We've Bought an Historical Old Vicarage!

[Calliecake]

@Ally T, This is going to look amazing, I’m so looking forward to seeing pictures as you go along. It’s so much fun to read your posts. Your excitement jumps off the posts!

 

[yssie]

@Ally T, This is going to look amazing, I’m so looking forward to seeing pictures as you go along. It’s so much fun to read your posts. Your excitement jumps off the posts!

I’ll echo every word, I’m SO excited to see this all come to life!!!! What a journey Thank you for sharing it with us Ally!!!

I love how you’re reusing existing features and components. You’re breathing new life into old beauties and I already know that they’ll sing to you when they’re made anew

LOVE the idea of the church pew

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

You missed where Sharon's bedroom is!!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Wish for the day:
You, inviting me(the self declared American cousin), to come swan around for a few days.

* I know, I know, I kid.
*sigh*
But I'm prone to the imagines as it is and I'm having a nice one. I even get stuck in one of the flowering bushes. Long story. I'll sleep in the orangery and I'll wear a caftan with jewels on it and take the girls on adventures and tell all the fairy and folklore stories I know. And I know a lot of them. We'll do six impossible things before breakfast! It's a whole thing.

My favorite thread forever and always!

 

[Ally T]

Wish for the day:
You, inviting me(the self declared American cousin), to come swan around for a few days.

* I know, I know, I kid.
*sigh*
But I'm prone to the imagines as it is and I'm having a nice one. I even get stuck in one of the flowering bushes. Long story. I'll sleep in the orangery and I'll wear a caftan with jewels on it and take the girls on adventures and tell all the fairy and folklore stories I know. And I know a lot of them. We'll do six impossible things before breakfast! It's a whole thing.

My favorite thread forever and always!

Six impossible things before breakfast?? I am VERY intruiged & onboard with that!

Any PSers who want to visit will be MORE than welcome if ever in my neck of the woods. There will be plenty of space & lots of lovely places to visit, plus I will be extremely happy to share this amazing house with others.

We consider ourselves lucky custodians & our job is to breathe life & love back into the old place, to preserve it for our children, grandchildren & future generations to come. Our girls feel daunted, which is ok, as at the moment the house is very run down, feels big, empty & a bit scary. But we know with the renovations, selecting the details of their ensuite bathrooms, getting involved with the lighting designs in their bedrooms & seeing the beautiful kitchen extension come to life, that they won't be able to help but feel excited & ready to move in. Their heads tell them they want this, but at the moment their hearts can't see past the mess & the fact that our house, the house they were born into, is such a lovely & cosy home.

I will also miss this house. Mr T & I bought it only a few months after we met & we have been here for 16 years. BUT! My excitement about the opportunity we have far outweighs it, which is what I am reassured will also be the case for the girls as they see the Vicarage come into full bloom under our care

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I just reread this thread. Made me a little teary. So much goodness here.

Accidental Opening of Fancy Champagne & Faux Pas Celebrations!

Wow!! But what do you want more....the vacation or the ring?? If you had to choose. Fun game! I think I'd pick the ring, because you can enjoy it forever. Er... Hello! THE RING!

www.pricescope.com

And when I visit I promise to bring 2 CASES of bubbly stuff!!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Six impossible things before breakfast?? I am VERY intruiged & onboard with that!

Any PSers who want to visit will be MORE than welcome if ever in my neck of the woods. There will be plenty of space & lots of lovely places to visit, plus I will be extremely happy to share this amazing house with others.

We consider ourselves lucky custodians & our job is to breathe life & love back into the old place, to preserve it for our children, grandchildren & future generations to come. Our girls feel daunted, which is ok, as at the moment the house is very run down, feels big, empty & a bit scary. But we know with the renovations, selecting the details of their ensuite bathrooms, getting involved with the lighting designs in their bedrooms & seeing the beautiful kitchen extension come to life, that they won't be able to help but feel excited & ready to move in. Their heads tell them they want this, but at the moment their hearts can't see past the mess & the fact that our house, the house they were born into, is such a lovely & cosy home.

I will also miss this house. Mr T & I bought it only a few months after we met & we have been here for 16 years. BUT! My excitement about the opportunity we have far outweighs it, which is what I am reassured will also be the case for the girls as they see the Vicarage come into full bloom under our care

Our house is tiny in comparison but after moving feom 45m2 into a 4 bedroom i can get where the girls are coning from
i still like running (or even walking) up and down the halll because we never had one before !

