The Last Remodel

When a man buys a farm he is thinking only about the land.  He will consider the fences, barn, working pens and ponds but the real issue is the land.  That's why farms are always purchased as so much per acre.  Most farmers don't really consider the house, it just is something that comes with the farm, like the barns. 

When we bought our farm, nearly 30 years ago,  the house was sturdy (if you discount the cracked foundation wall in the basement) and had been spiffed up nicely.  My hubby, eager to get me on board with the sale, rashly promised that if I would just live in it for five years he would build me a new one.  He didn't lie, it just took a little longer than he figured.

Over the ensuing years we've replaced the cracked wall in the basement (an adventure which included four workmen trying to get through a small opening when a large snake skin dropped on them when the wall came down), added a bathroom, furnace, air-conditioning, dry walled over plaster and lathe walls, put down hardwood floors over the pine subflooring that was all we had before, replaced the antique kitchen cabinets, (which had been repurposed from at least two previous lives), added two porches and a sunroom, along with rewiring and replumbing most of the house.  This week we began what hubby devoutly hopes is the last room to be remodeled.  I guess you could say I will then have the new house.

You see, last winter was the straw that broke this camel's back. 

All winter (which seemed to last forever) I have had two men and four kids trooping into my small utility room shedding muddy, wet boots, coveralls, coats, mittens, and hats.  Soon the resulting piles were spilling into the kitchen, trailing over the house, and contaminating any clean clothes not immediately removed from the laundry area.  Eyeing the clutter I came to the realization that the objects in question were only going to get bigger as the owners grew.  Thus, the idea to enlarge and remodel the utility room was born.

Like all of our projects it's been an archeological dig.  In pulling out the walls we began to see how the house had been added on over the generations.  When electricity came to the farms, farm wives discovered that with electric pumps they could have running water in the house.  Thus, the bathroom was added, usually off the kitchen to share the water access and electricity.  Ours is no exception.  The space left over became my utility room.  The old, green tongue and groove walls gave us a hint that part of the space had been added as an old porch, which was later enclosed.  Clumps of old 1952 newspapers stuffed around the windows for insulation gave the date that the porch was turned into part of the house.  Like the housewife of old, I am giving up part of my porch to create the new, bigger space.

Looking at my house I can't help but think of the farm wives that have added to, rearranged, and modernized this old house to make it more comfortable for the family.  I think about their days as they pumped water at the kitchen sink by hand for the daily use in the house.  This included cooking, cleaning, bathing, and washing clothes.  I can imagine the excitement when electricity first became available for the rural residents.  The first room to get electricity was the kitchen.  Usually just a ceiling light but oh to have a steady, bright light to work by.  Soon every room had a ceiling light, then came electric outlets for the growing array of items. 

Each of these families lived, laughed, loved and reared their children in our house.  They cared for their families and left their mark on their home in countless little touches.  I marvel at the history and wonder at their stories.  I hope years from now another farm wife remodels and is struck by the touches that I have left on the old home.  I hope she approves.