Our 2nd House: The 70s Ranch

Oh the memories. There are SO many stories I could tell about this house. This was the second house we renovated, but the first house we bought together. The first house that was OURS. This is the house that helped us prove to ourselves that we really could dream big, get creative, work hard, and see major change come together.

Given that almost every single element of this house was either broken, run down, or outdated—we really got the opportunity to learn and experiment with just about every facet of design, construction, and handiwork.  And let me tell you…when we bought it, this place was a disgusting dump.

A few “highlights” of the house & grounds, as purchased:

• Floor-to-ceiling wallpaper in many rooms. My favorite: the “naked cherub” room. (YES, someone picked out wallpaper featuring hundreds of naked baby angels.)
• Every. Single. Room. had different flooring. Most of them were questionably stained carpets.
• INCLUDING, a carpeted bathroom and partially carpeted kitchen. GROSS!
• Pool in the backyard hadn’t been used in years—a family of raccoons had taken residence in the peeling caverns of the broken vinyl liner.
• Horribly botched attempts at a basement and bathroom renovation (I believe they allowed their high school sons to fix up the basement to live in?) Ex. major electrical problems, entire ceiling fell down in the basement (in one piece!!) because they attached ceiling drywall with nails instead of screws, etc.
• Mice.
• Wood paneling
• Half-tiled shower in master bedroom (they gave up mid-project?)
• + many many more…

Why the heck did we buy this place? Even back then—before we truly knew what we were capable of—we saw the opportunity. We loved the private 1/2 acre lot it sat on. It was in a great neighborhood. It was spacious—over 3,000 square feet. IT HAD A POOL! (…well, more of a scary pit in the ground harboring wild animals…) Most importantly, it was in our price range. We looked past all the things that would have made others run and daydreamed about what we could do to make it shine. Maybe we were just young, dumb, and over ambitious enough to take on this big risk.

Looking back at pictures I see a ton of things I would have done differently today. I see stuff that is “amateur”. I have to stop and remind myself of the stage of life we were in. I was in my early 20’s, fresh out of college when we bought that house. We had a teeny tiny budget to work with and a LONG wish list. I had to get ultra creative—which often meant doing the best I could with Craigslist, yard sales, and hand-me-downs—not necessarily the same things I would choose if I could open a catalog and pick exactly what I wanted.

But mostly I’m proud. I’m proud of the things I was able to accomplish as with almost no money. I’m proud of all the things I learned through action. I’m proud of my husband and all the valuable skills he acquired. I’m proud of how the investment and sweat equity payed off when we sold it 6 years later—setting us up financially to take on the next big risk.

This should be a fun set of before and afters. I apologize in advance for the extra-crappy before pictures. They are all I could dig up—taken on a 1st gen iPhone in 2009. 😃 (Oh well, that makes the before vs. after shot even more dramatic, right?)