But it was kinda scary at night for ages

we still leave the bathroom light on at night because the place is pitch black in the middle of the night

but things become familar and less scary with familiarity and living and making oneself a part of the house

The lovely little front bedroom i had designated as the Bruce ( Springsteen memorable) room before we moved in scared me sh*tless the first night we moved in
i went to close the curtains
there was this cool breeze and all the hair on the back of my neck stod up
the next day i carted all the moving boxes labeled Bruce into what was going to be the guest room

10 days latter when we got Borris from the cattery first thing she did was make herself familar with that room and all of a sudden it wasn't scary
- infact both dear Tibby and now Fluffa also love that room

its a corner room and has nice cross ventilation in the summer
also its a drafty mid century house
curtains move on windy days

If it would help your girls in their new home to have a bit of a laugh please share with them

we moved in the middle of summer
it was hot and sweaty work shifting all those boxes of Bruce books etc (also no one left us the instructions to the heat pump so we had no idea till a year latter we had air-con)

 

[yennyfire]

I’m drooling as I read your plans!! I am so excited to see the progress unfold! Thank you for allowing us to live it vicariously through you!!!

 

[Ally T]

HI:

I just reread this thread. Made me a little teary. So much goodness here.

Accidental Opening of Fancy Champagne & Faux Pas Celebrations!

Wow!! But what do you want more....the vacation or the ring?? If you had to choose. Fun game! I think I'd pick the ring, because you can enjoy it forever. Er... Hello! THE RING!

www.pricescope.com

And when I visit I promise to bring 2 CASES of bubbly stuff!!!

cheers--Sharon

And it turns out my dream Tiffany ring WASN'T frivolous after all! He just wanted to wait until the time was right & boy was she worth the wait!

Coincidentally, there is also a bottle of Dom chilling in the fridge as I type, waiting for the completion of the purchase on Tuesday! The agent, the AMAZING agent who shifted heaven & earth to show the Diocese that WE were actually the right family to take this house on & encourage them to pull out of the original sale, is meeting us there to present all the keys, then we'll walk across the green to the pub & buy champagne. Not for the children, obviously! She has definitely become a friend & wil be sticking around in our lives. She already feels like my surrogate daughter & we are all super fond of her. It's amazing how people appear into your life that you wonder how you survived without....

 

[canuk-gal]

And it turns out my dream Tiffany ring WASN'T frivolous after all! He just wanted to wait until the time was right & boy was she worth the wait!

Coincidentally, there is also a bottle of Dom chilling in the fridge as I type, waiting for the completion of the purchase on Tuesday! The agent, the AMAZING agent who shifted heaven & earth to show the Diocese that WE were actually the right family to take this house on & encourage them to pull out of the original sale, is meeting us there to present all the keys, then we'll walk across the green to the pub & buy champagne. Not for the children, obviously! She has definitely become a friend & wil be sticking around in our lives. She already feels like my surrogate daughter & we are all super fond of her. It's amazing how people appear into your life that you wonder how you survived without....

How wonderful!!!! I thought there might be a few bottles of bubbly in your future... Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ally T]

How wonderful!!!! I thought there might be a few bottles of bubbly in your future... Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We can cheers in real life when you visit!

 

[marymm]

This thread is absolutely magical, filled with family and history and renovations and gardens, woodwork and paint and marble, flowers and fountains and fireplaces ... I am so utterly entranced with this lovely vicarage even as is, and even more so with the fabulous design plans and the dedication to keeping and restoring its essence while also allowing it to breath new life ... thank you for sharing these new updates @Ally T

 

[VapidLapid]

I am so insanely jealous I cannot speak;
so many thank you for finally shutting me up!

 

[SparklieBug]

To the back right is where the over grown chicken coops & kitchen garden is. It's a mess. There will be a beautiful new Edwardian glass house, new chicken coops & raised planters. This will be Mr T's sanctuary away from work. He's grown vegetables & fruit for years, slowly over time removing more & more shrubs to make space, so to have a large dedicated & well planned area is the icing on the cake for him.

Eeeeek! Will you have chickens?! My sis and her family have some chickens. They are just the coolest wee creatures! Plus, they eat bugs, leftovers, and make the sweetest coo-ing sounds.

