3. Our house is small ok it’s really small… tiny even , but we love it. Our house has survived 2 very major hurricanes and still has a lot of the original features. But those features are hiding... We found beautiful wood floors (the boards run the length of the entire house) under layers of laminate flooring, after hours of sanding and refinishing we were able to return them to their original glory. We love it’s history, it’s details and lets not forgot the location:
4. Did I mention that we live one house up from the water? Pretty nice to wake up to this every morning
6. This! Ok, it’s still pretty small, but we wouldn’t want it any other way.
7. We’ll be adding a full second floor with a full bath, a master bedroom and guest room/office.
8. and completely opening up the first floor by moving the staircase and taking down most of the walls. Old Stairs New Stairs
9. We are also going to replace the boiler and hot water heater with a super efficient combined unit and make sure that the house is sealed and insulated to really save on heating and cooling costs. We’ll also install a central air conditioning system. On the exterior, we’ll be tearing up the concrete path and putting in a new one using Boston Pavers - we’ll also be building a deck on the back of the house.
10. But lets back up. Our home was built in the 1920’s in Barrington, Rhode Island as a summer cottage. The town of Barrington is nine miles southeast of Providence and no point in town is more than two miles from salt water.
11. In April 2011, Barrington was named fourth in the nation for "Best Schools for Your Real Estate Buck” by Forbes magazine and the GreatSchools organization and a few years back CNN/Money Magazine named Barrington, RI, as the sixth best place to live in the United States .
12. More interior shots - our kitchen in various stages of construction We purchased this as our first home in November of 2009 and being young and on a budget we have been taking on most (all) of the home improvement projects on our own (with help from family members and friends along the way). We have learned quite a few new skills along the way and our selection of tools is quickly growing.
13. But adding a full second floor is a big project, and we need some help. We are going to hire builders, but will do a lot of the finish work on our own (don’t worry, we work quickly) and anticipate the total project (including heating system) will come in at around $80,000.
15. Annie Everson Age: 27 Marketing Manager at the Newport CVB Grew up in Rhode Island Been watching This Old House since the age of 6 Favorite DIY projects: building and refinishing furniture Loves: gardening, traveling, skiing and cooking & baking
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