Time for House #2 in our little hunting adventures.
A restored Colonial in Downtown Weatherford Specs:
- 4 Bedrooms + library
- 3 Baths
- 4,006 Square Feet
- 0.41 acres
- Built in 1907
Walking up I loved the porch (upstairs and down), the columns, and the overall Louisiana feel to this house. I couldn’t help but think this a house that would be in True Blood. Nick actually bet that I would want it just based on that as if I’m that shallow (maybe a little).
Immediately you can tell this house has been restored and staged. The entry is grand, but we aren’t huge fans of wood trim. You can appreciate how well kept the house is whether it’s your style or not.
Oh the windows! There were 2 sunrooms- one downstairs (pictured) and one up. There was a ton of natural light in this house. This was actually an addition. You can tell my the difference in the wood floors and the formerly exterior wall now functioning as an interior one. I’m not sure when the addition happened, but I felt that they did a good job of making it seamless with a few exceptions.
The kitchen was a very odd set up. Half of it was part of the addition, so the exterior wall divided it into 2 parts and separated it from the sunroom. Of course it needed updating, but the layout couldn’t be changed. Note there are 2 sinks in each section of the kitchen. As it’s pictured above you could walk from the white kitchen through the doorway into the oak kitchen.
You can see the exterior/interior wall here. The nook set up was strange too. There wasn’t a designated space for it. It was between the sunroom and one part of the kitchen.
You may remember this light fixture from our instagram. It’s in the formal dining and is amazing.
The bedrooms were upstairs. All of them had amazing windows. Plus you had the porch upstairs too. Why do we not build houses with more windows now?
The master bath had beautiful black and white tile but not so beautiful vanities. Nick and I like less detailing and more straight lines in our furniture and vanities. It’s not that it isn’t beautiful. It’s just not our taste. Behind the mirror on the right is…
The master closet which was a pretty good size for an old house. You can see the art easel in the background. There’s a small room back there. It would be great for a hobby room or a dressing area.
The exterior features were by far some of the best we’ve ever seen. It had a courtyard with these incredible bricks. There was a good size lot with a 3 car garage and electric gate. There was an enclosed patio space that was set up for dogs too.
What we loved:
- The age of the house. Seriously this place is pretty epic now I can’t imagine who built it in 1907.
- The exterior features were incredible and the style/look of the outside is beautiful.
- There was a ton of storage.
- There was a lot of space. Lots of rooms.
- NATURAL LIGHT!!! I mean huge windows everywhere.
- The price was still under budget.
What we didn’t like:
- The kitchen set up was weird. It wasn’t something that could be changed either.
- The layout was a little odd. Definitely not as bad as house #1 or most older homes though. Part of this may be because it’s 4,000 square feet. It’s just huge, so the floorplan wasn’t as noticeably strange.
- Although it was immaculate, the finish out wasn’t our style.
What do you think? Is this the one? Is it worth fixing up or leaving it for someone who appreciates the house as it is?
THAT ONE IS THE ONE.
THE ENTRY.
THE WOOD.
GAH. UGH. SWOON. *passes out*
(okay, all that aside, this house has some things I’d immediately need to change to make it speak to it’s old house herritage, but what i love about this age of house is the wood work isn’t so frilly- like my house- so it’s super easy to keep with the age while being able to incorporate modern touches. LOVE IT.)
And if that was anywhere near my budget, Nate wouldn’t even have a choice. BAM. I said it.
Haha I knew you’d love this house Emma. Although I don’t like the look/tone of the wood in the entry, I felt like painting it would be semi-tragic (also a huge pain in the ass). One of the things we had to consider was how our decorating style would mesh with the house. You can’t go super modern in a home like this. It would be ridiculous. We debated what percentage of modern you could go and lots of other factors. It’s a pretty incredible older home.
Holy cow! 4,000 square feet? I truly cannot even fathom that much space. Or cleaning it. It’s truly lovely and I really like all the details and the huge windows. It’s a shame about the kitchen. It’s really the most important room in the house.
I know that totally bummed me out especially since there was no way to fix it. Nick is really into cooking, and we are usually all in there. It just wouldn’t be possible in this house. I’m just not sure I want to give that family time up. Plus you’re right I would be cleaning 100% of the time. 4,000 square feet is crazy huge. It would be an undertaking just to furnish all those room, but what fun that would be!
Gorgeous! I’m in LOVE with the exterior and all of the windows but that kitchen layout isn’t doable. Also, 4,000 sq. ft. is a TON of space! Can you imagine how much it’d cost to furnish/fix up all of it?! Yikes!
Quick question: since your guys style/taste is pretty modern, how come you’re looking at older, more traditional homes?
It would be a ton to update, but it was under budget and still doable. We had to consider how much updating would actually yield an increase in value though since most updates would be style based rather than because something was actually necessary. Yes there’s definitely an enjoyment to fixing a house up, but I don’t want to throw money away either.
Great question! We do a lot of antiquing, so we feel like we could mix our antiques with our modern pieces in the right house. I’m in love with the idea of buying an older home because of the character and in this case windows that just add so much. The first house was too Victorian and style specific to pull off an eclectic mix. This one was somewhere on the edge. I think it was possible but you would have to be very careful with updates and furniture purchases to pull it off. It could easily skew on poorly updated/decorated for the home style otherwise.
Both homes we’ve owned were built in the 80’s, so I wanted to stay away from the 80’s and newer. We did include mid century homes in our search but based on the area nothing of interest pulled up which was a total bummer. We could rock a mid century house. There is a wonderful mid century fixer upper in Ft. Worth that is our dream home, but it’s a million dollars and currently in unlivable condition. Not exactly in the budget unless we win the lotto.