 

[Ally T]

Eeeeek! Will you have chickens?! My sis and her family have some chickens. They are just the coolest wee creatures! Plus, they eat bugs, leftovers, and make the sweetest coo-ing sounds.

Sadly yes, against my better judgement there will be chickens in my future

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

DESIGN UPDATE - GARDENS

Mega project. Mega. Almost as mega as the house

To the front of the property, right along the boundary alongside the lane, are huge trees (protected) box hedges & rhododendrons. Like, a LOT of rhododendrons. A wall. This will all be left alone. The pedestrian gate will remain, which is directly across the lane from the gate into the Church. I will perch here to watch weddings & can't wait! It's a lovely gate & I wish it could tell me all the things it's overheard as people through time have perched on her. The main gates need widening as they are narrow & we can barely get our cars through. Then the rickety farmers type gate will be removed & replaced by solid electric gates.

To the left of the house there are huge trees & that area of garden is quite dark. So we are planning this area to be my New Zealand garden in homage of my years living there. We will have a large pond put in (utilising the hand pump from the courtyard) & plant lots of variety of ferns & moss.

To the right of the house will be the new garage block, housing 3 cars & a gym. The driveway will be gravel & the planting carefully thought out.

Across the back, the formal lawns will stay as they are. We will be building a huge patio area across the back of the house & an outdoor kitchen off to the side of the new kitchen extension. Mr T wants a sunken firepit out there & the girls want a huge trampoline & a summer house.

To the back right is where the over grown chicken coops & kitchen garden is. It's a mess. There will be a beautiful new Edwardian glass house, new chicken coops & raised planters. This will be Mr T's sanctuary away from work. He's grown vegetables & fruit for years, slowly over time removing more & more shrubs to make space, so to have a large dedicated & well planned area is the icing on the cake for him.

I love rhodos
But a NZ garden
What are you going to plant
(A Cuba st Bucket fountain )
My favourite tree is a cabbage tree
i think if i had kids someone would have been called Cordyline
What else ?
Hebes ?
Kowhai for the birds ?
I bet Chatham island forget me knots would grow well there ?

 

[Ally T]

I love rhodos
But a NZ garden
What are you going to plant
(A Cuba st Bucket fountain )
My favourite tree is a cabbage tree
i think if i had kids someone would have been called Cordyline
What else ?
Hebes ?
Kowhai for the birds ?
I bet Chatham island forget me knots would grow well there ?

I hated that bucket fountain on Cuba St. It always fell as I walked past & sprayed me I worked just up from there on Wigan St.

I would LOVE to have Kowhai! But sadly it's not native here & I have never, ever seen one growing. I had a huge one in my NZ garden. But there's no reason I couldn't look into it, right?

Mostly it will be full of varieties of fern & moss, as they grow well in shady, damp places. It isn't damp there at the mo, but it is shady due to huge trees. We'll put a big pond in & install my mama Kiwi & her 2 babies, which are handmade from treated oil drums & have lived happily in my small garden here (amongst ferns & moss) for many years. I love them & they will appreciate a bigger home ❤

 

[Ally T]

@Daisys and Diamonds It turns out upon investigation, that I CAN grow Kowhai here with the right soil & sun conditions! I will need to get the soil tested & I have a feeling it will be clay when they like alkaline & limey soil, but it's definitely worth looking into.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I hated that bucket fountain on Cuba St. It always fell as I walked past & sprayed me I worked just up from there on Wigan St.

I would LOVE to have Kowhai! But sadly it's not native here & I have never, ever seen one growing. I had a huge one in my NZ garden. But there's no reason I couldn't look into it, right?

Mostly it will be full of varieties of fern & moss, as they grow well in shady, damp places. It isn't damp there at the mo, but it is shady due to huge trees. We'll put a big pond in & install my mama Kiwi & her 2 babies, which are handmade from treated oil drums & have lived happily in my small garden here (amongst ferns & moss) for many years. I love them & they will appreciate a bigger home ❤

How excitting
Im proudly from Dunedin
We have NZ's first botanical gardens
The rhodo dell in the upper gardens is in native bush
they all look so well together

Probably not so suitable for you but im a tussok kinda gal because the Strath Taieri (Middlemarch) is my favourite place on earth

I bet there are all sorts of NZ plants cultivated by nurseries in the UK
i often see them on Kirsty and Phil

 

[OneKuhlChic]

Im watching that Ghosts program on tv on demand
I think its bbc
A comedy
you know the couple that inherit an old home from a distant aunty and it has a range of ghosts from prehistoric times right up until the 1980s with victims of the plague burried in the celler

.....just thought of you

If only houses could talk

OMG, I thought of that show too when started reading about The Olde Vicarage!!!

