Starting at square one, original building

How about a little tour?  I'll break it into 3 or 4 parts and explain how the building was configured and used when we bought it and what our plans are for the future.  Let's start with the interior of the main building, this is the 65'x35' original schoolhouse.  The ceilings are 13' tall with popcorn on the ceiling (installed post asbestos era) with 2 large beams that run across the ceiling.  I've been told that the beams are the remainder of the walls that made this a 2 room school house with a long hallway running between them.  I have a love hate relationship with them, I feel the scale is off (they aren't wide enough for as tall as they are) and there are only two of them, but I also like how they break up the space and think we could use them to make a really awesome ceiling statement.  If they can be torn down, (i.e. not structural) they will probably go, we can always add more appropriately sized beams later.  There was wall to wall blue carpet (with hardwood underneath) when we moved in and a variety of wall textures.  I like carpet in my living areas but if the hardwood under the carpet can be restored I may learn to live with area rugs, the walls will all eventurally be skim coated and given a consistently smoother texture.

This is the view from the front door, there are double doors with a transom above them, they open from under the original belltower that creates the covered front porch.  The doors will eventually be replaced but for now a little paint and new hardware will take them a long way.  I'm hoping to arch the transom window in order to match the arch on the exterior of the entry, it is a solid block wall though so I don't know how realistic that dream is.  This area will be our Great room, an open foyer leading into the living room to the left and dining room on the right.  The door straight ahead is the door to the new addition, and yes, that is a breaker box smack dab to the right of the door.  I've been told that this can be dropped into the basement fairly easily, I'm keeping my fingers crossed because this seems to be quite the decorating dilemma currently.  The door will be removed and the doorway will be widened and heightened.  The basement stairwell is directly behind that eyesore breaker box and our plan is to knock down the wall around the stairwell and put up a railing.  I think this will make these 3 spaces feel more like one cohesive space instead of 3 different rooms. This will be our Great room with an open foyer leading into the living room to the left and dining room on the right, in front of the kitchen.

To the right of the entry is the church's pulpit area, it is raised 2 steps from the main floor and will remain raised and become our new kitchen.  Behind the painting "Liveing Water's" is the baptismal, this wall will be removed so we can make use of the two boarded over windows in the baptismal for our kitchen.  I lobbied to keep the baptismal to use as a lap pool or hot tub but was quickly outvoted, especially when we realized those covered up windows could be put to use in the kitchen.

 

On each side of the pulpit is a small room. For the chruch these served as the baptismal entry / exit, hence the stairs.  The one to the right has 3 beautiful windows that face to the East and North, the lighting in there is magical throughout the day.  I have staked my claim to this room, I'm not sure what it will become but I see a "no boys allowed" sign posted on the door, consider it Mama's secret retreat.

The room to the left of the pulpit has one large window and an exterior door to my imaginary patio.  This room will have another door added from the kitchen and become the world's greatest pantry.  Imagine lots of storage, a sink, and counter space for days.  It will be the perfect prep kitchen (aka. the place to hide my cooking disaster when company arrives.)

There is debate whether a room will be added in the open space in front of the pantry to the left of the kitchen.  It is a fairly large wasted area but I'm afraid adding a room there will break up the symmetry of the space.

Looking left from the front door will be the living room, a wall will be built just behind the beam you can see in this pictue.  This wall will frame off 2 bedrooms, the master to the left (front of the building) and one kid room (to the right).

The area behind the pews is a long narrow (7' wide) area that is broken into 4 areas.  In the back corner  is open to the room and there is a coat hanging area with an exterior door, then a doorway into what I'm assuming was the cry room for the babies at church, then a doorway into a small bathroom with a toilet and sink that lead into an office that has a door into the sanctuary.  This entire area will become the master bath and closets.  The office will become my walk in closet, the bathroom and cry room will be reconfigured into a master bathroom and the back door / coat closet will become Dusty's closet and a door to a courtyard garden off of our bathroom. 

 

 

This is the view from the door to the addition, looking back towards the future living room.  The doorway on the back wall is into the office space that will become my closet, the 2 windows farthest right will be the Master Bedroom windows.

Whoa, putting that in words was tricky, if I've been unclear please let me know and I will try to explain it better.  I'll be back soon with pictures and plans for the exterior of the house, addition and the basement.

By the numbers

1905 - the year the original building was built as a two room school house.  It is all cinder block construction with 8" thick exterior block walls.

1968 - the year it was sold by the county and turned into a church

2001 - the year an addition was added in the back of the original building.  There is a full kitchen and a men's and women's restroom.

