Juniper Hill Cottage

a coat of paint does wonders

7/30/2019

This is the second chapter in our Bungalow journey - continuing on from "We Accidentally Bought a Bungalow."

After acquiring this amazing historic bungalow in 2010, the first challenge was coming up with a manageable game plan.

Sometimes it's just so hard to wait for your long-term vision to begin to take form. And we knew we were going to be here on weekends and taking our time with the first chapter of our life in this historic cottage.

So, we decided that in order to enjoy our time here for the next 8 or 9 years (until we could be here full-time and properly renovate), we would only tackle a list of must-do projects.

This is what we do. Michael offloading supplies for the new deck.

Must-Do List

Now, you would think that that list would be an abbreviated short-ish list. That was the idea for sure.

But now that we look back it's truly amazing what we've accomplished.

Bit by bit, on a budget while still living and working in Phoenix. Virtually 90% of it turned out to be DIY, and not just because we knew we could control the costs more that way.

Creativity

We had a vision of what it would take to make it livable for the short-term, but we also felt strongly that this was going to be an expression of our creativity and personalities.

And that's kinda hard to accomplish with contractors executing for you.

This is what we do. Crafting a home.

Flexibility

The process requires tweaks and consideration as you go along - allowing for better flavors of your original idea, or the unforeseen snafu.

It takes a while to get acquainted with a new house and property. This can make it tricky to come up with the perfect layout and updates on day one. Where does the shade fall in late summer? What's the best flow for traffic through your home - given how you live and your style? Where's the best soil and conditions for your kitchen garden?

While it's tempting to just get to the end-point as quickly as possible, there's an advantage to taking it in measured steps - if you can stand it.

~ post continues below ~

So Much Accomplished!

In this blog post, I wanted to highlight some of our accomplishments since we bought the Bungalow almost 9 years ago. This is not an entirely comprehensive list to be sure, but it gives you a feel for where we are now - as we launch into our big renovation project.

Appendages be gone

Hint: If you click on an image it will allow you to view a larger version of the image.

removing the back stairs and metal roof cover

Weird stairs and ugly cover.

The twins jumped right in - demolition is fun!

Kids scraping off old adhesive under the rug.

Removing stinky carpet and gross adhesive.

Removing the gutters that weren't already down.

The gutters didn't need much help coming down.

Removing old interior stairs to the basement.

Lotsa old wall coverings and very old plaster

Hidden doors inside the old stairwell -- ???

The first order of business was the removal of various appendages and junk. In 86 years of life, the house had been through a lot, and much of it needed to go! If I recall correctly, we lived with construction dumpsters in the driveway for about 2 or 3 years.

Removed and departed:

stinky carpet and stained drapes
a strange closet in the basement - don't ask
twisted and rusted gutters
weird stairs and metal roof
more weird stairs apparently built for a munchkin
ugly railings - everywhere
concrete - more concrete - did we mention concrete?

Oops. Sometimes things don't go as planned.

the magic of paint

And, as the title of this blog suggests, one of the most transformative but simple things was getting a fresh, bright coat of paint applied.

We did the exterior right away. Hired someone - we'll hire someone else next time.

And I worked on the interior myself over the summer of our 4th year in the house - VERY slowly. The house had been painted what I can only describe as hospital green with blue trim. And there were stains not only on the walls buy also on the ceilings -- ??? And not from leaks.

Honestly, painting walls, ceilings, and trim is most definitely not my favorite project. But it's easy enough to do if you take your time and have a few basic tools. It got done - and in the end it was absolutely worth the time I spent in my painter-outfit that year.

Original colors of bungalow when we bought it

Before: Best described as drab grey with purple trim

After: warm yellow and mustard with a punch of red

boring but not optional

I mentioned in the first chapter/blog post that we bought the house "as-is." What that means is that although we had a chance to do all the necessary inspections, our only two options would be to either go through with the purchase of the house "as-is" or back out of the deal entirely at the end of the inspection period.

