We've Bought an Historical Old Vicarage!

[lambskin]

Amazing! Beautiful! Hang in there it will be finished soon! Thanks for posting photos.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

I feel your pain, but I am so excited for you! As a woman, our kitchens are so important to us. But trust me, it’s a man thing. Mr T says “no, no, I’ll do it, I’m not spending money if I don’t need to….”



Throughout this renovation he has largely been working & away Mon to Fri. I on the other hand, could often be found rocking in a corner in Nov / Dec overwhelmed with decision fatigue, wanting to smash my phone to stop the INCESSANT calls form the builders / interior designer several times a day (necessary to make decisions that they couldn’t make or relating to problems that had thrown up that needed a monetary response etc) & wanting to inject neat gin into my eyeballs & fall asleep for a LONG time. I had several mini tearful breakdowns. By Christmas I had decided I was going to flip it as soon as it was complete, because it had been such a pain in my balls that I NEVER wanted to actually live there.

But now I can see the end! And it’s beautiful & it’s everything I envisaged & said I wanted that they have managed to pull off. She’s our forever home & she looks beautiful & all those decisions I questioned (there have been many) are perfect. Bloody perfect.

Renovations are HARD. You make sure you take a breather from it as often as you can. And I have the most PERFECT kaftan here for your visit if you want to hop on a transatlantic flight

I saw all of that in granular detail. I felt it.
Like birth.
Someday love, I would be honored. It would be the trip of a lifetime! Just make sure I can get it hemmed, or at least some tape. I'm quite short, though it would be funny watching me gather and step on it everywhere.
* Thumpy sounds: I'm okay, just a bit of a roll really, it's fine!* echoing from different rooms.
You've done amazing things with that house and that's a huge feather for the cap. A spectacular accomplishment providing a truly beautiful place for the people you love. Plus, you'll have Chesterfields.
That's not nothin'.

 

[canuk-gal]

Aloha!

OH MYMYMY! I cannot believe ya'll will soon be in your new home! This pace has been monumental! And such beauty....I might need another mai tai!

cheers--Sharon

 

[Patty]

I haven’t checked in for a while so I’m amazed at how far you’ve come. The house is turning out to be beautiful! Love all your choices.

 

[mrs-b]

It's looking so beautiful, @Ally T. All the details have come together SO well. 5 more weeks.....

 

[Ally T]

This afternoon I spent an hour cleaning out the fireplace in the largest guest room. It was FILTHY & needed sorting before the carpet fitters arrive upstairs on Monday. I pulled out copious amounts of newspaper from 1989 that was rammed up inside the chimney & finally managed to get the heavy iron grate up to reveal inches & inches of 120 year old ash. I was covered head to toe

It took quite a while to empty as it was too narrow & deep to get a dustpan inside, so I did it by hand, sieving everything through my fingers into the dustpan before tipping into the bin bag. I found some interesting handwritten charred French words & that was about it. No treasure!

A good soapy scrub later, removing years of soot & dust, et voilà! A beautiful iridescent peacock coloured fireplace

 

[stracci2000]

This afternoon I spent an hour cleaning out the fireplace in the largest guest room. It was FILTHY & needed sorting before the carpet fitters arrive upstairs on Monday. I pulled out copious amounts of newspaper from 1989 that was rammed up inside the chimney & finally managed to get the heavy iron grate up to reveal inches & inches of 120 year old ash. I was covered head to toe

It took quite a while to empty as it was too narrow & deep to get a dustpan inside, so I did it by hand, sieving everything through my fingers into the dustpan before tipping into the bin bag. I found some interesting handwritten charred French words & that was about it. No treasure!

A good soapy scrub later, removing years of soot & dust, et voilà! A beautiful iridescent peacock coloured fireplace

OMG !!!
This is shockingly gorgeous!!!
I've never seen anything like it.

 

[RMOO]

Just so beautiful! That said, if you have any more of these to clean, I would invest in a good shop vacuum with a filter to suck up the ash in places where you can't easily use a fireplace shovel/dust pan.

 

[stracci2000]

@Ally T
You must pose for your portrait in front of it wearing sapphires and emeralds.

 

[Ally T]

OMG !!!
This is shockingly gorgeous!!!
I've never seen anything like it.

Isn’t it stunning?! I have never seen tiles in this colour before & there are a LOT of really old properties around here with beautiful fireplaces! Many on the hearth revealed crackled crazy paving in the glaze from years of heat, but nothing too bad. I am beyond in love with it. From the moment we first viewed this house it’s just been dirty & meh, so to see the true brightness of the colour, finally, blew my mind!

 

[Ally T]

@Ally T
You must pose for your portrait in front of it wearing sapphires and emeralds.

My sister collects womens Art Deco cigarette holders. I shall to be sure to hold one in the same hand that I am holding the Martini glass in

 

[Demon]

This afternoon I spent an hour cleaning out the fireplace in the largest guest room. It was FILTHY & needed sorting before the carpet fitters arrive upstairs on Monday. I pulled out copious amounts of newspaper from 1989 that was rammed up inside the chimney & finally managed to get the heavy iron grate up to reveal inches & inches of 120 year old ash. I was covered head to toe

It took quite a while to empty as it was too narrow & deep to get a dustpan inside, so I did it by hand, sieving everything through my fingers into the dustpan before tipping into the bin bag. I found some interesting handwritten charred French words & that was about it. No treasure!

