Buying an old farmhouse… I have a dream part one

In 2010, my 18 year marriage came to an end. I became a single mom of two kids, then ages 12 and 7. We moved from a nice country acreage in a resort village into the city and into a low-income townhouse. After about 1 day in that townhouse, I knew that it was not my final stop. I didn’t know I was going to buy an old farmhouse or start a farm. This was simply a place to stop, catch my breath and get my legs under me. I had a dream. I knew that I wanted to get back out into the country, I just didn’t know exactly how or when. The first thing I needed was a good paying job so that I could afford something more. I worked hard for a couple years establishing myself in my chosen career of insurance.

In 2012, once I was sure I could financially begin to move on, I began searching for acreages within 45 mins of the city. I preferred to be closer but anything within 15 – 20 minutes was double what my budget could afford. Naively perhaps, I continued my quest. I spent half my weekends driving the grid roads in the area. I was convinced that my dream home was not going to be found on a realtors page but rather by driving past an old farmers “for sale” sign posted outside his driveway.

One day, I drove down a road and I saw a for sale sign on some forested land. 10 acres for sale. No house. Just some raw land. This was a great location being less than 20 mins out of the city and I knew I wanted at least 10 acres. I started formulating an idea. First I thought about building but the costs made me shiver.  Then I thought, what if I bought an old house and moved it?

I started looking on market place sites and found a house only two hours away. It was only $9,000. I made arrangements to meet with the owners that weekend. This is what I saw.

I fell in love immediately. It was built in 1916 and had a standard four square layout with four bedrooms on the second level and a staircase to the unfinished attic.

Of course, there were a few things I knew I was going to change. For example, there was one tiny little bathroom in which the plumbing was an after thought with drain pipes exposed. The wiring was not to code and there was a large addition on one side that I decided I wasn’t going to move.

Here’s a couple more images of the house as it stood when I first saw it.

Every evening, I spent hours researching. I called building movers, electricians, plumbers, contractors for the basement, the utility companies … asking for quotes and checking for availability. I looked at the costs for utilities and decided that if I was going to spend $60,000 to bring power and heat in, I may as well make the house completely independent and go off-grid. So then I started working with a solar power specialist. I ran into issues with the mortgage once I told them my plans. I had to start another search for a new financial institute who would do a construction type mortgage for an off-grid house. It took some effort but I found a local credit union that decided to take a chance on my dream.

So finally! Everything was in place and I was seeing the vision clearer and clearer. First – clear part of the property and build a basement.  This is where things came to a screeching halt. Boy do I wish I could go back with the information I have now. What was supposed to be less than a 1 month project turned into a 6 month project and then another 14 month project.

Let me explain. The contractors I hired to build the basement built it incorrectly, THREE times. The plan was to start in October, the house was to be moved in November and the heat and solar power were to be hooked up in November and December. The kids and I were to move in and finish the rest of the house as time/money permitted. At this time, there was a housing boom and finding contractors was difficult, many were booked up until the winter. I figured I would be able to get much of the finishing work done over the winter months. But rather, by the time the third build of the basement was complete, it was February, and I had to wait until the movers were available again.

Then as the truck with the house was backing up to the basement, we discovered the basement was built the wrong size (among other costly errors). A battle ensued between myself and the contractors. The battled continued to the courthouse. (another story for another time)

I needed to find an engineer to fix the basement issues so the house could land. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. There were no more funds available from my mortgage until the house was on the foundation. Yet I needed funds for correcting the errors. The original contractors had been paid in full and were not taking responsibility. I had to find another contractor when most were booked for the upcoming building season. And just to top it off, I had to be out of the place I was living at by the end of March and we were going to be homeless. I couldn’t afford to pay rent and a mortgage. No pressure!

Finally I found another contractor to come in and fix all the mistakes who was willing to wait for payment. He was able to squeeze us in between builds and the house landed in August 2013. But I wasn’t out of the woods yet. I was way over budget. I just needed to make this place livable. Meaning, we needed basics like heat, power and water. Nothing else mattered. I hired a couple guys to get the basics done that fall/winter. Both guys worked other jobs so it was slow-going, usually progress only happening on weekends. The budget was very small and solar power budget was gone. I had to come up with a new plan. I decided once the basics were done, we were moving in and I would learn how to DIY the rest.

We moved into the old farmhouse on June 7, 2014. We had been living with friends for 14 months and just needed to be in our own space. It wasn’t pretty. You see the exterior of the house above. The steps went straight to the door, not even a porch! We only had heat in the concrete in the basement floor. I ran space heaters on the first and second levels. My power bills were astronomical.

Photos of the work being done to the old farmhouse after the move; including tearing out the wall between the kitchen and dining room, moving a wall between two of the upstairs bedrooms and stealing space from one of the bedrooms to extend the bathroom.

It turns out the floor was in pretty rough shape under the counter. The cupboards were torn out to fix the flooring. I hoped to reuse the cabinets but they were left outside unprotected and subsequently ruined. I didn’t have a kitchen. Instead, I used garage shelving, a utility sink and an old kitchen table for a work surface.

The old farmhouse was far from perfect but I didn’t care. We moved in and got to work renovating the house evenings and weekends. Many times I questioned my sanity. I thought that maybe I should just light a match to the whole thing. But I had come too far, fought too hard and spent too much money to give up. Nope, I was going to continue making this house into a home and making this dream a reality.

Stay tuned for the next chapter…