We've Bought an Historical Old Vicarage!

[MissGotRocks]

it is all just fascinating! Do you have any type of timeline for its completion or your move in? I am sure this is a test of patience to wait!!

 

[Ally T]

Sometimes what seem like unrelated facts in our world link up to surprise and delight us. Both your house and your piano are stunning.

Thank you for your lovely words!

 

[Ally T]

it is all just fascinating! Do you have any type of timeline for its completion or your move in? I am sure this is a test of patience to wait!!

It’s definitely been slightly draining & i did have a wobble in December, exhausted with decision fatigue & being caught up in minute details of things that won’t actually be noticed when complete. I did start to wonder what on earth we think we’re doing! But I know this house was meant to be ours & i know that another buyer wouldn’t possibly respect it as much as us. There was a proporal to split it into 2 houses, a proposal to build another property in the garden, one to turn it into apartments & one to turn it into a Respite Home for elderly patients in between hospital care & Nursing Home care.

I had a chat with the Site Manager last night, as I need to know from what point I can start having furniture delivered. We have agreed from mid-April & that we will be complete & ready to move in by mid May. The decorators may still be finishing off, but we’ll have all the major rooms done by then.

 

[MissGotRocks]

It’s definitely been slightly draining & i did have a wobble in December, exhausted with decision fatigue & being caught up in minute details of things that won’t actually be noticed when complete. I did start to wonder what on earth we think we’re doing! But I know this house was meant to be ours & i know that another buyer wouldn’t possibly respect it as much as us. There was a proporal to split it into 2 houses, a proposal to build another property in the garden, one to turn it into apartments & one to turn it into a Respite Home for elderly patients in between hospital care & Nursing Home care.

I had a chat with the Site Manager last night, as I need to know from what point I can start having furniture delivered. We have agreed from mid-April & that we will be complete & ready to move in by mid May. The decorators may still be finishing off, but we’ll have all the major rooms done by then.

Wow! That is sooner than I thought you'd say but how exciting for you! I am sure that it is exhausting and overwhelming but what a home you will have! We are so privileged to have been able to share this ride with you - thanks so much!!

 

[Ally T]

Wow! That is sooner than I thought you'd say but how exciting for you! I am sure that it is exhausting and overwhelming but what a home you will have! We are so privileged to have been able to share this ride with you - thanks so much!!

Bless you! I will definitely post a before & after picture of each room when we are finished, decorated, furnished & moved in. It will be nice for you all to be able to compare, given that you’ve stuck with me through this lengthy & sometimes teary process!

 

[RMOO]

Before and after photos are the best! I am so looking forward to seeing your beautiful home in its new glory!

 

[lambskin]

The fun stuff awaits! I don’t know how you can control yourself with such a beautiful home and extensive renovations. I’d be at every estate sale, boot sale, and antique store, etc just looking for anything and everything to decorate the house. But you have a lifetime to put your mark on it. Enjoy!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

WOW! That is SOON!!! Stay strong!!!! Have you listed your present home?

cheers--Sharon

 

[Ally T]

HI:

WOW! That is SOON!!! Stay strong!!!! Have you listed your present home?

cheers--Sharon

It’s not listed yet, no. There is a huge demand for property in this village & the 2 that were sold last year both had sales agreed within 5 working days. Houses going on the market up here are as rare as hens teeth - we are lifers! The houses sold recently were an old man who sadly died & an old lady who decided to go into care as her house & garden became overwhelming. We ourselves will have been here for 17 year this autumn.

We planned to list it in March but we need to declutter & take all the stuff we’ve bought & the light fittings for 17 rooms over to store at the Vicarage. But the builders won’t allow us to do this yet, as the plastering team only start today & then they want all the underfloor hearing system in first, so they aren’t having to shift things around to work. We will be able to declutter late March early April & will get it photographed & listed around then.

Meanwhile, on top of huge boxes of light fittings for 17 rooms, on Friday they are delivering 5 King size mattresses for the beds. Mr T has always wanted these fancy pants mattresses & they were in the Jan Sales, so we had to bite the bullet. Same with a beautiful teal green Chesterfield sofa I wanted for my Music Room. They are storing that for me free of charge for a month, but i suspect I’ll have to find a place to stick it in here at some point

 

[SparklieBug]

Ah, this is getting really exciting now, @Ally T! You can no doubt see things coming together, and if the plasterers are there, it will look so close to finished. April-May is but a heartbeat away. You'll be into the house during spring. How lovely!!!

