Patching and painting all surfaces is a cheap way to make it look 500% better immediately.

Appears some windows need replacing.

Some sort of art school project?

I ran across a number of such abandoned homes once in northern Alberta while researching "ghost towns."

How did your other venture go?

You need to be concerned with what you dont see such as the electrical, plumbing, sewer/septic, foundation, etc. to make sure they are all intact, up to code minimums, and working before you get too enthralled with the cosmetics. Ever see the flick " The money pit"?

Neither of the posters responded to your question about the metal roof. We have a Mueller metal roof; Hawaiian Blue. It was on the house when we bought it, and we like it. The only downside to the blue:it limits the house paint choices. A friend has a Mueller roof that is copper colored; it is beautiful. Good luck with your remodeling!

Patching and painting.. yes that will come soon :)

That other house picture you posted is next to our cabin which we are selling since we will be moving out of state to this new house.

sierraeast: lol, yes I have seen "The Money Pit" and this is not one. Me and my husband are builders so we will not have to hire anyone. The only thing it doesn't have is water which we are drilling a well soon. The land alone is worth what we payed for it.

arizona: Thanks for responding to my roof color question! I bet that is the same color that we were thinking about. It does seem like it would limit the house color so I have been thinking of maybe choosing a different one.. I will have to check out that copper color. Thanks!

I'm still not buying it squirrellygirly.

I don't even see an electric line.

In any case, it would be lots cheaper and easier to build even a modest energy efficient cabin from scratch then muck around with that dump.

The backcountry is littered with such structures. Farmers are notoriously economical and use abandoned homes for storage and whatever till they fall down.

Here is a link that might be useful: More photos

Yeah, it looks a bit rugged, but I stand by my proposal to paint and patch. After you do this, if you determine that it is not worth proceeding with major repairs, you could sell for probably a LOT more than you paid. You will need to do something with the floors as well - refinish or carpet.

In words....catepillar D-9! Kinda retro....I guess they use excivators these days. It would be down in less than 15 minutes!

I think you've bought a darn nice house! Great classic shape, graceful big windows, good pitch to the roof, a useful amount of square footage. Looks like it's made of masonry, too, always a plus.

The metal roof is a great idea, although I'm not sure about using a blue color unless you're going for a playful bright modern look. Do you have any old photos of the house in its heyday?

Quality, correctly-sized and fully operable wooden shutters plus new windows would be a huge improvement.

Can you open up the interior to the ceiling rafters and create a huge lofty space inside? Maybe you could even add a glazed clerestory to that new metal roof.

Can't wait to see "after" picture.

On the other side of the coin to my " mow it down" attitude, here there was a 1950's ranch style home that was a box with a low pitched roof. It now stands as a tudor style home with a second story, nice trim work inside and out, and imo, is one of the nicest digs in the area. I guess it boils down to "what's in your wallet". You still want to make sure the bones of the house are intact such as the foundation et;al before getting carried away with the cosmetics. You can put rolls royce hubcaps on a rambler and it's still a rambler, so make sure the foundation will handle any plans you have for the home as well as any other mechanicals.

Congratulations on your new project. Since you and your husband are builders, I'm guessing you're not getting in over your head. From the pictures it looks like it's got good bones. I think I would paint it a pale yellow or a tan, and yes a light blue roof would look nice too, be very energy efficient.
When we were purchasing the last investment house, I posted it here about curb appeal. About 7-8 people told me it was a mistake to buy it, even though they did not know the price or the location. We made $36K on it.

I love taking houses that other's declare as "tear downs" and turn them into a great house again.

Please be sure to post pics so we can see the finished product.

"From the pictures it looks like it's got good bones"

You cant tell the "bones" condition of the house by pictures. I seriously doubt anyone would buy a place with the intent of remodeling without first physically inspecting the major components to see if it is cost effective and doable. It's a gamble most folks wouldn't want to take!

You never answered the question about electricity. Do you have any? Doing a remodel with only hand tools would be difficult.
I agree with Worthy. I don't believe it.

"You cant tell the "bones" condition of the house by pictures. I seriously doubt anyone would buy a place with the intent of remodeling without first physically inspecting the major components to see if it is cost effective and doable."

I wasn't saying you should by a house by looks only. I was just offering encouragement. I would never buy a house or advise to buy a house without a physical inspection.

"You never answered the question about electricity. Do you have any? Doing a remodel with only hand tools would be difficult. I agree with Worthy. I don't believe it. "

I see an electric meter on the house and what look like grounded plugs in the living room.

Squirrelygirl - If you do a metal roof, I hope you consider installing some rain barrels. They are inexpensive a great way to get water from irrigation.

SierraEast and Worthy.. I find your comments very offensive and in no way helpful.

As for everyone else.. thanks!! I like the idea of shutters. I have always thought shutters are very cute! I am thinking of putting vinyl siding on and painting it a blue color. Nothing bright.. just a nice hue of blue. The blue metal roof I decided against because it just makes the color choices too limited. Someone mentioned catching rain from the metal roof.. thats exactly what we were planning! Great minds think alike ;)

I promise I will be posting before and after pictures for you all. I really want to show that sometimes a run down house like this does not need to be demolished as some people say. Just needs a hard working couple!

