Porch Makeover - Before and After

Now we are moved in and sort of unpacked. I wanted to dig in and start work on the house. I figured the best place to start was where everyone comes in the house: the porch.  I love the porch.  It is small, lots of windows and great character.   The only drawback of the porch is having the freezer in there.  It was the only place we could put it.

The transformation isn't big.  I calked quite a bit and washed everthing down. Some of the windows are broken and will be replaced. I am not showing a picture of the screen door because that has not been replaced yet.  The walls were given a new coat of white paint and the floor was painted Prussian blue.  It made a big difference. 

Before

After

Style Mystery Solved

This is our beautiful home! This picture was taken back in March.  The land looks stark but this is a really good picture of the house.  

The house was built in 1911, but the style is not typical of those homes built at this time.  This is the era of kit homes, craftsmen style bungalows and foursquare farm homes.  We were not sure why this style of house was built at this time.  Upon researching home styles, I believe it to be Late Victorian Italianate.



Late Victorian Italianate  (from oldhouseweb.com)
Italianate was one of the most popular Victorian-era housing styles from the mid- to late-1800s. Homes in this style ranged from modest two-story town houses to ornate mansions of sea captains and other wealthy entrepreneurs. Inspired by villas of Italy -- or at least pictures of them, since few American architects traveled abroad -- the style is defined most by the use of single or paired decorative brackets under wide cornices.

The homes were typically two to three stories in height, with flat or hip roofs, bay windows with inset wooden panels, corner boards and two over two double-hung windows. The windows often had curved or molded window caps.

Style Details: 

Pictures Italianate Style

Here is why I believe this is the correct style: Before Jeff and Deanna put a new roof on the house, the roof was flat.  There is a wide cornice with brackets. We have a small wood porch on the front of the home.  The living room has a bay window.  Above and below all most main floor windows, there are inset wood panels.  

I also researched home colors of this time:

Part of the house has not been resided with permanent siding and the color is slate gray.  Luckily, Jeff and Deanna kept it that color when the chose the permanent siding.  I am not sure if the house has always been this color as the older pictures I have see of the house are in black and white.  What ever it may have been, the current color is historically correct which I am happy to know.  Our goal is to restore the home and be as historically accurate as possible. 

This is the view from my office.  The field is a hayfield, it is part of our property.  The building is too.  Here in northern Iowa, it is flat, thanks to glaciation about 7000 years ago.  It is so lush and green. Best of all, it is very quiet here.

Moving mistakes

We bought the farm and moved in July 7th. I have been too busy to blog.  Not the plan, but it is what happens.

The last time we moved was 14 years ago.  How can 2 people acquire so much stuff.  I am A type personality and plan ahead for everything.  I was so unprepared for this move!  I rented a 26 ft. uhaul trailer. It sight sait it could fit a 4 bedroom household in it.  OK, it is just me and my husband with 5 dogs.  No problem. The movers come and start loading.  The house isn't empty and the uhaul is almost full.  Rent another 20 ft. uhaul.  Fill it up.  Oh, but we still have more stuff in the giant shed and crap in storage.  We leave town with things at the neighbors and in storage.

The following week we take yet another 20ft. uhaul 2 hours back to the town we moved from and get the rest of our stuff.  How can 2 people acquire so much stuff?  We cleaned out and had a garage sale before we moved.  Uhhh!

Now our home looks like an episode of hoarders.  There are 4 bedrooms in this house.  1 is so full you can barely walk, one is my office for my online store and that is full of store stuff, one is semi full and had been left partially empty because that will be our workout room.  The 4th bedroom has boxes in it, but it also has our bed.  The living room is full of boxes.  Can't get to the windows.  We are living in the kitchen and in the bedroom.

We have no fridge as of yet.  We had to order it and it should be delivered on Friday.  Sort of feel like we are camping.

Love At First Sight!

I do believe in love at first sight.  This love can be for many things: the love of a new puppy, a beautiful flower, the perfect dress, a new baby, and a house.

This was a wet and cloudy Spring day back in March.  Spring in northern Iowa is wet and cold.  The trees had not yet budded and the grass was still brown.We pulled into the long tree lined driveway off a gravel road and saw a beautiful blue Italianate style Victorian home.  My first thought was: I am home!   To me, it was the most beautiful place on Earth.

We met the owners, Jeff and Deanna in the drive.  They showed us around the property and told us a bit of the history (more on the history coming later in another post).  This stunning home was build in 1911.  For years the house had been a rental property, so when Jeff and Deanna first bought it, they couldn't even live in it because of the repairs that needed to be done. They loved this house and had put a great deal of effort into it to make it livable.  The new siding was a blue that was very much a color that would have come form era it was built.  They made sure to keep to the true form of the exterior while updating it with new siding, roof and windows.

We went inside the house and I gushed. Much of the original woodwork was still there! The rooms were huge.  Big ornate radiators were in each room for heat. Most of the doors were original. The rooms have plaster walls. The house had a warm, welcoming feeling. Yep, I was in love!

Fast forward a few months, to this day.  We bought the farm.  We move into it on Monday.

I started this blog to share my joy of making our dream come true.  My husband grew up farming and always knew he wanted to return to his roots after living in the city for over 25 years.  I never lived on a farm, but somewhere in my heart, I am being pulled to the country because I feel that is where I belong.

Dreams do come true.