The Front Shrubs are Gone

In Farm Life, Projects and Renovations by Laura CrossleyLeave a Comment

No doubt about it – the farm’s previous family took exceptional care of the property. The house, the out-buildings, the lawn, the pastures – every literal thing is in amazing shape.

The house when we bought it, December 2019

That being said, part of why we decided to buy the farm was the appeal of this “diamond in the rough.” While this place is stunning – there are a few opportunities for us to bring bits of it up to date with new styling and design. One of those bits is the exterior of the house.

The house when we bought it, December 2019

The house is currently painted a chocolate brown with pale yellow shake gables and chunky sandstone accents. Dark wood and white vinyl windows dot the exterior. For the most part, dark solid wood French doors with muntin grids line the house. The only exception is the pale yellow front door with beveled glass inserts.

The chocolate wood siding is showing signs of water damage and a couple of the roof supports along the back deck are no longer supportive. Other than those, our wishlist of changes are entirely cosmetic. That’s rare for most remodels – but even more so in houses that are more than 40 years old.

After talking with a contractor this week, Aaron dove head-first into clearing the front landscape so that we can get rolling on our siding project. After a couple of hours with the chain saw, he had revealed the true beauty of the front of the house.

With the overgrown shrubs out of the way, natural light poured into the kitchen. From the inside looking out – the views were wide and vast. All of the dogs and even the baby noticed everything that could be seen across the front pasture. It’s truly great!

We can also get a look at the sandstone rock the accents the entire Northeast corner of the house. We’d never actually been able to see it before and are starting to rethink how it can be kept in the new exterior designs. Oooo, natural stone!

Chopping the shrubs has left us with a fresh face on the house and blank slate for all of our new ideas and updates. To be fair, it will also make life tons easier when we start re-siding the house – but in my mind, that’s definitely a secondary benefit.