I just turned on the electric the other day and we are getting ready to get to work on Saturday. So wish us luck! :)

"SierraEast and Worthy.. I find your comments very offensive and in no way helpful".

I wish you the best of luck on your project and consider it respectful when folks bring an old place back to life, I was just trying to give you a respectful heads up that you need to be concerned about the "bones" of the house before worrying about the cosmetic part of the project right now. You are builders, I guess you know that but you have stated nothing but the exception of installing picket fences and shutters when you need to be diggin' down and inspecting your foundations footers, inspecting your sewer/septic line and tie in, the d.w.v and water lines of your plumbing, the service panel and runs of the electrical, etc. You also want to check out the structural elements of the framing as well. There are many variables and I didn't mean to come across as crude, but sometimes folks take offense to things theyt dont want to hear. If you are experienced builders, all this shouldn't be a problem, or you can get consultations from structural as well as mechanical engineers. A soils engineer can make sure the area around your foundation is intact. Cosmetics are a given and come later and is the fun part of a project. Again, best of luck with your new project! Mark

Of course I am open to suggestions such as checking framing, foundation, etc. which is common sense here but I am not open to suggestions such as "In words....catepillar D-9! Kinda retro....I guess they use excivators these days. It would be down in less than 15 minutes!"

I guess people from different areas find different things to be offensive.

I'll apologize for that...it was crude remark, but sometimes it's a viable solution when the mechanicals of the house are deteriorated or gone and is cost prohibitive. Only you know that by doing hands on investigating before worrying about cosmetics. Hope everything checks out for you. The comments other than the above were only meant to be positive forewarnings. You state it's common sense up there, you'd be surprised how many dont have it and invest their money in a project that far exceeds their expectations on what they estimated the project would cost due to not considering what was "behind the walls". Again I apologize and wish you the best!

Wow, some harsh comments from a few people.

I'm new to this particular forum, but I would say, have the house inspected and get a good idea what your costs might be. Realize that new wiring and plumbing might be needed and probably a new roof. If sheetrock/plaster has to be replaced, now is the time to do it.

If the house is in fairly good shape, I think a reasonable remodel could be much more affordable than building new...and it looks like a great location. How much land comes with the house? Any outbuildings?

Possibly adding a little front porch would really make it shine. Either a full porch across the front (more of a farmhouse look) or one of those half porches, that just covers the front door and one window, with the peak roof, just below and to the right or left of the main roof....kind of bungalow style.

Whether you do a porch or not, be careful with how level the house is with the ground (we have that problem) and make sure you grade the ground around the front door, so the water flows away from the house...but you probably already thought of that :)

Let us know how things progress!

I'm looking forward to seeing this project progress. I can really see the appeal in that house. It's like a house I would choose for my retirement. Keep in touch!

Squirrelygirly,

I love the fact that you two are so industrious. I suspect the color of the metal roof depends partly on the climate. I'm in the mid-East part of the US and my neighbor has a green metal roof. Very dark green. It looks lovely. The blue you mentioned would look great against that big sky and the copper color sounds nice as well. Whatever color you select, if you tie it in with the shutters or trim, it should look great.

When do we get to see the inside? I hope the positive folks here get you to come back.

Re the roof color - what I meant to say was that dark colors attract heat while light colors do not.

Can't wait to see "after" picture.

That makes two of us!

I see an electric meter. What I don't see is a line. Unless they're now running underground lines in the most remote and desolate parts of Colorado. I look forward to seeing the power line in the "after" pics.

Why would you put on vinyl siding and then paint it? If you are set on vinyl, that defeats the purpose of no maintenance.

Just throwing out my thoughts....... IF the structure is sound, it doesn't appear there is much inside worth working around so I'd make it a blank slate. In other words, I don't see interesting old casings or a cute kitchen to restore. My inclination would be to make it clean and spare, no curliques. As for the metal roof, I love them and think that would look great on a structure like that but not in blue. I also wouldn't do blue siding (or paint) but I'm not a blue house person.

Be careful with the "Metal Roof" scenario.....I learned from past experience that the colors on the metal roof CAN be removed! I washed the outside of a customers house one time with an exterior detergent (diluted) (NO pressure washer was used). When I got to the second floor (over a 2 year old copper colored metal roof) the color began to run like a it was never there! It just came off! If you do install a colored metal roof please make sure you don't use any detergents to wash the sides of the house. Would hate to see you run into the same problem I ran into.

Here are some pictures of the work that my husband and I have done to the house. We went with a red roof :)
I will post exterior pictures as well once we have finished painting.

As you can see.. electricity works great, we didnt have to bulldoze it, and we love it ;)

Congratulations! Have fun and enjoy your new home. Goes to show how you can perservere even when old farts like myself are laying out frictionous comments. Best of continued luck and fun!

Congrats!!

Hahaha thanks Sierra (you old fart)
And thank you Stacey. I appreciate it :)

It was a lot of work and verrry cold but well worth it in the end. Well.. not really the end yet but atleast I am enjoying living in the house now. :)

squirrelygirly - Looks like you've been busy.. When do you have time to ride the bikes :)

The floors look good. Were you able to refinish what was there?

Hehe.. yes very busy. But things have slowed down a lot so I finally have time to do fun things like ride my bike and explore the area.

The floors in the pictures are actually laminate flooring. Although in the living room we are working on re finishing the original wood flooring.