Great job. The only thing I miss is the detail of the porch with the arch entry and shake walls. I like the original color, too. It was the color of my grandmother's Queen Anne house. But bravo fo saving a bit of the history of the neighborhood while making it your own. Thanks for sharing.

We thought about keeping the arches and shake walls surrounding the porch - they're really nice details - but because they weren't original to the house and because we wanted to maximize light into the living room, we decided to open it up fully.

Oh, and thanks for your comments. I appreciate them.

Lovely! I kind of like the period kitchen style more than the contemporary kitchen you have now, but the cabinets and such were in such poor condition it's obvious you couldn't save them. This house is lucky you came along -- and so are your neighbors! Amazing transformation. :)

Hi danparis , Congrats you did a wonderful job , money well spent , How much did you end up spending and did you exceed your budget like it happens most of the time with Old Homes , because I plan to further my dream to do a makeover like you did to our Ancestral home on our Family estate .

@Vikrant - Every room on every floor was rebuilt over eight years, as well as the roof, exterior siding, windows and fence. I reno'd the basement first ($25k) because we wanted the rental suite generating income. I re-built the second floor ($75k) one room at a time as cash was available. Several years later, we hired a contractor to do the main floor and exterior ($300k) because I was too busy at my day job. The basement and upstairs were slightly below budget but the main floor and exterior exceeded our budget by $100k (mostly because we expanded the kitchen outward and made significant structural changes, which we didn't expect to do at the beginning). We're happy that we spent the extra money on the kitchen because it significantly improved the old layout, flow and outdoor access.

@Roots and Rafter - we weren't sad to see the old kitchen go. The layout was poor, the room was small, the cabinets were in very bad shape... nothing about it was salvageable. Because we were doing a renovation, not a restoration, and our preference in kitchens is for open, clean lines, we decided not to replicate the old cabinets. Throughout the rest of the house, though, we re-used many old details. We installed new baseboards, trim, doors, etc to match the original pieces, and reused and refinished stair bannisters, fir floor planks and other features wherever possible. We felt this was a good compromise between keeping the character intact and updating the house in a personal way that complemented our lifestyle.

The house has a nice history to it. It was built in 1911 by Charles Reid, a local businessman and city councillor, on what used to be a 10 acre farm. In 1947, he subdivided the property, built a lot of tiny post-war bungalows (including the little blue one next door), and constructed two roads: Reid Street (my street) and Manor Street (his wife's maiden name was Manor). Quite a few families in the neighborhood have lived in their homes for 40, 50, even 60 years, and two of my neighbors grew up in the houses that they later bought from their parents.

Thats what I like to hear. This is a way to establish roots in a community and pride in the history of a place.

Nothing I like better than an old, traditional exterior and modern interior. Great job! Love it!

HI -- Well - LA DE DA to all the doubters and the poopers . I guess you showed them with an amazing job. You gave the old girl another new life and she is beautiful. I Love everything , the colors and the finishes and that kitchen is a dream !!!

Congratulations! It looks wonderful, inside and out!

your renovation is awesome and charming, before and after of kitchen is remarkable. Like the detailed woodwork and fence on house and color scheme, would like to see more..

Bravo!

An 8 year story that starts like your photo and description deserves more narrative and pictures. Now that you're done (FLW...) you can put together story and photos of your odyssey. From a fellow traveller.

Absolutely stunning! Create a "projects" folder on your profile so we can see more!!

Beautiful!

Very nice.

Yes, post more pictures! I think your place looks spectacular!

OK, I'll post more pics in a project folder (as soon as I figure out what a project folder is...). But for those looking for something a little sooner, here are a few more before & after shots. Thanks again for all your kind words. Cheers, Dan

LOL, when you upload photos on your profile page, does it not give you a "projects" option?? Maybe that is just for Professionals?? Hmmm....
GORGEOUS bathroom!! and I love the front door color!! I may have to steal that...what color did you use? It looks like an army green?

I find the current configuration of the "projects folder" confusing too, Dan and Wow. I believe that when you first upload photos onto your profile page it begins a projects folder for you automatically, but it doesn't allow you to choose "Projects Folder". It just appears after you've uploaded. (at least that's what happened to me). And you don't seem to be able to edit or title the projects folder or to change the order of the photos in it after uploading, though you are allowed to choose whether it will be for public or private viewing. I find the whole projects folder function a bit mystifying, and I don't know whether it is different for homeowners and professionals. i feel like I'm missing some information I need to use it effectively because for me the lack of an edit function is a deal breaker for my using it regularly or making it for public viewing.

Hmmm...I'll send this thread to the support staff, maybe they can clarify for us??

That would be great, Wow. Because I just assumed the projects folders would function exactly like the Ideabooks I've organized, with all the same editing options, only they would be made up of photos I'd uploaded from various projects. But that wasn't what I encountered when I tried.

Anyway, sorry to hijack your thread, Dan, for a Houzz user "meta" question. Your house renovation is utterly spectacular, and I"m sure we'd all love to see more of it!

@ Wow...

- front door (and the exterior porch ceiling): Benjamin Moore BM 2139-10 (River Rock);
- exterior main field color: BM 2139-30 (Shark Skin);
- exterior dark trim: BM HC-107 (Gettysburg Grey);
- exterior and interior white trim: General Paint (CLW 1037W);
- bathroom: BM OC-52 (Gray Owl);
- kitchen: BM OC-25 (Cloud Cover);
- entire main floor, stairs & upper hallway is General Paint 8683W (Tinderbox) - it's my absolute favorite neutral color for main spaces (it's more gray than it looks in the photos, but it changes between warm grey to warm green, depending on the light outside). The closest Benjamin Moore color is BM AF-80 (Jute), but it's slightly more putty than gray/green.
- bedroom: sorry folks... can't find this color (oops!)

A few more pics...

Hi Everybody! Thanks for the bat signal...

Projects on Houzz should consist of photos that are either of work you have completed, or that you otherwise own (Like photos you take of your own house, for example).

To upload photos, just click the green upload link in the upper right corner of any Houzz page to get started. When you get to the upload page, if you are not a professional, the page will be defaulted to uploading to ideabooks. Look to the upper right of the page and you will see the project option.

Once uploaded, the photos will appear under your profile under projects. You can click into any project, click Edit project and change the name, rearrange the photos, or change the description.

Hope that helps! Feel free to shoot us a quick email at support(at)houzz.com anytime for this kind of stuff. Happy to help. :)

Screenshot attached is what you will see after clicking Upload.

Thanks Emily. I appreciate the info. And thanks @Wow Great Place for sending the thread to Houzz.

Very nice! Great job staying with the home's original footprint!

Very impressive. Beautiful house.

Great work Dan!!! Your home is a labour of love and it really shows! Enjoy! :-)

Awesome, I love reading about stories such as this. Great work Dan, you have accomplished something truly special.

Wow, awesome!

Great job!! Love to see an old beauty saved and restored :)

Love it. My husband and I are searching similar deals. The foundation is always the issue. They are usually not concrete but block.

CMR: Dan outlined the costs already in the long post above.

Dan that is amazing! I can't believe the transformation. I just am blown away by the kitchen!

Beautiful job! All your time, hard work, and lots of elbow grease definitely paid off!