About The House

Until we bought The Fixer Upper House in the fall of 2006, not much had changed in its 80 years on earth. Its gambrel roof, half-round windows and double-door foyer are like the millions of other Dutch Colonials built in the first half of 20th Century America. Like many of those other Dutch Colonials, ours is possibly a mail-order kit house, which have been tear-down targets for the past 20 years. T.F.U.H. could have been a teardown, too, but we didn't see the point. Even after 80 years of brutal Midwest winters, the house's bones are solid. Its concrete foundation, steel beams, crown moldings and 8-and-a-half-foot plaster ceilings have held up very well.

But only one person could stand in the kitchen at a time, the bedrooms were dark and Pullman-esque, and the hard-wood floors looked like barn animals had been standing on them all these years.

The previous owners had loved the house but were not into decorating. After they moved in in 1961, they added a family room, which by today's standards was as dark and unappealing as toast left on the counter overnight. The orange bricks didn't match the old house, the vinyl floor was coming unglued, and the lighting was so dim you had to squint to find the sofa. Unlike stale toast, which you could use to make bread crumbs for a meatloaf, there was nothing salvagable about the family room.

It wound up in the dumpster.

We were much more mindful of the house's original structure. Our goal has been to modernize in a vintage-way, and to maintain the scale and character of the old house. Our renovation included a 1,300-square-foot addition that includes a first-floor kitchen, family room and mudroom, and a master bed/bath suite on the 2nd floor. We also dug a new basement that has a laundry room, full bath and playroom with a stage. In the old part of the house we expanded the dining room and turned the old kitchen into a butler's pantry/home office. We expanded two of the tiny old bedrooms by adding bay windows; we bumped the kids' bathroom out three feet to add a second vanity and linen closet, and we replaced end-of-hallway closets with a lovely window seat.

It might have been easier to tear the house down and build a new one on the lot...but a new house wouldn't have as many charms...and the process wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

(I will post photos here soon but never seem to have the time)