5,000 - the approximate square footage.  2,300 in the original building, 1,050 square feet in the upstairs addition and a 1,600 square feet basement under original building.  This is more square footage than we will ever need, however we hope the home will become a gathering place for both of our extended families over holidays and get-togethers.

18 - number of windows in original building. They are 7' tall x 3' wide and are either original or have been replaced with single pane glass or frosted plexiglass or just boarded over.  The glass on all of the windows on the west side of the house has been painted.  Most of the original (and lovely) window trim is intact.

0 - number of bedrooms when we bought it.  We will eventually make it 5 - 6 bedrooms.

3 - number of bathrooms when we bought it.  The term "bathroom" is used loosely, as in 4 toilets in 3 rooms, no showers or bathtubs.

2.5 - number of acres of land.

4 - number of outbuildings (shop, pump house, irrigation pump house, modular building)  The modular building is 900 square feet and has a kitchenette, bathroom and one bedroom, we've tried to think of a use for it but think we will try to sell it.

11 - number of 18' church pews (plus 2, 7' long pews) we inherited with the building, along with numerous hymnals, bibles, and other assorted vintage furniture

Infinity - number of goat-head weed-seeds on the property.  They are an ongoing battle and hurt like hell when stepped on.

2 - number of sides that border corn fields. (3, if you count the one directly across the highway from us).  I am slightly obsessed with the way the rows line up perfectly.

 

 1- Baptismal tub

 

1 - Piece of original art, titled "Liveing Water's" it is 8' wide x 4' tall.  One of the former Pastors visited and knew the man who painted it, I gave it to them as a sentimental piece.

 

5-10 years - how long we plan on the renovation taking, we are paying cash as we go and working on weekends and evenings.  Plus, I have lofty ambitions! We hope to have the main room pretty well completed within the next 18 months - 2 years.  The big picture includes the exterior, landscaping, basement renovation, garage addition etc.

Forever - how long we plan on living here

How it came to be

As a little girl I remember my Mama driving me into Nampa during summer mornings to attend Bible School with my second cousin, Alyssia.  I remember the dew on the grass and the intoxicating smell of mint fields on the drive from Boise to Nampa.  To this day the smell of a mint field reminds me of those dewy summer mornings.

Fast forward to this year, at the beginning of each year my Husband and I like to lay out what we hope to accomplish in the coming months, these mainly include how we hope to see our business grow and personal goals for our family.  Always at the top of that list is "buy land", past years have come to an end and we would find ourselves still in our suburban subdivision with an HOA that wouldn't stop bugging us and storage facilities spread across town housing our business' equipment.  Something felt different this January though and I told Dusty more than once that it is going to be a good year.

One day in May, I had dropped Radlee, our 5 year old, off at preschool and headed to Costco for a few things.  The way to Costco was the same rural route I've traveled most of my life, past mint, potato, and corn fields.  On this particular day I noticed a for sale sign, as I often do.  The sign was posted in front of a building that has always intrigued me but I kept driving figuring that the same set of excuses would fall into place "too much money" "not enough property" "too much work" etc. etc. etc.  I gathered my things at Costco and headed back to get Radlee from pre-school, I was ahead of schedule and the building filled my thoughts so I pulled into the loooong driveway.  I took note of the agent's name and phone number as well as the address.  The building was rough and neglected but there was something magical about it.  I arrived at pre-school, still ahead of schedule, and put my phone to work googling the address.  It had been a church (I knew that) but before that, a school house, built in 1905, on 2.5 acres and better yet, it was affordable.  At this realization my mind began to race, and the possibilities consumed me.

My day of errands led me to the job Dusty was working on where I casually mentioned that "you know that old church, out on the highway?  It's for sale, and in our price range"  He raised his eyebrows at me and shrugged, I know the same set of "excuses" played through in his head.  That night I pulled up the virtual tour and showed him.  He wasn't immediately sold, and I'm sure his thoughts quickly moved onto something else.  I couldn't let it go.  The next day I called a lender who confirmed it was a commercial building that would require commercial financing and that was the end of her ability to help.  I let it simmer for a day or two and then, on an impulse, called the agent.  He explained some other financing / zoning options and offered to show us the property that weekend.  I set an appointment.  At this point Dusty was only slightly more convinced.  Having not been in the position to buy land for quite a while and having been told "no" several times made him more than a little remiss.