 

[Ally T]

@SparklieBug It is definitely getting exciting! The oak roof trusses for the kitchen extension have finally been doweled together today, true to traditional manufacturing methods, and the crane arrives on Monday to hoist them into place. I am SO excited about this roof!

 

[SparklieBug]

I missed the bit where you said the trusses are oak. As I looked at them, I thought, “Whoa! That looks like oak!” Quickly scanned up, and yup, oak. How gorgeous is this going to be?!

 

[Ally T]

This is the 'new' boot room, which originally WAS a boot room, but in more modern times had had a sink crudely fitted in the far corner & a partition wall to screen it off. Weird. Anyway, we've had a stonemason in to sort out the brick mullion where the partition was pulled away & tidy the stone up, then this week the knackered old rusty Crittal windows were replaced with new aluminium ones. This little room is now so light & airy, ready to be plastered & have the new furniture fitted

 

[MMtwo]

How fantastic you are able to do this restoration. This has been such a delight to read and follow. This is exciting! How absolutely beautiful.

 

[yssie]

The love and the little details in each of these updates

And holy moly can you say Extension!?? Just how big is your kitchen going to be!? I know you said big, but I didn’t put two and two together!!

Ally, you’re made me want to build!! I was talking with my other half last night. I want to do a true old Dutch farmhouse build on our land up north. Not nearly as big a project as yours, and its “history” starts in 2023/2024, but I really want to keep our little cabin true to the styles of the original settlements in that area.

Your home looks so inviting Ally. Instagram shows me nothing but beiges and greys these days. Your home is a study in contrast with my IG - warm and comforting, bricks and browns and creams, open and airy but without losing the cozy. The spirits of that land and that house knew that they needed you to become their new owners. When I read about the conversions the prior buyer was considering… It’s got to be more than coincidence that it’s yours now!!

Just a few more months to move in!? OMG!!!!

 

[Ally T]

The love and the little details in each of these updates

And holy moly can you say Extension!?? Just how big is your kitchen going to be!? I know you said big, but I didn’t put two and two together!!

Ally, you’re made me want to build!! I was talking with my other half last night. I want to do a true old Dutch farmhouse build on our land up north. Not nearly as big a project as yours, and its “history” starts in 2023/2024, but I really want to keep our little cabin true to the styles of the original settlements in that area.

Your home looks so inviting Ally. Instagram shows me nothing but beiges and greys these days. Your home is a study in contrast with my IG - warm and comforting, bricks and browns and creams, open and airy but without losing the cozy. The spirits of that land and that house knew that they needed you to become their new owners. When I read about the conversions the prior buyer was considering… It’s got to be more than coincidence that it’s yours now!!

Just a few more months to move in!? OMG!!!!

This sounds like a fabulous idea! You can research & make sure it is period & feature appropriate - it will be so exciting & rewarding! Plus you will have the benefit of not having to remove a toilet from an upstairs cupboard, re-jiggle bedrooms to facilitate bathrooms, replace 119 year old lead windows, re-do the damp-proofing because it was botched by the Diocese contractors, re-position the drains, or totally rebuild the Servants bedroom in the attic, because the chimney in there is SO incredibly rotten that the rain comes in. Literally. I was up in there 2 weeks ago with the Site Manager to discuss something when we were having a heavy storm & the water was splashing onto the hearth tiles on the floor. Yuk.

It’s certainly had its stressy moments & I’m sure there are still more tear inducing incidents to come, but i WILL re-build this house & she WILL be absolutely bloody glorious. She deserves it after years & years of neglect.

All the bathrooms are now plastered & the tilers start on Mon 20th. All the tiles have been bought & are up in the attic waiting. We are in the process of measuring up for wall papers. The kitchen roof…… I’m still giddy & will post pictures on Monday when it’s gone up.

Mr T & I have been there all day today, breaking our backs again in the garden. We have cleared literally masses of undergrowth from around one boundary, that is a full length of protected Holly Trees. You literally couldn’t get in there. We have chopped away all the suckers & brambles, plus taken the skirts up slightly to prevent the branches touching the ground. The girls are planning to put swing seats under there for summer shade & Mr T is having his chicken coops under there also, with a large run along the back hidden from the view of the garden.

Tomorrow we are meeting the company who are coming to level the garden at the back & remove the elevation that splits the formal lawn from the hidden working kitchen gardens. We’ve already met them a couple of times, but tomorrow we are laying out with markers, spray painting hard standing layout & getting really. The grass will be all one level & the patios will have steps down from the laws towards the house.

 

[Ally T]

@yssie The floor tiles for the new kitchen & dining room have been measured up as 95 square meters……

Definitely getting roller skates!

