Restoration of Ash-Leigh Acres

new blog

2009-04-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

I have a new blog on typepad. Our Life On The Hill

Our roof progress

2007-09-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some roof progress pictures. As you can see it's a dirty job! We are saving so much money by doing it ourselves though.

Finally, this is what one of the finished sections looks like from the ground. It's so much better than that hideous green, don't you think?

Wow, I've neglected this blog

2007-09-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been over a year since I've blogged. I have so many things to share. I guess I'll just jump right back in.

We have alot going on with the house. We are in the process of doing the roof. It was a total tear off, and the original cedar shakes were still there with 3 layers of shingles over them. I could hear the house breath a sigh of relief when the roof came off.

We also have more of the exterior done.

The barn

2006-04-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of the barn that Jerry took down. I'm just glad that Jerry was able to do it, so we could salvage the wood to use on our barns. I hate that the owners wanted it gone, it was such a beautiful barn.

Wow, it's been a long break!

2006-03-03T12:40:00.000-08:00

I kind of took a break since we weren't working on any HUGE projects. Let's see, we did get our outdoor furnace in and it's working great! It's so nice not having a gas bill! lol

We have done a few small decorative projects, like my daughter's bedroom, family room and the toyroom.

We are in the process of working on one of the small buildings. It was a milk house and we are going to use it as a chicken coop. It's going to be really cute. Of course, the previous owners also let this building go, so we are having to replace some of the wood. I will be sure to share pictures of it. We will paint it to match the house, and I have an adorable chicken weathervane that I'm going to put on the cupola.

Jerry is in the process of tearing down an old barn. It always makes me so incredibly sad when a barn is torn down, especially when the barn still has good bones and pretty good skin! It's a barn that I have loved since I was a child. I remember the farmhouse with this barn burning when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, in the early 80's. We could see the fire from our house. The barn has stood on this pretty homestead property all these years, admired by many. It is owned by a family that has formed a corporation. They want it torn down so they don't have to pay the taxes on it anymore! :( They farm a ton of land. The only silver lining is the fact that my husband is the one that gets to take it down and salvage the wood. We plan on using the wood to reside our barn, because our poor barn's exterior is in SAD shape! So, this wood will get a 2nd life. We also plan on using the wood for our porches. I will share pictures of this barn soon. This corporation also has another barn, possibly 2 more that they want taken down, so Jerry is really anxious to get those jobs as well. There is a house with one of the barns, and it's just gorgeous. It's been let go for many years, but it's awesome! The family that rents it now, farms for them, and is in the process of building a new house. My fear is that they will destroy the house too! :( I'll be sure to keep you updated!

It feels good to be back!

Goodbye ugly cement porch!

2005-10-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we tore out the ugly cement porch that was added after the orginal porch was taken down. I hated this porch from the moment we looked at the house. It was pretty old, I'd guess the 1950's, but I'm not positive who added it. We have an aerial picture of the house from 1964 and it was in the picture. I have pictures of the house from the 1930's and the original porch was still there and looked great.

This little porch took much more time than we anticipated. It was about 4 tons of concrete, and my poor husband had to shovel in onto a trailer and then off again. It does look better though. We did fine a wood decking under the porch, and we think it was from the original porch. Of course, it was rotten. The concrete also rotted away the sill plate where it was connected to the house. I never knew that concrete would do that, but Jerry explained it to me. How sad! We have to fix that now, but the bright side is the porch was small and only in a small area.

Our 6 year old son helped with the demolition and had such a good time. He told us that it was so much fun, he wishes he could do that every day and night! lol Of course, our 19 month old son also wanted to help, and had the biggest fit when I wouldn't let him stand near when the concrete was flying! lol Our 3 1/2 year old daughter was great at helping to pick up pieces of the concrete. What a chore! I'm just thrilled that it's gone!

The finished section!

2005-10-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

This isn't the greatest picture, but it will have to do for now. We finished the touching up last night and moved the scaffolding away! I LOVE it! It's such a change! I can't wait until the entire house is done!

We used Benjamin Moore paints and the colors are Kennebunkport Green, Windham Cream, and New London Burgandy.

We have primer!

2005-10-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

Jerry primed the house on Sunday. We have the body paint and trim paint and will be working on it this week and weekend. The primer ran out before he could do the window trim.

We have the house and trim colors picked!

2005-09-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

We found the exact shades of the green and cream we wanted! The green we are going with is called Kennebunkport Green, and the ivory trim is called Windham Cream. They are from Benjamin Moore, and we bought the samples and I did a test area. I'm so relieved to finally have those two colors decided. We just have to find the exact shade for the accent color.

Beyond the halfway point!

2005-09-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well, after a very busy few weeks and a vacation, Jerry was able to work on the house some this past weekend and he will every night this week. We HAVE to get it primed and painted before the weather gets too cold.

He is now below the tops of the 1st floor windows. He replaced the metal roofs on the tops of the window trim. That took some time, and he is just going down clapboard, by clapboard renailing and replacing with new redwood if it's needed. He was able to salvage some of the cracked clapboards, by using the non cracked ends to fit somewhere else.

I will be posting some photos soon, and I also need to write out the history of the house and all the work we did a few years ago when we gutted 1/3 of the house. I just haven't had the time yet. lol

Placed our order

2005-08-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

We just placed our order for an outdoor wood burning furnace! I'm so excited! I sure won't miss the gas bills this winter! This is the company we went with. They were super to deal with!
http://freeheatmachine.com/ I'll let you know how it works.