 

[OneKuhlChic]

This is the stuff of old romance novels

Were you permitted to read the letters? That sounds like such an amazing find!! And the letters seem very personal, insight into the daily life and dreams of a man hundreds of years ago How long do you think it’s been since the inside of that safe saw daylight!? Probably helped preserve the papers.

Will you get to keep the safe itself, even if maybe not its contents? Or has the safe gone for valuation too?

And about that outbuilding So what do we think is stashed in there…

I don't think I would read those letters as they are personal. You never know who or what may be attracted to people reading / talking about their personal life.

I've had too many weird things happen to me over the years to attract unwanted attention from those on the other side. Especially if that Vicar was an A-hole!!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

@Daisys and Diamonds It turns out upon investigation, that I CAN grow Kowhai here with the right soil & sun conditions! I will need to get the soil tested & I have a feeling it will be clay when they like alkaline & limey soil, but it's definitely worth looking into.

Its dark now when i walk home
i pick flowers from people's hedges for the little vase that sits beside Tibby's ashes





you know chattam island forget me knot would look awsome in the moss and ferns (if you can keep the slugs off it - it grows from seed)

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Our purchase completed today! We still can't believe, after ALL these months, that finally she is ours & we have the Title Deeds & all the keys The girls were running wild, but I did manage to take a picture of the safe in the midst of mayhem. The parquet flooring in here has never bizarrely been varnished & is just bare dusty blocks.

View attachment 890341

Not to upstage that beautiful house
but what a beautiful safe !

That floor has been waiting its entire life for you and your family to come give it the love it deserves

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Ally look what's been in the news
I worked at Mitre 10 at the bottom of Vivian st (but we used to say collegest off Cambridge tec - because back in those days girls were not such a frequent sight working in hardwear stores and Vivian st is .... well you remember - the red light district

A million miles away from an old and beautiful Edwardian vicerage in England

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

 

[Ally T]

Ally look what's been in the news
I worked at Mitre 10 at the bottom of Vivian st (but we used to say collegest off Cambridge tec - because back in those days girls were not such a frequent sight working in hardwear stores and Vivian st is .... well you remember - the red light district

A million miles away from an old and beautiful Edwardian vicerage in England

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

He can' say that!! I love Laura. I love her hair.

 

[Matata]

@Ally T Your family and your home look tailored made for each other.
I am impressed by how quickly you were able to choose design details. It took me a month to choose fabric for one piece of furniture and you've got the plan laid out for the entire project. Bravo!

 

[Ally T]

@Ally T Your family and your home look tailored made for each other.
I am impressed by how quickly you were able to choose design details. It took me a month to choose fabric for one piece of furniture and you've got the plan laid out for the entire project. Bravo!

I'm impatient I'm basically paying to have zero stress! Everyone has been in & out for months now, sorting all the plans & designs. Hopefully they will swing into action quickly!

Tomorrow we will all be over there (girls & I are on school half term holiday & Mr T has booked most of the day off), to remove all the Vicarage signing & plaques. We have the Queens Platinum Jubilee national holidays on Thurs & Fri, so we are all off until Mon. My ENTIRE family have booked tomorrow off work so that they can come over & view for the first time, then we have The Outlaws arriving from Somerset on Friday for their look around. Exciting days ahead!

 

[canuk-gal]

I'm impatient I'm basically paying to have zero stress! Everyone has been in & out for months now, sorting all the plans & designs. Hopefully they will swing into action quickly!

Tomorrow we will all be over there (girls & I are on school half term holiday & Mr T has booked most of the day off), to remove all the Vicarage signing & plaques. We have the Queens Platinum Jubilee national holidays on Thurs & Fri, so we are all off until Mon. My ENTIRE family have booked tomorrow off work so that they can come over & view for the first time, then we have The Outlaws arriving from Somerset on Friday for their look around. Exciting days ahead!

Put them all to work!!!!!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Have you got a visitors book all ready ?
To start documenting the new history of the house

 

[Ally T]

Have you got a visitors book all ready ?
To start documenting the new history of the house

Nope! But we will be taking lots of pictures of the progression.