The Ugly Duckling Becomes a Swan

When I was young, nursery rhymes and fairy tales were not politically correct, but they were most entertaining.  The ugly duckling tale particularly impacted me as the poor little duckling had no clue how beautiful he would one day become. 

Often in rehabbing houses, an ugly duckling becomes a beautiful swan.  Such is the case with my own home in St. Paul.  Our home was so ugly that our adult children questioned our sanity the day we moved in.  In my mind, however, a swan was hidden behind the ugliness.  For five years this was our home base:

Do I need to describe its ugliness?  The roof was replaced the first week we owned the home because gallons of water poured through the ancient shingles.  The fascia . . .  ?  We really think the last paint was applied in 1950!  That ugly gray siding is "depression brick", the moniker for asphalt rolled roofing formed to look like bricks.  It was popular in the depression making it at least 60-70 years old.  Not to mention that it was missing in a bunch of places!  The windows leaked, didn't stay open, and were riddled with rotten wood.  That horrible beige paint on the basement foundation should have stayed in the store! 

In my mind, however, the house looked like this:

The plan was to pay mega money to hire professionals to destroy the old siding and replace it with Hardi board, a cement look alike siding.  Longevity was the key.  My honey and I never wanted to paint this "painted lady" again. 

But, the economy turned and the hubby was out of work.  Lots of time combined with limited funds impacted our best laid plans.  The hubby declared one day, "I'm going to remove some of that siding and see what's underneath.  Maybe we can do a 'temporary' improvement with some minor repair and paint."  I cringed.  It was a huge project, but keeping the unemployed hubby busy was important.

The hubby, a reformed desk jockey, has outdone himself completely.  What started as a temporary fix has become a permanent upgrade.  Today our ugly duckling looks like this.

The ground work has been laid.  The swan, complete with a golden sunburst for a brooch, is showing her beauty!

If you want to follow our progress, pictures can be viewed here.

Comments

[Lisa]

What an exciting project! I love seeing these homes transformed and I am sure the neighbors appreciate it as well! Perhaps you would like to check out the renovation one of my clients did...I created a Flickr page that has some before and after shots included to show the full scope of the work: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisasanderson/sets/72157621837986888/

[Vicki Lloyd]

Hi Bonnie!

Great job documenting your transformation. I bet the neighbors are really happy to see all your upgrades. I hope you enjoy this house for many years.

Vicki

[Bean]

Renovations really make an old house to an awesome property to live in. Thanks for sharing this. By the way, I need your help. I know a great Kentucky home that might interest you too. Thanks.

[Costa Rica Real Estate]

That is a true transformation, I think the new aspect of the home is quite appealing

[Maureen McCabe]

Beautiful... house.

A St. Paul RE blogger stopped by my AR blog this morning to leave a comment saying what a great photographer she is... which made me think about you.

Great photos! I love the slide show. I had left a comment there about 5 weeks ago but thought I had left it here.

[house for sale Philippines]

Wow! amazing transformation. I love the new look. very beautiful.

Mitch

[Properties in Pakistan]

Hi,
I read your post. what an exciting post. its really an amazing transformation.thanks for sharing this.

James Williams….
Real estate developers in Pakistan