AW - some house pics

[devonpow]

We are finally nearing 90%+ of boxes being unpacked, so I figured I would throw some pics up for those who had asked  

The house is a little over 100 years old, a kind of shingle style and Arts and Crafts combo. It was designed by Horace Fraser, part of the architect team who did the Bush's house in Kennebunkport, and various other New England buildings, plus a lot of houses in our neighborhood. It was falling apart about 20 years ago and the previous owners completely rehabbed it - it still has all almost all original interior walls, windows, etc. They did a great job so DH and I are basically working on maintenance (there is a lot, oh my) and the only big thing we will do is to renovate the kitchen in a few years. We want to keep the integrity of the house and not do any other major changes.  We re-painted and added the closet/dressing room, but other than that it has mostly been decorating and minor fixes thus far.  Things still feel bare to me - we need to hang a lot of art and find some new pieces still. 

Exterior (this was the listing shot, but we haven't made any changes) 



Living room:











Sunroom (the built in desk was already there, and DH had his heart set on this being his office and the kid's homework station, so that's what it is. We obviously need some new chairs):





Entry (the pics on the landing obviously need to be hung and we need a console table. The art currently above the sofa will eventually be moved here, we think):



Kitchen. This is the one room we want to re-do. We aren't crazy about the cabinets or the flow. Plus, the door next to the fridge leads to a large-ish pantry/mudroom. A mudroom isn't needed there (you will never enter the house via that door unless you are coming in from the deck) and I would rather expand the kitchen that way and add french doors or more windows to overlook the backyard/deck and let in more light. 








Dining room. We have a bar cabinet on order for the back wall. Obviously in great need of a rug and art (and to replace the curtains):







Playroom: This is in the basement and we are replacing the carpeting to either a lighter color or to hardwoods (my preference) to lighten it up. The stage is original to the house if you can believe it - the room used to have theater seating in it from the 20s or so but it was so gross the old owners had to toss it. We have a plumber coming in to talk about raising the pipes - we are worried the kids will try to swing on them!









Dressing room. The dressing room is off the master bedroom, but the old owners only had the two small built in closets and a chair in it, so we made the entire room into a closet. 





Master bedroom:





Guest room:





That's all for now - although our deck furniture was just delivered and sitting in about 200 boxes in our driveway, so I can post pics of the backyard when it is all done. Any suggestions are welcome, I feel I have no idea what I am doing! 

[lavender444]

That is amazingly! I love it all! How many fireplaces do you have 3? Do they all work? That house is a great find! All your stuff looks like it was just waiting for that home.

[lavender444]

P. S. Does anyone else see a face on the exterior? Those little half circle windows are the eyes, the dormer windows the nose and the roofline as the mouth?

[devonpow]

There are 4 fireplaces (Living room, dining room, master, and guest room) - all work and are safe but the fireplace inspector told us all except the living room one would have a downdraft issue. DH wants to convert the bedroom ones to gas. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. We won't be using the bedroom ones any time soon.

I also feel like fireplaces are things that you get so excited about having, then after the first year rarely use, lol.

And it does look like a face! The windows are even called eyebrow windows

[laterbloomer]

Very nice! How often does the cleaning lady come by? LOL Really nice!

[devonpow]

Jul 23, 2014 13:16:56 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Very nice! How often does the cleaning lady come by? LOL Really nice!

LOL, every 2 weeks. But I am a crazy neat freak. I'm a little nuts. 

[alf17]

Beautiful house...Can't wait to see more.

[pamela]

Your house and the way you've furnished it is amazing. I'm in love with the built in stage for the playroom. That is so awesome.

[sjh722]

Jul 23, 2014 13:08:55 GMT -5 lavender444 said:

P. S. Does anyone else see a face on the exterior? Those little half circle windows are the eyes, the dormer windows the nose and the roofline as the mouth?

I do!

It's beautiful. I love it. Love it, love it, want to move in. 

[TBM]

Beautiful home, both exterior and interior.

Your playroom is my dream playroom from my childhood. MY daughters would have loved it as well. That stage.....amazing.

[raangoli]

What a gorgeous house! It seems like it was just waiting for you to move in!

[countthestars]

Oh, I LOVE your house.

[mrsemilys]

Seriously beautiful. I am green with envy.

[msmerymac]

Beautiful! That's close to my dream house! What a perfect play room in the basement, too. I used to use my grandparents' landing (about 6 steps up) as a stage when I was a kid - I would have loved a real stage.

[bunnies]

I like the 'sleepy eyes' windows! ;-)

[devonpow]

Jul 23, 2014 19:40:43 GMT -5 @juno said:

I think I might hate you just a teensy bit Everything is just about perfect. I'm actually happy to see that pic of your kitchen because we're considering board and batten in ours, and it's been sort of hard to find pics. Those cabinets aren't my favorite part of the house either, so I see where you're going there I think. If you are going to add windows to that house, I'm going to plead with you to have some milled to match your existing. If you are in New England, John Leeke sells a directory of window makers specialize in not ruining historic homes.

Thank you! We want to be very careful when we do the kitchen renovation to really have it flow with the house and it's history and not to just throw something bigger and "fancier" in, so I will keep that name in mind ( we are right outside Boston)

[pitterwoo]

What a great house! Thanks for the peek.

[mrsd2006]

Gorgeous.

[ruthie7532]

Beautiful!

[moonlight]

Amazing! I love it so much!

[mrspez07]

Your house is gorgeous! I'm in love!

[kaylie]

It's beautiful and so charming. Congrats!

[my4girls]

I love your house and style- everything looks awesome!

[Marmee]

Beautiful!! I love it, especially the outside and that stage, my girls would love that! My living, foyer, sunroom have a similar layout (but yours is way nicer!)--it's cool to see your sunroom made into an office/homework room, it was something I've thought about doing.

[AmyRI]

Pile of drool on my desk. Thanks for sharing! I love the house itself and all of your furniture. It just "goes" so well.

[devonpow]

Thanks, everyone! DH and I have been on the house hunt for over 5 years, so we are so excited that we finally found it and are moved in!

[BAMFMrsB]

I love your house. Like seriously, in lurve, PPH it. The STAGE. YOU'RE KILLING ME. That is so cute. And yes, your children will try to hang from the pipes.

I want a FP in my bedroom.

[r]

I love your house! I love all the window seats and built-in and especially the stage in the basement.My kids would love that.