We took the boys and met the agent, who turned out to be someone Dusty knew.  He let us into the building and I was taken back by the overall condition of the interior, the years of neglect that dominated the outside were not present inside.  Sure it was old and vacant and dusty and dirty but overall, it was in good condition.  I explored all of the rooms, the kids made themselves at home and Dusty chatted with the agent.  If I wasn't smitten before I was then, I came home and started to sketch floor plans and make notes of possibilities.  Dusty began to share in my excitement but continued to tell me "don't get your hopes up".  Too late.

We figured out financing, made an offer, and waited.  We had an official grown-up only vacation planned the first weekend of June that we considered canceling "if we got the house".  By the time we were supposed to hear back we hadn't heard anything, the agent explained that this wasn't the usual seller and that it had to go through a local pastor, to his bishop and on to the board of directors for the church.  We expected a delay in response but had no idea what we were in for.  We went on our vacation sure that we would have news by the time we got back.  Nothing.  We waited more.  On our 8th wedding anniversary, June 25, (3 days after the proposed closing date on our original offer) I emailed the agent and asked for a last minute anniversary present of good news, he had nothing.  The following week we received a counter-offer to our original offer that had been submitted over a month earlier, we agreed with a few minor changes and prepared to wait.  The bishop left town. for two weeks.  We waited.  We ran a gamut of emotions during this time, excitement, anticipation, frustration, and at times even anger.  We felt our hands were tied, while we could have walked away at anytime because of the ridiculous amount of time it was taking we didn't want to, we wanted this property.  We had plans drawn and visions just waiting to be executed, we just needed them to say "yes".

One Wednesday in July the boys and I were at a park for play date, the agent called but I let it go to voicemail.  When we left the park I listened... "Annie, patience must be a virtue - they said yes!"  He had called back two minutes later "I can't even believe it,  I just had to call again".  He was as excited as we were.  I called Dusty immediately and we quickly celebrated on the phone.  I spent the rest of the afternoon working out details of the closing and beginning to think about actually moving.

Over the next 2 weeks we continued to hold our breath it wasn't ours until we walked out of closing, I tentatively packed boxes and purged closets, we would drive to the property but not get out of the car.  Closing Friday came, I was like a kid on Christmas eve - so excited that I couldn't sleep.  We dropped the kids off with Grandma and went to the meeting, everything was signed and paid we headed to breakfast while the title company waited to get the sellers document's back from out of state, the final puzzle piece to receiving the keys.  When I went back to check in after breakfast I was told that the Warranty Deed was never sent so it wasn't signed by the sellers and we wouldn't record that day.  I was so upset, as was Dusty, it was a total let down.  We had big work plans for that weekend, but we had already waited almost 10 weeks so 2 more days wouldn't kill us.  Monday came and we received word it was officially recorded and ours at noon, by 12:30 I was there scrubbing the inside and Dusty was outside with a tractor scraping weeds and clearing brush. The agent showed up at 1 and joked that we had wasted no time.  I'm sure he realized, as we did, that it was just the beginning of the work we will do.

A dream realized

This Summer my husband, Dusty, and I took a huge step forward.  We became the proud (and super excited) owners of this beauty, (more on that in a minute.)

Dusty and I own a construction company.  He has been a craftsman his entire life and over the past year I have taken a bigger role in the "business" side of our business, by sharing the load of our company our relationship and our business have become even stronger.  Dusty is SO talented and I am notorious for coming up with, as he calls them, "hair brained ideas", he is the only person that can not only see my vision (imagine arms flailing and a lot of "I want it kind of like this, with not so much of that") but also make it come to fruition. 

Case in point:  2 years ago I was casually trolling craigslist for a vintage airstream, only dreaming because buying one was NOT in the cards at that moment, when I found this:

It was listed for $350 and I was instantly smitten, when I called, the owner explained to me that the pictures were old and they had already started work to "rebuild" it but just didn't have the time to devote to the project.  I made an appointment that night to go see it.  We schlepped our 3 boys 50 miles to go take a look, when we got there, it was rough, really rough.  Like didn't have a front or back or anything inside rough, basically she was asking $350 for a large pile of toothpicks and some sheet metal on wheels.  Dusty was unimpressed, even more so when it became apparent that she was unwilling to budge on the price (Dusty is not only the best carpenter I know but also the best bargainer).  We left that night empty handed, and I was disappointed but since I was not the one that would be doing manual labor to rebuild it I understood. kind of.

