Taking the house to the finish line...

Well, we finally made the move to Halifax, North Carolina. It has always been our goal to finish the house; we just didn't have a solid plan on when that would be. When we first purchased the property, we gave ourselves five years. At times, we would joke and say it would be a ten-year project. In the beginning, we would travel from Fort Myers and spend the weekend in Halifax, making small repairs and trying to squeeze in meetings with contractors. We struggled on finding a good balance, and we struggled finding local help. It is a big project, and a lot to take on for anyone. One thing we knew for certain, we were never going to give up on the house.

The opportunity presented itself last year, to finally carve out time to focus all our efforts on the John Brown House. So, we packed up our things, moved our family north, and put our Fort Myers house on Airbnb - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/52358921. We purchased a tiny house (180 square feet) to live in while we finally push the house to the finish line. The tiny house will be available for bookings on Airbnb soon too! We are just trying to find a permanent home for it.

I know in our March Highlights post, we mentioned we were working with a contractor/builder…that has now changed. No hard feelings, just not the right fit when it came down to communication. We will now run the project and hire out sub-contractors for the big things that are beyond our expertise. The good news, we have found an electrician, plumber, structural engineer, and a handful of “handy people” that can assist with the many projects we have left. All of these contractors were referrals from the locals here in town, so thank you!

We have the structural engineer coming this week and the electrician will start in the next week or so! We have to re-do all the electrical work that was started, as it was never closed on. Plus, the squirrels ate many of the wires. 🐿️ 🐿️

The structural engineer will give us a plan of action for the foundation and the second floor. We want the house structurally sound and for it to be around for another 200+ years.

I’ll continue to share progress blurbs + photos!