It took five solid weeks of near daily work to complete one portion of our stone Carriage House restoration.
All of that work was done on the walls. We didn’t even touch the floor besides cleaning it up.
Five weeks to redo four walls. That’s some messed up math. I think it’s way past time for the grand reveal.
Here’s a photo taken approximately 30 minutes into the restoration. To be fair, it looks more like destruction than restoration.
It has to get worse before it gets better.
You can see the potential, right?
No? Well, I don’t blame you. This was definitely a squint and “trust the process” kind of situation.
We had to remove the outer coating of lime mortar on the walls to reveal the stones underneath.
Then we removed the pointing around the stones so that we could repoint them with fresh lime mortar.
This was all work that we taught ourselves how to do. Us, YouTube, and more trial and error than we ever wanted to endure. Ha!
The beginning did have a sort of rustic charm.
Hard emphasis on the rustic part.
Here’s that same fireplace now.
It’s so pretty I could cry.
We were able to save the wood windowsill shown in the above photo.
The wood was not rotten but it does look like a horse chewed on it at some point. We know horses were kept in this building in the mid-1900s.
How obnoxious is it for me to say mid-1900s? Here’s to all of us who were born in the 1900s!
As to how else this portion of the building was used in the past, we don’t have any records that give us a definitive answer. It is not out of the realm of possibility that someone lived in here or used this space as a summer kitchen in the late 1700s through the 1800s.
The wood windowsill on the opposite side of the room could not be reused as a windowsill, so we decided to turn it into a stone windowsill instead using rocks from our property.
This windowsill is exactly at ground level, so having it made from stone instead of wood makes it less vulnerable in the near term as that window is still not completely restored.
This is now a windowsill that can last hundreds of years, especially if you don’t mind a little unevenness to your horizontal surfaces.
While the window is not completely restored as some work needs to be done on the outside, it is stable. For the first time in decades it does not have any broken or cracked panes.
Handy Husband painstakingly rebuilt several muntins so that they could actually hold glass in place once again.
The muntins aren’t a perfect match because we don’t have the tools for that and this was our first attempt at window restoration, but I don’t think most people will notice.
We’ll distract them with the pretty stone walls!
It has been pointed out that this stone Carriage House would make an amazing potting shed, she shed, or man cave.
Don’t think we haven’t considered it!
It is gloriously perfect for any of those uses with all of its quirky imperfections and rich character.
However, the intention was always for this room to be turned into a home gym.
At least while we have teenagers living in the house, we think that will be the way this room will be utilized best. They can crank the music, lift weights, stink the place up, and I won’t have to hear, see, or smell any of it.
Unless they invite me to workout with them.
It could happen.
While the idea of a gym did not start as a whim, the restoration of this stone Carriage House did.
One of my kids said, “It’s kind of gross in here, Mom.”
They weren’t wrong.
For once, I was glad my child called it like they saw it because this room turned out pretty great!
I’m so happy we were able to breathe new life into this space.
What do you think of our stone Carriage House restoration? Can you believe the difference? Let me know. It makes my day to hear from you. Please leave a comment on this blog post, email us here, or reach out via Instagram or Facebook.
Thanks for being here today and cheering us on through this restoration. I can’t shake your hand but I can offer you another post you might enjoy reading.
Stone Carriage House – Plan To Convert It Into A Gym
Stone Carriage House – The Messy Middle of Restoration
All About Our 240-Year-Old Pumpkin Pine Floors
All About Rim Locks – Historic Door Hardware