In this idyllic setting,

is an old farm, that a family bought from the original owners a few years ago and is considering the development of it into an organic farm. On this acreage sits a farmhouse that was very outdated and in need of a facelift – for a qualified farm manager to be hired to look after this new endeavour, the house was in no shape to make this opportunity very appealing.

We have been working on the designing and renovation  of the house for a few months now and feel like we can begin to show you it’s progress. It has been a great project, without any extreme issues arising that can be such an inherent part of renovations but with decisions having been made throughout the process to do more than was initially considered. This first post will be on the exterior changes that have been made so far and in future posts I will show you the before shots, during and soon to be, the afters of the interior.

On the first day, this is what the house looked like and it was the beginning of the what should stay and what should go process. The goal was to improve the house to bring it into the 21st century but not go overboard, to stay within a reasonable budget given the purpose and needs of the future occupants.

The next stage is somewhat scary, very ugly and at the same time rather exciting because of the possibilities…..

The rebuilding process is longer than the designing, pricing and tear apart, with so many things that need to happen before the final “dressing up” can begin!

The photo above shows where a poorly built addition was torn off of the house (to the right of the chimney – which was also torn down and rebuilt) and replaced with a window and a roof that covers one of the basement entry doors. If you go back to the photos of its original state you will see what we mean.

The board and batten siding has been done in a very cost effective way, with the board portion being a Hardie board product and the battens, strips of real cedar. The gable peak will be filled in with shingles. The photos below will show a sample of the colour scheme, with the siding being BM – HC 167 Amherst Gray and the trim being BM – OC51 Intense White.

The front view is coming along nicely, the addition of the timber framed entry has enhanced the exterior aesthetic immensely. This photo also shows the new roofing, an Elk Timberline shingle in Charcoal, as well as the cleaner look with one chimney removed, the enormous antennae taken down and the hydro mast removed. An additional hydro pole was placed inside the property and from there the hydro was taken underground instead of being overhead where it was so visually distracting.

Well, thats all we have to show on the exterior for now. The front porch still needs to be completed, as well as the roof over the carport deck and the railings will also begin to be built. The exterior staining will begin as soon as there is a break in all of this rain! It is the worst spring in 50 years they are saying – we are all so in need of some warmth and sunshine!!

Next week we will begin to show you interior photos of the state it was in before we started and a few of the stages during construction!