About

This blog/renovation/move has been a long time in coming, though for the most part all of it has been somewhat inevitable. If you’re looking at this “about” page I’m going to assume you aren’t a family member who already knows who I am, what I’m doing, and why I’m doing it.

Actually, who I am isn’t that important. This blog is dedicated to the renovation of an Italianate style house in Charleston, Tennessee which was built by General Joseph Mee sometime around 1840. Once centered a large plantation of over 1000 acres, it was purchased with what had been reduced to a 350 acre farm by my grandfather in 1952. My father grew and his sisters grew up in the house, I basically grew up there myself as my parent’s house is also on the farm and in easy walking distance, and now I’m getting it ready for my kids to grew up there as well. It has been owned by several families since the Mee’s and each have put their fingerprint on the property and have kept it in the relatively good condition it’s in today. Grandpa did quite a lot of work on it in the first couple decades he owned it and the last major renovation done by him was in the late 60’s. Both Grandma and Grandpa have passed away within the last 10 years in quite advanced years, so the house hasn’t seen any major restoration work in quite a while. Needless to say it is due for a complete overhaul… and then some.

My family and I have lived in Connecticut for almost 10 years now and we’ve always known we would make the move back to Tennessee eventually. Once Grandma passed away we knew it was getting close to time for us to go back. The kids aren’t old enough for school and our employment situation has made it possible for us to make the move sooner rather than later so everything seems to be pointing us in that direction. And we certainly don’t want our kids to start thinking that they’re actually from New England.

So then here we are, faced with a pretty major renovation project that is certain to drain our finances and our time for the next several years. I probably should step back a little bit and explain that for about 5 years or so I flipped vintage houses here in Connecticut – I stopped when the market would have forced me to make a very expensive hobby out of what had once been a lucrative job. I focused on homes that were at least 100 years old and tried to restore them to be as historically accurate as possible aesthetically, but incorporating all the modern amenities. Because of my background in this I will be doing most of the work myself, at least all of the design, detail, and cosmetic work, but leaving certain things like box gutters and geothermal units in the hands of specialists who can give me a good warranty.

Because of the scope of the work it would be difficult to live in the house during the first part of the process so I’m starting some of the renovation this summer while still living in CT, and then living elsewhere the first few months we’re in Tennessee permanently. Here is a basic list of some of the major steps we will take in the renovation in –somewhat- chronological order, certain to be changed on a regular basis:

New upper roof                 DONE!
Box gutter rehab              DONE!
New lower roof
Removal of all structures and construction that are not original (DONE!)
– Radiators (GONE!)
– Closets (GONE!)
– Dropped ceiling on second floor (GONE!)
– Added bathroom walls (GONE!)
Removal of ALL flooring in order to: (DONE!)
– Make joist repairs      (IN PROGRESS!)
– Install a subfloor
– Install radiant floor heating
– Run new electrical, plumbing, and ductwork
Install geothermal heating and cooling
Replace original flooring (I hope!)
Build in three bathrooms and a laundry
Install all new lighting (LED recessed fixtures)
Repair wood ceilings on second floor
Repair all windows (frames, sashes, weights, and pulleys)
Cosmetic:
– Wall paper removal/installation
– Plaster repair and painting
– Refinish staircase
– Paint or refinish all trim work and doors

Listing it all out like that without too much detail makes it look almost do-able!

The property also has a couple other buildings right next to the main house, a smoke house and a slave’s quarters.  I’ve already had to do some pretty major work on the slave’s quarters in order to give my dad a farm office (I took his away when cleaning out the house), as well as an office for my wife to work when we’re down there and a wood working shop which will be pretty essential.  I’m about to post some videos of those projects but basically I’ve had to repair the foundation after some pretty destructive groundhog habitation, jack up the floor, replace once of the sills, install an insulative  ceiling, add some electricity, remove the front porch, and install two new windows and two storm doors.

So far I’ve made two, 10-day trips to build a garage (I forgot to mention that part), work on the roof, make the new farm office, and remove everything from the house.

UPDATE: The family and I are now residents of the farm, though not the house yet.  Still hoping to get in by the end of the year!