You want to do what?

2005-08-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

That is the response we get when people find out we want to take the 5 replacement windows out and put the originals back in! It never fails, everyone responds with those words.

We thought that was the thing to do, replace the windows. After doing 5, because we could only do a few at a time, I just felt bad about it. They just don't look right with the house. I feel really bad about it. Luckily, we saved the original sashes, so we can put them back in. You can see from my pictures of the exterior in my below post, that the new windows just don't look right. Do I love how they open with ease, don't need a stick to hold them up, and tilt in for cleaning?? You bet, but it's not worth it to me to lose the soul of the house.

I'm on houseblogs!!

2005-08-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! I love reading everyone's blogs and I'm happy to be a part of it! I was so excited to have my first comment also. Thanks Becky, I really enjoy reading your blog and I'm glad you found mine!

Colors

2005-08-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

We have decided we want the exterior to be a green with ivory trim and plum accents. We just have to go the paint stores to get samples of each to pick the exact color we want. We need to this on a date night, because it's going to take some time looking, and with 3 kids running around, that just won't work! lol I played around with the Benjamin Moore program that I downloaded, and I love the colors I played with, but seeing them in person will be so different.

I'm beginning the journey..

2005-08-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

I have contacted the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency about getting our house listed on the National Register of Historic Places. I sent pictures and the history of the house to Anthony Rubano of the IHPA via e-mail. He said it sounded like it could be a good candidate, but I had to go through this application system. So, I just printed off everything we need to do, and we will start working on it. I will be working with a woman, Amy Easton, that is in charge of this. We will see how it goes. Cross your fingers for us!

1/2 done with this section!!

2005-08-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Jerry did some more stripping and sanding this weekend. He is now to the 1/2 way done point on this section of the exterior. We need to go to Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore paint stores to see what they recommend using. We are working with John Leeke http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw/index.htm as we restore the exterior. He's been wonderful! I still need to send a wood sample to him. I need to get that done! I've been procrastinating with everything else that has been going on. It's so hard to restore a house with young children. It would have been nice to have had this house before we started our family. It will get done, just a little slower! lol

Damn gas prices!

2005-08-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how much gasoline costs right now! It's crazy! In my area right now, it's $2.76 a gallon! We've also heard that natural gas prices, which are already too high, are going to go up quite a bit this winter. That just moved up our decision to buy an outdoor wood burning furnace. It's a big purchase, and Jerry has wanted one, but I've been on the fence about it. We decided it's the right time to get one now. I hope this is the right decision, but with a big, drafty farmhouse on a hill, our natural gas bill is REALLY high in the winter. Does anyone have any experience with an outdoor woodburning furnace?

Bittersweet

2005-08-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

Jerry just got the okay to tear down an old barn. I hate it when people tear down nice old barns that have good bones! The family that farms the land that the barn sits on want it torn down, and Jerry stumbled across that information by accident and asked if he could do it for the wood. It's all cedar and a really neat barn. I always admired it as a child, and I remember when the old farmhouse that went with the barn burnt. I was about 7 and we could see the fire from my house. The good news about us getting this wood, is that we will be using it for our porch! I'm so excited and can't wait to have our porch started! The added bonus is there is still one lightning rod with a glass ball on the roof of this barn! We are so stoked about that! We are trying to acquire a bunch of those for our home and barns.

The latest house progress picture!

2005-08-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest picture of the exterior restoration. It's really coming along nicely. I can't wait to see it painted in the colors we choose! Jerry is doing an awesome job!

Good thing the house is still clean!

2005-08-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

I've been a cleaning freak for the past month! I can't leave the house or go to bed with ANYTHING out of place. The laundry is done and put away right away. It's been wonderful. I hope this continues. You know how nobody stops over though when your house is clean, but someone ALWAYS comes over when it's a filthy mess? We haven't had anyone stop since it's been so immaculate. Just 30 minutes ago, I was on the phone talking to my friend Amy, when a car drove up the driveway. It was an old couple and I walked outside. They were admiring the house and asking what we were doing to it. I took them on a tour of the exterior, which they loved. I also gave them the history of the house. They really enjoyed that! I'm so glad, because I LOVE talking about our home! I also took them inside to see the 1st floor. Sawyer was taking a nap, so they didn't get to see the 2nd floor. They loved it and loved the antiques we have filled our home with. They told me not to get discouraged and how beautiful it will be. It's so nice to have people stop and admire the house. :) Thanks Larry and Norma!

Here I go...

2005-08-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

This is my first time blogging ever! I'm not a writer by any means, so bear with me. I am just looking forward to having a place to record our busy life.

I'm Stephanie, a 30 year old SAHM to our 3 kids. I've been married for almost 10 years to my high school sweetie! Our lives are very busy with 3 active kids and every spare moment restoring our 1874 farmhouse. It's a ton of work, but SO worth it! I can't wait to see this diamond in the rough in all her glory again!

Here are the kids playing in the sprinkler last week on a hot summer day! These are the moments I wish I could freeze in time!

Here are pictures of our home. We have done work in the inside and just started the restoration of the exterior. We found out the exterior is all redwood! We are taking it to bare wood and it's gorgeous wood!