We knew, just looking at the house, that it had been neglected for quite some time and not even occupied for a while. We also learned that there was no thermostat (who took it, you wonder?) and therefore the inspector was unable to determine if the furnace worked at all.

In the back of the property was a carriage house with a separate furnace and water heater. The inspector indicated that along with the water heater in the main house, these units were all pretty old, but appeared to function "in general." Oh, and by the way, our roof on both buildings won't last more than a couple years at best.

We decided to accept these possible issues and move forward with the purchase. Remember: it was a great location, with the right house, and it felt right.

Needless to say, it didn't take more than a couple weeks, before we had to:

install a functioning water heater in the main house
fix code issues with the venting on the furnace
replace the thermostat in carriage house when it stopped working
repair vents and motors on furnace in main house
repair boards on the furnace in the carriage house
repair more stuff on the furnace in main house - again
and again

You have no choice - what are you gonna do? Here in northern Arizona, we are at 6,000 foot elevation and it gets very cold in the winter!

the landscape is my sanctuary

We have most definitely spent most of our effort, and resources on the landscape - almost entirely on our own, with the exception of the front yard hardscape and trees.

Hint: hover your mouse over each image to see the caption.
And, to see a larger image, click on it.

South yard and glimpse of backyard

View of the backyard and carriage house before

Before: back yard and carriage house in background.

Grading the south yard to prepare for landscaping

Doing some grading, lots of clearing of brush, concrete.

After the landscaping, a gate, fence, and stairs

After: gate, with fence, and stairs to new back driveway

South Garden next to main house

Before: south garden

After: south garden

Kitchen Garden in north yard

Custom built raised planters for the kitchen garden

Front Yard

Before: Front of house with view into north yard

Before: Front yard - concrete and weeds everywhere

After: front yard

After: Front yard with paving and native plantings

Garden Gazebo in back yard

Before: backyard surrounded by old Alligator Junipers

After: garden gazebo with lots of seating & homemade juniper slab table

Back Door

Before: Weird steep steps with floppy metal roof

After: Cozy new back deck with a view west

This back deck was actually the VERY first thing that we did - and it is still one of my favorite secret spots in the garden.

quick kitchen update

Before: Kitchen is dark, and awkward, and filthy

After: Kitchen is reminiscent of what was likely here originally

Too much to show here on the kitchen - this is just one wall to give an idea. (Maybe a future post just on the kitchen...?)

Some people might say it was crazy to do this much work for just a temporary kitchen. But the kitchen is the center of our family space and I am in there cooking every single day - for the last 4 or 5 years.

I wasn't a very happy cook in the "before" kitchen which apparently hadn't been cleaned at all since the nasty re-muddle in the 60's or 70's. None of the drawers worked, the counters were chipped and cruddy. There was no light at all.

Now it's just gorgeous, and we will be recycling literally everything we installed in the new kitchen - except for the cheap old range that we kept for the time being.

Temporary. But so worth it!

the whiskey porch 1.0

Before: It used to be a porch

After the addition of a cozy little porch

After: The Whiskey Porch 1.0

Two adirondack chairs ready for happy hour

After: just big enough for two comfy adirondacks

After: cozy porch tucked in under the ancient Alligator Juniper

This tiny little porch that we tucked in under the really old Alligator Juniper tree, actually sits in front of the original porch, which was enclosed at some point.

This is the original Whiskey Porch. Let's call it "version 1.0".

We've treasured countless evenings here enjoying the distant views of Thumb Butte and Granite Mountain out to the west, along with stunning sunsets. Since we are at the top of a pretty steep hill, we are essentially looking out over the old Courthouse Square to the peaks west of the downtown.

It's not huge, or impressive, or even all that permanent. But's it's been a big part of our daily routines spring through fall for many years.

See you on the porch,
~Miriam

We've got the most amazing plans for the Whiskey Porch 2.0, as we embark on our bungalow remodel . I hope you'll hang around to see what we've got in store!