Painting the Farmhouse

So if we're going to keep the house - we're going to paint it!

Since I had time off between a job change - I boldly informed John that it wouldn't be a problem at all to quickly paint the house. John for his part, did much to organize the needed supply and temper my enthusiasm to a realistic outlook of the project.

So on Friday October 28, 2011, John meet me at the farm and dropped on the off hotsie. A bit later, the boom lift rental arrived. The day was filled with power washing the house - filled with power washing.

While prepping, John removed the old front porch. Todd Weaver and his brother were on hand for the demo as well.

 John fixing the roof..

 Fixing the back deck..

 Teaching me to use the hotsie..

 Power washing in action

After power washing, we spent the better part of the morning prepping the windows with plastic and tape for priming and painting.

Part way through priming...

Though we worked into the night on Saturday, the priming was not quite finished. Sunday morning was wet and misting. It wasn't until the afternoon that we started with the final coat. At the end of the day Sunday, I hadn't finished all the way around the house, but here's how it looked. The finished project...almost!

John finished the paint job the following Monday and here it is! We're quite please with the outcome, but this will likely be the last house we paint!

The Farmhouse

To be completely honest, we've never had any intentions of keeping the farm house. Original to the farm, the main part of the house was built around 1874. The addition over the garage are was added about a 100 years later.

We actually never toured the house before we made the offer, as we were under the impression it was not inhabitable.

Turns out, that's definitely not the case. We walked through it the first time in September and it's in okay shape, but could use a good cleaning. Believe it our not, it actually received high marks from a home inspection conducted on the 20th! No mold, no moisture, just in need of some minor repairs, TLC, and more smoke detectors ;)

The Cats

Hannah came for a visit in late October to meet Beau & Stubby!

The Farmhouse

To be completely honest, we've never had any intentions of keeping the farm house. Original to the farm, the main part of the house was built around 1874. The addition over the garage are was added about a 100 years later. 

We actually never toured the house before we purchased it, as we were under the impression it was not inhabitable.

Turns out, that's definitely not the case. We walked through it the first time in September and it's in okay shape, but could use a good cleaning. Believe it our not, it actually received high marks from a home inspection conducted on the 20th! No mold, no moisture, just in need of some minor repairs, TLC, and more smoke detectors ;)

Creek Walk

Well...September quickly passed and we've found ourselves in October. Officially we still have not closed on the property, but are hopeful to soon. We would like to make may for extending the windbreak, removing trees, and removing some of the old out buildings before winter. For the time being (October 15th) we spent the weekend walking the creek and land to get a better feel for the farmstead.

Beau Beau and Stubby were never far behind - especially while setting flags for the windbreak.

The Farmstead - August

These are pictures from late August after the (hopefully soon-to-be) former owners' held their estate sale. The family who is selling the farm has been wonderful to work with. When we first looked at the farm, there was lots of 'stuff' and 'projects' that were never finished. The family has kept the grass mowed and removed all of the extra 'stuff' since the estate sale.

 The reason we bought the farm. After we climbed in to the loft on our first visit we were sold and knew this was the place for us.

She will definitely need work, but we think it's worth it!

The two other reasons we bought the farm - two wonderful farm cats! we've affectionately named them Stubby and Beau Beau (grey kitty).






Now for some of the view...

Far Niente

Offer accepted!

As of the end of July, John and I are set to be owners of a 40 acre farmstead south of Cedar Rapids on Club Road. After nearly three years of searching for the perfect farm, we think we've final found the one! Of the 40 acres only 17 are cropland with the remainder in pasture. Hoosier creek cuts almost diagonally through the property with timber on each side. The main attraction is the barn. Built in 1920 we have lots of plans to bring her back to her prime and make the farm our own. Pictures of the property will follow. For now we're celebrating with in Macedonia with the Forristall's with a bottle of 1987 Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon graciously given by John's parents.
HH

<<Sorry for the delay in posting all of this - hopefully the updates will be a little more prompt!>>