The Holbrook House

One of my favorite visits to the house and I regret not having a picture was when my Mom, Gorette, and I walked the house the night before closing for a final walk through. It had been over a year since I had been inside and really thats hard to grasp. Were we still in love with it or would we have remorse. Lets say it felt like the beginning of a treasure hunt and details previously unknown began to reveal themselves and continue to do so. Yep, still in love and growing.

My friend Jermy said the house is not really yours until you have the keys. Later in my real estate classes I learned more about deed recording but who cares I have the keys and we will be on record tomorrow…

So after a year and a half wait on Jan 30th the very night we got the house my dad and I went in to rip out the carpet on the first floor. Right, we are no foolin’ around and my Dad’s here to help!

My brother Tom joined and we actually finished the second floor too. A total of 2300+ sqft of carpet and pad was taken out into the snow and it was old carpet pink and yellow. The carpet was so old it was friable, very little knife required and the padding had turned to almost red dust and fiber.

Black dust from within this carpet was in the air, you could see it blowing off the carpet and at times it was hard to see. We wore masks but it was still awful and a smell lived in that carpet that had to go! But as we worked the floors revealed themselves and the stairs too. They were maple and in good condition. Moving to the second floor Tom and I were tossing the carpet off the 2nd floor balcony at 10pm onto the snowy ground below. The neighbors must have thought we were nuts or may have not anticipated DeSalvo ingenuity.

Me, I wanted to see the floors exposed so the very next day we had floors looked at for finishing. This was going to take a couple weeks to complete sanding, and 3 coats of poly so literally no delay we have more work to do. But this was a project that should occur before we settle in.

Meantime we had some moving to do. Myself, Gorette, Robby, Michael, Mom, Dad, Uncle Pete, Alex, Lombardo, Pete Cat, and Seth all came to help over the course of two days. We rented a big 30 footer truck the first day and my van the next day which we packed full both times along with cars. Really that was just the beginning as I made countless trips on my own and together we all climbed so many staircases. All our stuff was being loaded in the barn and the 2nd floor of the house. We decided not to finish the hardwoods on our second floor of the house until we decide on the final layout.

Our new neighbor came buy to visit and so did the Sherborn welcome committee. We were told that ~20 people door knocked inquiring about buying the house and wanting to get in. I am grateful for the selling team and part the owner just not wanting to deal with any other parties. While it was an emotional roller coaster those early promises were kept.

Our immediate renovation was to gut and remodel the kitchen, 2nd floor bath, move laundry to 2nd floor, and add a 2nd floor master suite. The third floor which is unfinished would have to wait for future expansion. Meantime while the floors got started I spent the next 2 weeks every night until 10pm working to get things ready for us to move in. Starting with one of the 2nd floor bathrooms (you need a bathroom or at least a toilet!) and that one bath was in recoverable condition. The shower cassette was clogged (just brown cold water) and I soldered in a new one. The toilet leaked onto the floor when flushed and that got a new wax ring. The sink leaked on the floor and faucets were frozen so I replaced and restored their use adding a new trap that no longer leaked. After the water ran through things cleared up. This house will need a filter in its future.

I pulled the medicine cabinet and radiator cover and they got cleaned up with a wire wheel angle grinder and then a fresh coat of primer and enamel. Then my father gave a good cleaning to the tile work and new caulking. It was quite a bit of work considering the bathroom will get gutted sometime soon. Its not original though the tile was built to last! Pink is not our style. I promise if the house was a 50’s ranch we would keep it. Given I know the toilet was originally in the barn (3 of them – and still there) then I am ok with updating the bathroom and likely changing its footprint. The new bath like many other materials we will keep with 1920’s finishes which would have been more common for a 1880’s Victorian to receive when plumbing came inside. That said the house did have running water more to come on that later.

 

Many of these evenings I spent pulling up remaining pieces of carpet pad, staples, rugs tack strips from the floors, and moping up that red dust. Every room was filled with our stuff in boxes waiting unpacking but our timeline was very unknown.

Next up the kitchen and the floors!