Exterior house painting...

We have been working on many, many projects around the house and property over the last 3 months.  The past 3 weeks, in addition to the many other projects, we have been getting the exterior of the house painted.  It REALLY needed it, as it has been left totally neglected for the past 10 years.  We thought this might be a good time to tell you part of the history of this house.

The front part of the house was built in 1835 by Thomas Shadwick in Lincoln County, about 25 km from here.  I have begun to do some research on him and know that he was a British Loyalist who moved here, married, and settled.  He was on the muster roll for Lincoln County for the war of 1812.  In 1970, the house was found abandoned and in very poor condition.

Someone thought it was worth rescuing and lifted the roof and put the whole house on a flat bed and moved it here to its present location on Effingham Road, joining it seamlessly to a 1950's home that was already on the property.  It was lovingly and painstakingly restored to its original condition by artisans and with attention to the actual detail of the 1830's.  Everything that could be salvaged and used was, and anything else was reproduced.

When all was done, it was given this paint job...

Ownership of the home changed hands over the years, and at some point the paint job was redone, and the colours chosen were the ones still showing when we bought the place a few months ago.

The process of repainting was a very long one, as many of the clapboards were rotten and needed to be replaced.  All the windows and doors also needed replacing, as the wood was rotting and so were window frames etc.  Then all the paint that was peeling and chipping had to be scraped and sanded and then filled.  Then a coat of primer.  And then 2 coats of paint on everything.  Much of it was done at the top of a ladder.

And after all of that work, this is what it looks like today!!

This is the back of the house!  The red around the door is now painted also.

There is still the front porch deck to replace and extend, and the landscaping and gardens to bring back to glory.  We want to add window boxes below each of the front windows and think bright yellows are the way to go with flowers.  I love how "quiet" the house looks now and how nicely it just seems to blend into the landscape.