First Version of the Floor Plans

This morning we received the first version of our floor plans. Our architect, Ben, did a great job! We'll do some changing to the upstairs by eliminating the hallway/reading nook and laundry room (we'll stack in the bathroom closet) and making the bedrooms bigger. And we'll put a bathtub in either the upstairs or downstairs bathroom. So exciting!

 

 First floor. Existing on the left...the future on the right.

Second floor. Existing on the left...the future on the right.

We close on the 11th...less than 2 weeks! Once we close, a structural engineer and house framer will come in to make sure what we have planned can happen, we'll get plans approved by the town and get started on the renovation! I expect that we'll get started on the actual construction in November.

First Meeting with the Architect

My head hurts from thinking and visualizing so much with the architect today.

Because we are financing our house with a construction loan, we are having to do things a bit backwards. We received a rough estimate from our contractor prior to having plans drawn up by an architect. I now understand how backwards that process is after having talked with the architect and changing what we want to do with our little mill house. We're trying to stay in the parameters of our estimate while creating a great plan for the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom.

We should have the plans drawn up by the end of the week. I'll share them with you when we get them.

Our Mill House Renovation

Someone recommended to me that I should document the renovation of our little mill house that we are in the process of buying. It's a great idea! I hope I can keep up the blog for the duration of the project. We'll be closing on the house mid-October and starting renovations soon after. We will move into the house in May 2012.

It's located in the Bellevue Mill Village in the back of the downtown area of Hillsborough, NC. The house was built in 1921 by the owners of the local mill that it sits beside. The plan for the mill right now is to turn it into high-end apartment lofts similar to what Saxapahaw did to their old mill. Adjacent to the mill is Hillsborough BBQ Company and The Depot. And there are plans to open up a brewery and a river walk to downtown close by. We're excited about the walkability of our new house and what will become a thriving area of Hillsborough in the coming years.

Our house is currently 850 square feet with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom all located on one floor. Our plan is to keep one of the bedrooms downstairs and put two bedrooms and another bathroom upstairs (currently the attic) for a total living space of 1150 square feet. To pretty up the downstairs, we'll expose the beadboard that is behind the drywall, uncover the fireplaces in the kitchen and living room and spruce up the heart of pine wood floors. We'll also need to rearrange the kitchen a bit to make room for a dishwasher and add a set of stairs going to the attic/upstairs.

A friend of ours from The Gathering Church will be our contractor and his son is our architect. Ben, our architect, will meet with us on Monday to begin drawing up the plans for our house. I can't wait to share them with you. For now, here are some pictures of our new place...

 

Front of the house

Front Door

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

 

 Yard