From Hovel to Home

Tags for From Hovel to Home: ranch 1950s

I'm Britten from Montana.  My husband and I are in the middle of our 3rd to-the-studs remodel.  Our current project is a 1953 ranch we purchased as a repo.  We are slowly transforming it from hovel to home.

My New Project

Authors: Britten

Ten months ago something wonderful happened.  We finished the basement bathroom.  After six months in the house I could finally take a shower with my eyes open and touch the floors or walls without the urge to spray my skin with Lysol. So for the last nine months our only bathroom has been in the basement.  We are currently li...

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Front of House Before and After

Authors: Britten

As autumn draws to a close and we prepare to hunker down for another winter I am pleased to look back and see that changes we have made to the exterior of the house.  Until a few months ago we had a drab little 50's house.   But now we get to come home to this charming little place.  (Sorry about the lighting.  It gets dark pre...

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No More 50's Front Porch

Authors: Britten

I am so close to having the front of the house finished, but the porch still needs some attention.  Several weeks ago Luke removed the railing from around the porch.  We don't like how much it sticks out into the sidewalk so we won't be reusing it. My dad is going to rework it into a railing for an egress window at his home so it's...

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A Million Dollar Makeover for $170

Authors: Britten

There is no way to hide that we have a plain 50's ranch, but we're doing the best we can to dress it up.  Replacing the windows and front door were a start, and painting the house made a big difference, but we're not there yet. I wanted it to look a little more custom so Luke and I agreed on a stone veneer under the window. The...

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A Snail's Pace

Authors: Britten

While Luke was fixing the truck's brakes and working on his thesis, I spent the weekend working on the stone veneer for the front of the house.  A large portion of Saturday was spent running errands, cutting tile and prepping for the veneer installation.  By the time I finally got started putting on the slate it was evening and I o...

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Site Tweaking

Authors: Britten

After seven years and three houses I am almost out of space to store my pictures with Google.  I am currently removing old posts to free up room for new photos.  If you are looking for older photos please bear with me while I make changes and re-direct links.  I should have it all straightened out in the next few weeks....

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Exterior Painting Is Done!

Authors: Britten

Our house is no longer the neighborhood eyesore.  The painting is done!  My dad drove down on Thursday night to help me finish the prep work and get the painting done.  Having an extra pair of hands made a huge difference; it never would have been ready this weekend without him. The before photos are from when we moved in last ye...

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Siding Rework

Authors: Britten

Fall is here and winter is fast approaching, but the house is not painted yet.  There is still a lot of work to do before it's ready for paint, especially on the east side.  When we moved in the east side had a set of stairs with a side door into the dining room.     During the summer we removed the side porch and poured new conc...

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The Patio Predicament

Authors: Britten

When we first moved to this house Luke and I liked our covered patio.  It didn't matter that it had an ugly cinder block seating wall or leaking roof, it had potential. One of our first projects was to remove the seating wall on two sides so we would use the cinder blocks to wall off our cellar access. For the past year the...

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The Last of the Windows

Authors: Britten

This week saw another completed project; we replaced the last few windows.  The short, wide bedroom windows really date the house. You can see our boarded-up bedroom window on the left.  The plywood was a temporary measure.  A year is temporary right? Since our bedroom is already painted black and blue having half the window bo...

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