We came home and I browsed pinterest, my heart rate escalated every time I thought of the possibilities that pile of sticks held.  I badgered Dusty some more until he finally relented, "if she will throw in the clean water tank, we can go get it tonight".  He made me make the call, I don't bargain well, so it probably came off more as begging when I called her, "please, we want it so badly, could you maybe include that water tank too.  pretty, pretty please?"  She agreed and I had the kids loaded into the car before she (or Dusty) could change their minds.

Another 50 miles to get the thing, we took 2 cars this time.  Dusty's "work truck" (also known as , the Clampett's do construction, he seriously has EVERYTHING on this truck) and my kid hauler just in case we encountered problems roadside.  Dusty was sure to throw some extra straps, emergency lights and other assorted tools into his already loaded truck.  When we arrived there was a lot of gathering, this sweet lady had pieces and parts of this trailer all over her shop, a cushion there, a window here, oh this, just a box of assorted nails and screws that had been removed.  We started our journey home, praying the tires would hold and the straps wouldn't come loose, to say I was giddy was an understatement.

She (the trailer is obviously a girl) made it home and was hardly in the driveway before I started in.  Knowing little to nothing about the construction process Dusty made me back off, he laid out the plan and methodically began.  Did I mention that there was an annual camping trip 2 weekends from when we picked the trailer up that I wanted to be her debut, we work best under pressure.

We started with demolition, most of the old wood paneling inside and all of the wood framing on the front and back had to be torn out and tossed, years of rot and who knows what else were more than could be repaired.  Dusty replaced the original couch in the back with an almost full sized bed, framed in the back wall and replaced the paneling,  In the front he re-framed and paneled the front wall, and added a bunk bed above the table.  We worked until midnight or later most nights, (I'm sure our neighbors hated us).  While Dusty was at work during the day I would source and pick up parts, sand, clean, paint anything that made it easier for him to jump in and pick up work that night.  I even put the kids to work with power tools, never too young, and obviously their FAVORITE part!

Eventually everything inside was assembled, sanded, clean and ready for interior paint, I totally failed at my job at this point.  I forgot to go to the paint store before they closed for the weekend to buy our favorite oil based paint and just picked up some semi-gloss latex paint at Home Depot instead.  What felt like 17 coats of sprayed primer and paint later we still had bleed through on some of the areas where we had left the existing paneling and 2 days later the paint was still tacky.  We were out of time though and had to make it work, it was so disappointing to have worked so hard and have something as apparent as the paint go so terribly wrong.  However, the difference was astounding and to most it looked fine, but we knew what the difference could have been if we'd used the right product.

I took the kids and left town the second weekend we had the trailer, at this point the exterior had been completely rebuilt, including a new tongue and jack and platform for the boys' dirt bikes and was ready for exterior paint.  We are so lucky to have a friend with a paint booth so Dusty hauled it there while I was gone and shot it with automotive grade paint, I was so excited to come home to this:

We had originally planned to mask polka dots and paint over them, however I couldn't find a product that would have been easy to cut as precisely as they needed to be and place easily for masking, I suggested we put vinyl on after paint and it was a great decision.  I used a t-square, tape measure and vis-a-vis marker to mark a grid for spacing then placed an entire row at a time, once I got the rhythm down it was mostly done in an afternoon.  The vis-a-vis marks wiped off easily with a baby wipe when I was finished.

In the two nights leading up to our trip I worked to install the curtains and cushions that I had been sewing like a mad woman and made the bed with the new bedding I picked out while Dusty finished installing the hardwood and tiling the counter.  We accessorized and primped, loaded and we were gone on our first trip.  There was even caulking done in the grocery store parking lot while I was inside buying food for the weekend.

It was so much fun taking the boys camping in Dottie, they were as excited as we were, as they should have been.  They were by our side wielding sanders and paintbrushes right along with us.  Radlee, our middle son, took a nasty tumble out of the front the first weekend we had her and cut his earlobe badly on the hitch, he has a gnarly scar to remind him of the work we did.

Last spring we decided to repaint the interior, we were just not happy with how it looked or was holding up.  I decided to do a different color on the walls and the ceiling.  We used a high gloss oil based paint and brushed everything.  The ceiling and trim is white and the walls and cabinet fronts are a watery blue, it was the best decision we made.  It now wipes clean easily and has such a polished look.  We also replaced the knobs on all of the cabinets and re worked some of our storage.  It is now as close to perfect as it can get, unfortunately it still doesn't have a bathroom.

This year we continued to accessorize and put more of our mark on Dottie.  Unfortunately we were preoccupied with a certain turn-of-the-century schoolhouse to actually use her more than once...