The heavy lifting started in earnest during the first two weeks. The first areas to completely get gutted were the kitchen and library. The whole place opened up divinely, and we’ll have the envious challenge of deciding whether to bring the cabinets up to the ceiling or leave space above.

The next major area was the second floor bedroom and enclosed sunporch. In the sunporch we found vaulted ceilings that will supply potential for a more spacious-feeling bathroom suite.

Throughout the home, the areas covering the chimney for the furnace started to come down.

That’s where they snaked all the old wires, and we would gain space on each floor, most importantly in the kitchen.

Outside, the old concrete sidewalk was

pulled up across the back,
the rear corner was excavated and shingle walls removed. Next to the
house granite foundation, we found the rubble footings, along with
ledge about 4-6 feet down. The good news was that we were not going
anywhere.

The challenge will be how to lower the grade for the patio below the
granite foundation without impacting the integrity of the rubble
support underneath. We talked through a potential solution to buttress
the rubble against the foundation with a seating wall.

Along the way, we found a 1933 newspaper, a 1963 baseball card and
various other sundries. Unfortunately, no expanded lost stashes of cash or
a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Oh well, can’t hurt to dream!

Original post by Paul Friedberg