 

[yssie]

@yssie The floor tiles for the new kitchen & dining room have been measured up as 95 square meters……

Definitely getting roller skates!

I am so envious. The counter space you’ll have in there…

 

[yssie]

This sounds like a fabulous idea! You can research & make sure it is period & feature appropriate - it will be so exciting & rewarding! Plus you will have the benefit of not having to remove a toilet from an upstairs cupboard, re-jiggle bedrooms to facilitate bathrooms, replace 119 year old lead windows, re-do the damp-proofing because it was botched by the Diocese contractors, re-position the drains, or totally rebuild the Servants bedroom in the attic, because the chimney in there is SO incredibly rotten that the rain comes in. Literally. I was up in there 2 weeks ago with the Site Manager to discuss something when we were having a heavy storm & the water was splashing onto the hearth tiles on the floor. Yuk.

It’s certainly had its stressy moments & I’m sure there are still more tear inducing incidents to come, but i WILL re-build this house & she WILL be absolutely bloody glorious. She deserves it after years & years of neglect.

All the bathrooms are now plastered & the tilers start on Mon 20th. All the tiles have been bought & are up in the attic waiting. We are in the process of measuring up for wall papers. The kitchen roof…… I’m still giddy & will post pictures on Monday when it’s gone up.

Mr T & I have been there all day today, breaking our backs again in the garden. We have cleared literally masses of undergrowth from around one boundary, that is a full length of protected Holly Trees. You literally couldn’t get in there. We have chopped away all the suckers & brambles, plus taken the skirts up slightly to prevent the branches touching the ground. The girls are planning to put swing seats under there for summer shade & Mr T is having his chicken coops under there also, with a large run along the back hidden from the view of the garden.

Tomorrow we are meeting the company who are coming to level the garden at the back & remove the elevation that splits the formal lawn from the hidden working kitchen gardens. We’ve already met them a couple of times, but tomorrow we are laying out with markers, spray painting hard standing layout & getting really. The grass will be all one level & the patios will have steps down from the laws towards the house.

Every single one of those adventures is a chapter in the storybook your kids will read their kids one day. They’ll probably especially enjoy the icky ones like the rotten leaky roofing You’re not building a house. You’re creating family ancestry that your descendants will treasure for generations. That is so special And we get to share it live, lucky us!!

Philosophizing aside, I’ve still got wildlife to relocate, a burn to schedule, a county-demanded bypass to be cleared and rebuilt and paved, and about six billion permits to conjure up before we can even think about sticking a peg in the ground. Sigh. Everything is on hold for a while with new job and family health needs… But there’s no rush for us.

 

[yssie]

What’s the brick tower structure outside the window here? Is that part of your house? Church opposite?

 

[Ally T]

What’s the brick tower structure outside the window here? Is that part of your house? Church opposite?

It’s the Church on the opposite side of the lane. The bells ring the time every 15 minutes, but thankfully they’re not too loud & the new windows mostly block them out when inside. Mr T & I both grew up with church bells in our villages, so we’re used to it & it’s homely.

 

[Ally T]

@yssie Here it is looking out from the Vicarage pedestrian gate.

 

[yssie]

@yssie Here it is looking out from the Vicarage pedestrian gate.

Ah! I recognize this gate from your older pics. This is where y’all watched a wedding procession from several months ago, right?

 

[Ally T]

Ah! I recognize this gate from your older pics. This is where y’all watched a wedding procession from several months ago, right?

Yep

 

[SparklieBug]

Your side of the gate reminds of what I imagined The Secret Garden to look like.

 

[lambskin]

Talk about reverse curb appeal! Beautiful!

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

@yssie The floor tiles for the new kitchen & dining room have been measured up as 95 square meters……

Definitely getting roller skates!

I'm so relieved, it means I can stay even when you have people visiting in my orangery. I'll be over here, in the hearth or something.

I've gone crazy for wallpapers lately and would love to see some contenders when the time comes!

 

[yssie]

I didn’t realize we were at the point of claiming parts of Ally’s house for ourselves, so what’s left?

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

I didn’t realize we were at the point of claiming parts of Ally’s house for ourselves, so what’s left?

Plenty! Of course I have invited myself, like the lovely though decidedly uncouth American cousin I aim to be! I even promised to wear a caftan and tell faerie stories to earn my keep as an incredibly fair exchange. We're forming a bit of a color guard with how many of us will eventually cycle through You can live with me in the hedges and when it gets very cold or damp we'll camp in the orangery.
Someone will be along shortly, I'm sure, to collect us.

 

[Ally T]

Yummy..............