A good soapy scrub later, removing years of soot & dust, et voilà! A beautiful iridescent peacock coloured fireplace

I love green anyway, but it's gorgeous! I can't believe how quickly this place is coming together.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I am a bit of a cleaning fanatic (hubby says I clean already clean stuff - ha!) so to see something like this that is truly dirty come to life is like a dream come true for me! It is just gorgeous and so worth your effort! Now I hope you can go soak yourself until you are squeaky clean too lol!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Stunning result! Great job girl!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[lambskin]

This afternoon I spent an hour cleaning out the fireplace in the largest guest room. It was FILTHY & needed sorting before the carpet fitters arrive upstairs on Monday. I pulled out copious amounts of newspaper from 1989 that was rammed up inside the chimney & finally managed to get the heavy iron grate up to reveal inches & inches of 120 year old ash. I was covered head to toe

It took quite a while to empty as it was too narrow & deep to get a dustpan inside, so I did it by hand, sieving everything through my fingers into the dustpan before tipping into the bin bag. I found some interesting handwritten charred French words & that was about it. No treasure!

A good soapy scrub later, removing years of soot & dust, et voilà! A beautiful iridescent peacock coloured fireplace

I started singing the chimney sweep song from MaryPoppins while reading your post! The fireplace is so beautiful, the tiles really glow and are in such great shape. Amazing! Great idea to get the fireplace cleaned out before the carpet is laid!

 

[Ally T]

I started singing the chimney sweep song from MaryPoppins while reading your post! The fireplace is so beautiful, the tiles really glow and are in such great shape. Amazing! Great idea to get the fireplace cleaned out before the carpet is laid!

Now I am singing Mary Poppins! And I suspect I will be ALL day!

 

[Ally T]

We are almost there! We are due to move in two weeks today, though prepared to let that slip a week if needed. But don't tell the builders as they'll get complacent

Here are a couple of transformation pics.

This is the main landing looking from the original Nursery doorway. That has since been blocked up & is now the Master Ensuite. We have had panelling added to the walls of the hall, stairs & landing & the landing carpet will be fitted last.






This is where the fireplace & chimney breast were removed in the Master Bedroom.







The Music Room, all tanked, plastered & complete with ten feet high shelving.







And finally for now, the removal of the chimney breast in DD2's bedroom in order to install a beautiful ensuite.

 

[SparklieBug]

Truly amazing, @Ally T! Two weeks to go!

 

[Ally T]

I took this picture when I popped in on Friday afternoon. Two usually jolly & very witty electricians, being sweary & grumpy at the realisation that this landing chandelier has 1000 crystals that need to be added by cottoned gloved hands.....

 

[canuk-gal]

I took this picture when I popped in on Friday afternoon. Two usually jolly & very witty electricians, being sweary & grumpy at the realisation that this landing chandelier has 1000 crystals that need to be added by cottoned gloved hands.....

Just wait til YOU have to clean it!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SparklieBug]

Oh, my. I'm sorry but this totally cracked me up! No doubt they were sweary and cranky. But gorgeous it is, when done, right?!

 

[Ally T]

Oh, my. I'm sorry but this totally cracked me up! No doubt they were sweary and cranky. But gorgeous it is, when done, right?!

I am told by the site manager that they sacked it off at 4pm with hand cramps & wandered across the lane to the pub

 

[Calliecake]

Oh @Ally T, This is all so gorgeous!!!! Can you please post a picture when all the crystals are on the chandelier? Your home is beautiful.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

 

[Ally T]

Oh @Ally T, This is all so gorgeous!!!! Can you please post a picture when all the crystals are on the chandelier? Your home is beautiful.

As soon as it’s all finished (hopefully Tuesday as the painters need that rig out of the big window so they can finish up) I shall post a picture. I know it weighs 75kg & they had to strengthen the ceiling above a few weeks ago in preparation. Along with other ceiling areas when they received the lighting list!

 

[Cinders]

All your progress is wonderful! It's so exciting that move-in is so soon. I'm thrilled for you & your family!!

 

[MMtwo]

This has been such a fun journey for your rabid enraptured fans. We're all moving in with you soon in spirit.

ALL OF US.

Kidding (kinda) aside, how fantastically wonderful for you and your family!
Thanks so much for sharing your stories and experiences.

 

[kah42]

The transformation really is breathtaking. You and your family/contractors have really done a great job making it new and modern, while keeping with the spirit of the original building. I am so excited for you!

 

[Austina]

It’s all coming together beautifully @Ally T, I bet you can’t wait to move in and start enjoying living there.

 

[momofive]

@Ally T - I can’t believe I just found this thread and your journey is coming to an end. The home is stunning! I love historic homes and would really love to restore one someday. I’ve enjoyed going back through the posts to read and see all you’ve done. We finished building a new home at the shore last year and it took almost 2-1/2 years, but I enjoyed every minute of it. You have done so much in a short time, and on an historic property to boot.

Congratulations on a job well done. Can’t wait to see the finished photos!