More yard work

We were back at the house yesterday doing more yard work. We finished up the driveway side of the house and did about half of the back of the house.

Driveway side of house

Carport, Hedge that borders the meadow, and the barn in the background

Another shot of the hedge that separates the back yard from our meadow

Here is a before and after of the back yard area of the house:



And here is a before and after of the side of the house:


The next two areas to tackle will be the meadow:

And the barnyard:


We are thinking of making the meadow a flower and vegetable garden. I believe this is what it was originally. The entire area is fenced in with some type of very old chicken wire fencing. At the break in the boxwood hedge are two very old concrete posts that appear to have once held a gate.

Yard work

We were back at the Woodbury house yesterday. We didn't get everything on our list done mainly because the yard work was much harder than anticipated.

First I finished removing the linoleum from the upstairs hall floor but I forgot to take any pictures of it. I'll get some the next time I'm there.

Next we tackled the yard. It was terribly overgrown plus there are small to medium sized saplings all over the yard that had to be cut down. Underneath it all you can see that it was once a beautiful yard with Azaleas, Rose of Sharon, Heavenly Bamboo, and tons of Boxwoods.

The first image below will give you an idea of how overgrown the yard is:

Believe it or not, that's a Boxwood hedge. Here is an after shot:


Inside the hedge on the right of the house there is a garden with numerous old plants. They were all almost completely choked out though. We had to cut the Azalias way back but they are a hardy plant so they should make a nice comeback.

Before:
After:


We're still not done with this area, we didnt have enough time to get to the back part of it.

The left side of the house was a jungle also:

Before:
During:
After:
There's still a lot left to clear on this side too. We haven't even touched the meadow out back or the barn area. Each of those areas will take a day by themselves at least.

We're hoping to get back out there this Friday and work all weekend.

The work begins

We went to the Woodbury house yesterday and began work. The upstairs hall has this ugly astroturf looking carpet.

I started pulling up the carpeting only to discover... linoleum.

I had enough time to remove all of the carpeting and half the linoleum before it got dark (no power yet). That's beautiful oak flooring under that linoleum.


I found the attic access and went up for a look. It's huge! The pictures are really bad because I forgot the camera the first time so I snapped these pics from the ladder after I had come back down.



The attic is so large that we could easily add two rooms and a bathroom up here. we've found a perfect spot for stairs also. We could add a window to each of the 3 gables for light. We're not sure about any of this, it's all just planning for now.

The first day of work and I've already got a mystery. When I was up in the attic I noticed that the framing is put together with wire nails! I posted about this on my other house blog a while back when I discovered that that house is not as old as I was told it was. I know the age of the Woodbury house is probably right though, 1888. I know this because first, the architecture definitely has Eastlake influences. I researched the deeds a few months back, I found deeds all the way back to 1904 before I ran out of time. The 1904 deed is transfering the house from an A.P. Dixon to a W.M. Hinton but in the deed it calls the house the J.A. Aycock place (I believe J.A. Aycock is the original owner). So in 1904 we can safely assume that it already had 2 previous owners. 1888 was only 17 years prior.

We're heading back out there this morning to get some more work done. I'm going to finish pulling up the linoleum, pull up the carpeting in the one bedroom that has it, tear down the drywall in the same bedroom (why someone would put up drywall when the walls and ceiling are tongue&groove wood is beyond me), and hopefully do a little yard work. It really looks like a jungle but underneath it all you can still see that once it was beautifully landscaped.

Closing!

Today was closing day for our next house. This is our second house. I couldnt pass it up because we got it for a steal since it was a foreclosure that the bank has owned for a year. Our main house that we live in is the Oxford-Boynton House, We're just finishing up a year and a half long renovation (I dont think we'll ever be done with the renovation but I like to say we are).

The house is a 2 story Victorian built in 1888. I guess you could say the style is Folk Victorian with Eastlake influences.

This is from the back of the property. the lot is just over .5 acre.

This is the barn that's at the back of the property.

Foyer (front door is to the left)

Upstairs Landing

Main Hall

Parlor

Door to upstairs porch. Most of the detail is obscured by the paint.

Back door in the kitchen. The detail is obscured by the paint on this one too.

I dont have a shot of the front door but it's even more ornate than either of the above two doors.

I'm hoping to start work on the house soon.