The Well Traveled House

This house is far more interesting than many of our projects.  According to neighborhood legend, the house was built in 1880 and started life as a part of Holy Cross Catholic Church on Cottage Rd.  It was used over the years by the nuns and the church staff.  

I found this aerial photo from the early 1950's (part of the South Portland Historical Society archives).   It's really hard to see any detail, but it's clearly our Maison!   The only odd thing is the back of the house, the mansard roof doesn't have the same angle as the rest of the house and the window looks very different than it does today.  So maybe they changed something when it was moved?

Close up of Maison Mansard.  See how the back looks clipped off?

In the late 1950's, Holy Cross wanted to build a new, larger church where the house stood.  But what to do with the house?  It was in good shape and it seemed a shame to tear it down.  So it was moved a couple of blocks to a new location.

There are good things and bad things about moving a house.  The good news - it got a nice new (aka 1960's) basement, which is a big upgrade from the typical old rubble stone foundations we find from the 1880's in Maine.   The maybe not-so-good news is the plaster is probably a mess from cracking on the move.  Most of the walls are covered in paneling, so we really can't tell what shape it's in.  But it could be a budget buster!

I've been searching for photos of the original house.  A friend found this house from an anniversary booklet the church published in 1963.  You can just barely see the edge of the house on the left.  I've tried to enhance the quality of the photo, but still can't make out a lot of detail.

The amazing Kathy DiPhilippo from the South Portland Historical Society has been helping me figure out the history of the house.  She was able to find this photo, which again shows a corner, but not the full house.  She's helping me learn more about the history of the house - so there's more to come!

If any other local folks have more information on the history of the house, I'd love to hear it!  Not many houses are this well traveled!  😂 Pin It

Introducing the Maison Mansard

I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to find a new project that was intriguing and affordable. In fact, I'd decided to take the summer off and catch up on my own home projects.  And then suddenly this popped up - and what an AMAZING project it will be!  

So let me introduce the Maison Mansard. This is such a big change from our previous projects.  It doesn't really fit our usual cottage style.  And yet it has such fabulous bones, it will be a fun challenge.  

Here are a few photos of the existing home.  It has such great features - high ceilings, large rooms, etc!  But it's also ready for some updating.  I'm still working through the plan, but there will be changes to come.  Here's the foyer - look at that staircase! (Note: I know the stairs look incredibly steep, but they are only slightly taller than current building code - but there are a LOT of them!) 



The living room is a big room with multiple windows 

Living room - lots of paneling!

The dining room opens to both the living room and kitchen (look at that 80's wallpaper!  It was the height of fashion!)

 

The kitchen is big - maybe one of the biggest kitchens we've ever renovated!  I can already envision what it will look like when it's done! 

The refrigerator sits by itself, in front of the basement stairs.  We will change that!

I bet there is a nice high ceiling above that suspended ceiling!

This funky shaped hallway (so narrow!) leads to 2 bedrooms

Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms.  

This is the largest bedroom - future primary suite? 

I'm pretty sure I had that acanthus border in a house in the 80's!

This is the smallest bedroom

What's behind all that paneling?

There is also this funky upstairs room.  I guess just for storage?  It's only 8' x 8', so really tiny with sloped walls making it feel even smaller.


The family bath is large! 

Look at those amazing curves on the stairwell! 

Back downstairs, there are two more bonus rooms.  This one might be a nice home office?


And there is this additional room on the back of the house.  It's adjacent to the driveway - my guess is it's the door the family will use most of the time when they're coming home.

Join me as I dig into the history of the home and update it for today’s living (but still keep all the amazing vintage charm!).  There is so much to do!  Thanks for following along!  

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The Charming Cottage is Complete!

When we moved into the Charming Cottage, we thought we'd be there for 9 months while we renovated our own home.  17 months later, we finally moved out!! Sometimes things just don't work out as planned.  

While we lived there, we focused improvements on the exterior - a new roof and new siding.  But once we moved out,  that's when the real renovation work began.

What did we change?  We opened up the doorway from the living room and kitchen about 12 inches.  And we opened up the wall between the foyer/hallway and living room.  That made a huge change to the living space.

And we completely refaced the fireplace with a more appropriate, traditional mantle.

Millwork Details on the Fireplace

The back of the house changed even more.  We opened up the wall between the dining room and kitchen a bit, which made everything seem so much more spacious!  We were careful to maintain the original dining room hutch, which maintains the charming ambiance of the room.

What was the biggest change?  The mudroom bump-out.  It was only 7' x 2.5', but it was a game changer for the house.  The original entry (nicknamed the Death Trap) was a tiny 3' x 3' space.  Now there is room for coats and boots and the south facing door brings in sunlight throughout the first floor.

It's not a big space - but it transformed the 1st floor!

Opening up the old walls brought so much more light into the downstairs

The kitchen was a to-the-studs renovation to allow us to replace all the plumbing, electrical and insulation.  With all the guts of the house updated, we installed all new cabinetry and fixtures.

We thought this was the original kitchen, but the multiple paint colors tell a different story

All new electrical, plumbing and insulation!

I love the marble mosaic backsplash! 

Upstairs saw some changes as well.  We added so much lighting and all new electrical to provide outlets on every wall (such a big change, the bedrooms only had one outlet!!). 

Did you notice the doorknobs?  They are original to the house and with a bit of clean up, they're fabulous! They are brass plated, with what appears to be Bakelite on the knob.  So unusual! 

Like the kitchen, the bathroom got a 'to the studs' renovation, which allowed us to update all the electrical, plumbing and insulation.  We also reoriented the fixtures with the tub moving to the end wall and the toilet next to the door.  It opened up the whole space! 

It also gave us the opportunity to add this fun shelving next to the original built in.

And the updates didn't stop upstairs.  The basement had been finished - probably in the 50's or 60's with  traditional pickwick knotty pine. It was glamorous at the time, but now it makes the room dark and cavelike.   The floor was carpeted when we bought it and when the carpet was removed we discovered it 'undulated'.  It required bag after bag of floor leveler to get it flat enough to install new LVT (luxury vinyl tile - my favorite product for a basement floor). 

We painted the pickwick white and installed new ceiling tile - the transformation was amazing!  

We also closed up the flue to the fireplace (it was vented through the boiler flue, a huge building code violation) and replaced it with an electric fireplace.  Now you have the ambiance of a fire, but don't have any worries!  And this room could work for so many different uses!  TV room - playroom - home gym - so many options! 

And the basement bathroom - well that was a HUGE project, but look at home much it's changed (including re-routing all the electrical into a new electrical panel).

Last, but not least, here are a few photos of the backyard.  The yard is small, but it has so many lovely details and is so private - it's the perfect spot to have a glass of wine after a busy day.  

We had to change out a couple of windows to make the bathroom and kitchen layouts work out

And with those updates, the house is done!  This has been such a fun project - we loved living there and also loved fixing it up.  We wish the new owners many years of happiness in their new home! 

 

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