices and extracts.
Primrose says
Oh Jami, I LOVED watching the video and the room-by-room overview….lots of “interesting” features indeed! You’ve got a lot of exciting work ahead of you π I giggled at your “shock” at having no outlet in the bathroom! In Ireland, building regulations say that we can only have specially designed shaver outlets in bathrooms. It was a shock for me when I first moved to continental Europe and found electrical sockets in the bathrooms…hahahaha!! Anyway, I hope you get your foundations sorted quickly and get all the permits you need to start knocking out walls π Happy Fixing!
Jami says
I remembered you said that when I was making the video, but it really is weird here. π Where did I plug the hair dryer in when we stayed with you? I can’t even remember, ha!
Primrose says
Ah, but you see, Kosova is “continental” Europe, so we do have legal sockets in our bathroom here. Two, actually. One right over the sink (the building inspectors in Ireland would have a fit on the spot!), and one under the wall-mounted water heater for the washing machine. Oh, the things I never thought I would grow used to…washing machines in bathrooms, for instance. The Irish in me rebelled the first time I saw that! Now, it makes complete sense…ah the subtle changes that creep into one’s psyche. I’m even ok with having dessert for breakfast now, especially if you make it! Good memories, Jami π