Both houses you’ve shown are amazing! My husband isn’t handy and we are having enough issues with our house built in 1981 so I can only ever dream of something with this much charm! I am so glad you guys will blog about the whole process! And judging by how you speak about this house in the comments, I am guessing it’s not the one!
Nick is handy. He thinks I don’t give him credit for it. I think he’s really just more smart enough to figure it out than he is actually handy, but the main thing is finding time to tackle big things. I know this house has updated plumbing and electrical which makes it less of an overhaul than house 1 but still. Ain’t nobody got time for maintenance repairs. I’d rather just make it look pretty. The house we just sold was built in 1985, so I feel your pain there. It’s just old enough to start needing repairs!
Hello gorgeous…YES…this THE house!!! Love all of the charm, and I agree, kitchen need to be done to your taste, you can also knock down some walls in there if the layout bugs you, but I think it might be a little hard to find all of the good qualities in this house in another. And that porch….just picture yourselves in two rockers drinking some iced tea 😉 good luck in your house search.
I know those porches are awesome. The backyard is crazy nice too. We had lots of fun swinging on the upstairs patio.
Sadly we can’t knock down the kitchen wall because it’s the original exterior wall to the house. I’m not sure it’s impossible, but it has to be insanely expensive and is load bearing. Blah stupid layout issues.
That is a lot of house. I am almost inclined to say that the kitchen makes it a deal-breaker unless one of the spaces could be “The kitchen” and the other one could be made something else like an over sized butlers pantry with seating ha ha. Or something creative like that. I can’t really tell how big each of the kitchens were.
Also 4000 sq ft is a lot of house. That is something to consider. Cleaning it, furnish it.
Another thing to consider is that it looks “historic” so changing the green trim might not be allowed, let’s just say, in case you didn’t LOVE the green trim.
Other than that I think the house is pretty terrific. How about that entrance? A bit of white paint on some of the wood work. WOW. Lots of options. I love little surprise rooms like the small room behind the walk in closet (which also looked really nice). The sun rooms: WOW. I think I would sit there all the time.
It is a lot of house. The kitchens were tiny especially for as giant as the house is. The adjoining room was the sun room so there wouldn’t be a way to lay out cabinets due to the windows. I know total bummer especially since there are a lot of neat quirks to this house. It was modernized from the original build (which was epic to begin with) and maintained impeccably over the last 100+ years. That is a rare thing.
The house is a registered historic landmark, but the city of Weatherford basically lets you do whatever you want as long as you don’t knock it down. They have the country mindset out there and to quote them “we can’t tell a property owner what to do with their property.” It’s a far cry from Ft Worth/Dallas where restrictions are dutifully enforced and everything needs permits and approval. How did you know I wouldn’t love the green trim? I love green but this is too forest green for my taste.
So yesterday I was pretty mad at you for not buying THAT house….but then I see this one and I can forgive you. I’m jealous…I actually looked the other day online just out of curiosity, and there are only like 20 houses for sale more than 50 years old in our city and the neighboring one combines…and the vast majority of those are 60’s ranches. 80’s houses are the old ones here.
That’s what we are running into here. We are looking in from Ft. Worth to as west as Weatherford which is a pretty large area and finding just a handful of homes that are older than 1960. The 60’s ranches aren’t even the cool ones either. It makes me wonder where I have to move to find an endless option of old homes. I’m glad you forgave me.
i am in love with this house! the exterior is beautiful and i would be able to get over the odd layouts! where are you moving to? just curious where this beautiful home is so i can move in first. 😉
We have looked in Ft. Worth and as far west as downtown Weatherford. This home and the one from yesterday are both in Weatherford. It’s a decent size town that is about 25-30 minutes west of Ft. Worth. Please come move to Texas! We need your barn sales!
Ummm I couldn’t stop drooling at that exterior. GORGEOUS! I would stop driving down the road and stare at it creepily from my car if I drove by. So, if you want creepers staring at your house, you might want to think a little harder about this one. But it’s SO tough when the floor plan doesn’t work for you and can’t be changed. I’d have a hard time biting the bullet on a situation like this.
PS: THANK YOU for posting these house hunting posts! I LOVE house hunting, and if I can’t do it for myself, I still totally enjoy living vicariously!
Kelly, you are welcome to creep on me anytime. This house is so gorgeous on the outside. The layout isn’t terrible with the exception of the kitchen, but that’s a huge exception! It makes the decision that much harder!
I’m glad you’re enjoying this house hunting adventure. I love looking at houses too. It’s always fun to see what’s out there especially when it’s not in my area!
Gorgeous exterior! And all of those amazing windows?! Yes, please! The kitchen or should I say kitchens make me sad. The foyer is rather woody, but I think you could break that up with some fun rugs. The bedrooms aren’t too bad. You’d cover up most of the wood trim around with windows with curtains anyway. I feel like I’m talking you into this house now so I’ll stop. I just wish the kitchens weren’t so weird. Can’t wait to see what house you choose!
I know the kitchen situation is really the buzz kill to this place. There is a solution for pretty much every other space if you look past the tacky/cheap furniture. They staged it with really antique specific furniture too which I don’t think is helping. It’s too big of a house for an older couple especially with the master being upstairs, so I’m not sure they are considering their market very well.
Oh my gosh. I am obsessed with that house. IT IS INCREDIBLE. This is dream house status.
I LOVVVVVVVVVE it. You can live with that kitchen 😉
It is pretty incredible. The question is can you have your dream house if you can’t have your dream kitchen?