GREG MADE! New Front Porch!!

We live in an old farmhouse that was built around 1918.  It is a wonderful old house and we love it, but when we bought it a little more than a year ago, we said the first thing we were going to do in terms of home improvement was to tear down the terrible, horrible, weird, oddly built enclosed front porch.  This was priority number one for me.  According to our neighbors across the street...the enclosed front porch had been there as long as they had been there--and that is 47 years.  (They moved into the neighborhood in 1964.)  So, the added on porch was built before that...we figure sometime in the 50s....this is what it looked like a mere 3 days ago....

Inside: The front door is painted oddly, but the side and top window treatments are actually quite lovely but you would never know it as it was...

Looking the other way...basically this enclosed space acted a garage for previous owners of the house...Personally I can think of nothing worse than be welcomed into a home by all your unsightly junk...not my idea of homey.   And we are trying to figure out why this structure was even built on in the first place...Eventhough whoever built it, did do a solid job, it was hot in the summer and cold in the winter...not exactly the place you want to hang out...

So, it started coming down!

My husband Greg had slowly started to dismantle it over the last several months...first taking out the paneling, then the insulation...the electrical, the ceiling beadwood paneling.  Everytime he took layers away he would be covered by decades of dust, soot, old wood rot.  As the layers started coming away, it was like looking back into time.  The old wood beams and insulation had logos of American companies from long ago...

Everything was stamped MADE IN THE USA.

kind of made me a little sad...

But, ANYWAY! I digress...so the new beams were ordered and delivered, Greg lined up help with our wonderful friend Josh and the big day arrived...

The windows came out.

Magda and Luca looked on with wonder...

The walls came out and the support 2 x 4s went in.

The beams were fitted.  And our dream of having a lovely front porch was getting closer every minute!!

After two solid days, a minor injury to the face and a chipped bone in his thumb (don't ask) Greg once again proved that he is a master mind and a master builder.  I am so proud of him--he spent A LOT of time thinking about this project and every moment paid off...

The ceiling, the railing, the fans/light, stairs, painting still need to happen (Also, the porch swing and the rockers, too) but its a HUGE VAST IMPROVEMENT and I am so happy.  Now I love the outside of my house as much as I love the inside...Thanks Greg--I love you!!!