Tuesday, June 5, 2012

A New Project...My Old House

I know I fell off the face of the planet the last month and this is what is to blame...
This is a 1941 Cape Cod that my husband and I just purchased on May 11th near Oakhurst village in Atlanta. It's literally a retreat in the city.

We adore the place and all it eccentricities. It has all the hallmarks of a crazy old house. Three types of wiring. Check. Cast iron sewer pipes. Check. Creepy unfinished basement with breakneck stairs. Check. Yard that resembles a jungle, piano strip oak flooring hidden under carpet glue, teeny galley kitchen, and lots of lead paint. Check, check, check, and double check.

What it lacks in modernization it makes up for in structure, yard size, and location. The main floor is about 1300 square feet with 2 bedrooms and 1 and 1/2 baths. And it has a screened in sun porch! There is a finished attic with a low ceiling that we may turn into a full second story down the road. The attic has an additional room and full bath for a grand total of 3 beds, 2 1/2 baths. The house is also located on an old established street in Atlanta on almost a half acre.
And oh the yard! As an apartment dweller for most of my adult life, I can't get enough of the yard. We've already grilled twice in the few days we've been moved in. My dogs couldn't believe the space was all theirs! The lot has mature oaks over 70 feet tall, two mulberry trees, and the most fertile soil I have ever seen. Jeremy already has plans for a chicken coop and I'm deciding what type of composting system I want to use for the huge garden I have planned.
And the neighborhood! We're 2 miles from my husband's new office, .7 miles from the bars in Oakhurst village, 1 mile from Oakhurst Dog Park, and there are 2 coffee shops within a mile of us. We're also 1.7 miles from the nearest Marta train stop so out of town visitors can simply continue by train from the airport and get much closer to the house.

Anyhow, I plan on having My Old House as a regular feature on here. You can expect lots of before and after shots. Jeremy and I will be doing most of the renovations ourselves with the help of my super handy dad. I'll also give the nitty gritty on where we went to find supplies and the process so if you happen to have your own old house or live in the Atlanta area, you can take advantage of some of our sources.

8 comments:

  1. Enjoy the pictures of house, trees & big yard. I can't wait till I see the house. Marv & I will be making a trip this year to Atlanta.

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  2. Initial thought. "Holy shit, them be a lot of pine cones". Nicer thoughts, "wow, I am just so proud of you! This house looks fabulous and I already love the front windows. I can't wait to visit you!"

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    1. Hahah! I could go into business selling pine straw. It's almost a foot deep in some parts of the yard. All the decomposing tree material has really enriched the soil though. I raked the drive off and there was a little dirt around the edges where I had raked that had 1/2 inch sprouts the next day. I will have the best garden ever!!!

      I'm going to highly recommend that all visitors wait a couple months until we have the ground floor rewired and the baseboards all up. We're also replacing the drywall in the bedrooms and we took down all our doors (they'll be replaced at the same time as the drywall). So it's a bit like camping indoors at my house right now.

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    2. Oh yeah and I have hella awesome planters planned to go under those windows...

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  3. Hi Katelyn! Just clicked through to your blog from your post on Next Door. We are just down the street from you at 155 (2 story yellow house). We've been noticing changes going on at your house and wondering what was up. My husband especially loves house stuff and has done a lot of renovation work to ours. Welcome to the neighborhood!!! Carol, Frank, Sarah (3y) and Ellie (5 months) DeSantis

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    1. Thanks for the warm welcome! We haven't met too many of the neighbors since we've been so preoccupied with the house. I think the employees of Lowes and Home Depot have seen more of us than anyone else in the past few weeks! We figure we've got about 2 years worth of renovations to get the main floor up to where it should be. My husband Jeremy just started rewiring the ground floor, so I'll probably have him do a guest post on all things electrical in the near future.

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  4. Buying the 1941 Cape Cod is a great idea. It certainly is beautiful, and even more so with its beautiful surroundings! :) It's good that the house isn't that far from your husband's new office, Katelyn. Being tardy -- is a little impossible. And you don’t even have to wake up that early! :)

    Elinor Haswell

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  5. What a great place you have here, Katelyn! The location is perfect too! Almost accessible to the places you'll head most of the time. Your backyard is huge. Who wouldn't enjoy grilling in this huge yard? I suggest, you take advantage of the big space. Do you love gardening? Colorful flowers will surely make the front yard brighter, together with the green surroundings. It's nearly a year since you have posted this. There must be a lot of changes. We'd love to see the new look of your house. Keep the blog updated.

    Calvin Mordarski

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