By all accounts, 2005 was a slower year; especially when compared to all the work accomplished in 2003 and 2004. I also consider it a successful year because the house was at a point where we could live in it and enjoy living in it.
January
My Dad flew in to wrap up a few lingering plumbing tasks from our 2004 back porch remodel and to eat a lot of hot dogs. We finally got the downstairs toilet installed and the washer and dryer hooked up. No more trips to the Laundromat! We were so excited that we gave my dad his own corner on our website.
February
Our house made it’s television debut! The television show Restoration Realities on the DIY Network removed our metal security door and built a new Douglas fir screen door to take it’s place. We were concerned about security but the door is so beautiful that we decided not to modify it by installing a deadbolt or a metal grill. We have had no problems.
The episode airs February 19, 2006. There is a nice description of our house and the work we have done on the DIY Network web site.
March
After waiting 2 years, we were finally able to hang the porch swing I purchased right after we moved into the house.
April
We purchased a 1915 baby grand piano from an elderly neighbor. We hired professional piano movers and had the piano tuned.
May
We did absolutely nothing except enjoy all the work already completed on the house.
Our house right after we purchased it in September 2002
Our house in May of 2005
We had gotten into this mindset where we had to keep going and felt guilty if we weren’t working on the house. It was nice to take a break and enjoy life outside of the huge project that is our house.
July
We received photos of our house from Mrs. O. Her family purchased our house from the original owners. She grew up in the house. The photos she sent were taken in the 1940′s on her wedding day.
October
We had a belated house warming party of sorts. It was the first time we have had a group of friends in the house.
December
Here are some photos of the downstairs of our house decorated for Christmas for the first time since moving in 3 years ago.
Moving Forward In 2006
We will get back to work on the house but I’m not sure if we can or even want to duplicate the pace of 2003-2004. In 2006 we will take our restoration work upstairs, that mysterious place which is rarely, if ever, featured on our site. Upstairs photos are coming soon.
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Sounds like a full/good year. I still read and enjoy your photos and commentary. Your home is lovely to behold!
I know it’s hard to keep up the pace all the time.
I love your site. I happened upon it when my husband told me there were other “crazy” rehabbers out there who have Corgis in all their pictures.
I grew up in the Indianpolis area, have a Corgi, and my husband and I have been rehabbing our house in St. Louis for nearly three years. Your stories are so scarily similar to our own, it is great to read! From the ENDLESS paint stripping to the Tales from the Hood … all eerily similar. We’ve even lived through the “bathroom situation.” We still have only one working toilet, one working sink, and one working shower … all in different rooms and mostly on different floors. To add to the melee, we haven’t put the trim back up around the bathroom door frames, so although the bathroom door is shut, there is a large gap between the door jam and the wall and all the goings-on in the bathroom are completely visible to anybody walking by. Anyway, we LOVE reading your site. Keep up the fascinating work!
i still stop by at least once a week. don’t want to miss anything. everyone needs a break, can’t keep up the breakneck pace forever. can’t pay for it either, ha ha. feels like trying to get blood from a turnip around here sometimes with the never ending list and the trips to the depot!!
As a fellow bungalow inhabitant and LA (Pasadena) resident, I visit your site often, even if there is no new restoration pics or info. You’ve done a marvelous job, and it’s inspiration to see the accomplishments! My parents were in town from Denver recently, and we were driving near your area to find a house that my grandparents lived in right after they married in 1942. We did a quick drive through what I assumed was your neighborhood, in hopes of finding your house and showing my folks. A stalker! (But with no bad intentions)
Keep up the great work!
Let your mom know that I visit your site several times a week
I have been a bungalow lover for years, and I close on my first one tomorrow. I visit your site for paint ideas, kitchen ideas, and to see what resources you have taken the time to post. I appreciate all of your work and look forward to seeing your upstairs restoration. It is good to see that you are now enjoying life both inside and outside of your house. I hope that I can do the same! I know that it has to be hard. Good luck and here’s to a great 2006!
I also check your site every few days–you’ve been the inspiration to just keep going on these renovation projects. Today I spent glorious hours trying to achieve the Zen mode as I scraped away the WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL CARPET ADHESIVE from the bathroom floor. I’m 52 and getting up and down isn’t what it used to be, either, but checking your site tonight tells me we are not alone and have a lot to be thankful for! When this house is done (now there’s an oxymoron), I doubt I’ll start another, but you never know . . .
You are my heros. What courage, what fortitude, what persistance! I am just beginning the restoration of a 1930′s Craftsman-style house that I bought cheap. The more I strip and uncover, the more I realize why it was so cheap. But my project is nothing compared to the scale of yours. Congratulations! I look forward to more of your project reports and wonderful commentary.
I have to congratulate you on a job well done this year. From the interiors to the exteriors, a lot has obviously been changed in the house. The improvements certainly made the bungalow look a much nicer place to live in.
I love your site. I bought a 1912 bungalow in oregon 3mos. ago, and have been boring my family with pathetic stories about how much restoration work i have to do. compared to you two, i’m incredibly lucky. thanks for the reality check, i look forward to keeping up on your progress. good luck.
I am restoring my 1939 Bungalow in Arizona. I have been inspired by you guys. Could you post some more outside Pic’s. I bout in a gentrifying area also and it’s been very interesting.
Great web site keep on trucking
What an exciting year! I love all the updates and every time we’ve driven past your house on the way to our friend’s place, it seems even more impressive on the outside. I first bookmarked this site a few months after you started the blog because we were thinking of moving in that neighborhood. We were quickly priced out of buying, but I still live vicariously through you and my friends.