So this is it! The new pad! Classic circa 1900 Baltimore rowhome. The specs: cozy yet a roomy 14 feet wide (wide=good), 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, a sunroom, living room/dining long room, and kitchen.

After looking at 50+ rowhomes in the Federal Hill area, this place happened by chance- a typical saturday perusing the newest additions to market. Inside had a lot to be desired by most standards; it was outdated, a bit smelly, and needed work- but not too much. Just what we were looking for. A bargain we could put our creative flair and sweat into.

The location is ideal. In Baltimore's Federal Hill neighborhood- directly across from Riverside Park! A park front home... now that's nice. The street is quiet with lots of parking. Close to everything but not in the heart of anything.














This is the view from our front door. Lovely.

We closed on the house Friday at 4:30. not a few hours later- renovation work was already in full swing! men and their crowbars. First up? the dirty work. taking down ceilings, exposing brick walls and more.

mom and dad were right there with us from sun up to sun set. how does one do these projects without family help?

THE WALLS.

Where are you brick? The fireplace plaster was the first to be chipped away, but not before removing an old, hideous, HEAVY fake fireplace, sitting in front of the real one. This picture was taken after the fact- but the exposed fireplace in the back was covered in plaster when we first entered.

More photos...check out the old decorative brick work and wall paper.

After the fireplace we exposed one entire wall of brick- and as a result of some subpar drywalling, exposed another. more photos to follow.

THE CEILING


Here you can see a glimpse of the not one (the big classroom tile), not two (the white square tile) but THREE (the wallpaper on wood) layers of ceilings we ultimately tore through.

We got right down to the beams and are going to leave them that way. Adds another 2+ feet to the ceiling and looks fantastic. We'll eventually have conduit stainless steel pipes running along the beams to hold our wires.

See the top of that column? two of them will be GONE *yeah!* as the pics proceed. This was actually debatable. Adam and dad liked them. really?

THERE WAS SO MUCH DUST!

SO MUCH DEBRIS!

in the pouring rain of our whole weekend, mom and I deposited 5 carloads at the dump (free dumping in Baltimore. pretty sweet). the men labored away- tearing down, chipping away, strategizing, two alpha spirits attacking projects with gusto. several trips to the hardware store later...

it all came together!
stuff cleared out, getting glimpse of the floor once again.

Here adam is, ceilings gone, plaster gone and bricks exposed, in front of a window that we didn't even know we had. it was covered in plaster.

check out the old uncovered wallpaper

this is the finished stairway. adam's most recent work of art. gorgeous!

Did I mention- every lock was rekeyed as well? (thanks dad).

today I actually mopped the floors. a temporary fix since we're re-finishing the floors this weekend. I just couldn't stand the dirt.

the first weekend of many... many.. many many many more.

now, i'm still gearing myself up for this. adam gives me dire warnings of the fact my "vision" won't come true for years. years?!?. sigh... we are both working ridiculous hours which means slower going than our usual manic transitions. at least work will get the materials paid for. :)

at this point i'm loving it. adam is loving it. the house is totally livable but we haven't moved in yet- waiting for the dirty work to finish. very excited for this hell of a project! Next up is, I think- refinishing the ceiling beams, the floors, adding more outlets and other electrical stuff I don't understand, touching up the brick, sealing the brick, ... and that's about a weekend +. Will post more soon!