06/13/2013
Well, it’s time for a Hillsong update. Actually, IT'S ABOUT TIME!!! (considering that the last post was over 6 months ago.) I had the best of intentions during the course of construction and remodeling to keep everyone posted regarding the progress with many posts and pictures. But several things changed that:
1) Laziness and procrastination;
2) A fair dose of busy-ness;
3) A series of frustrations and challenges (financial and otherwise) with various aspects of the work which several times diminished our enthusiasm;
4) The realization that any number of other people have also bought and/or remodeled houses, while at the same time many others have never had a chance to do so—hence a desire not to appear either too superficial or too proud (in the bad sense.)
But mostly point No. 1….
However, here we are on our 31st wedding anniversary, actually living in our new home and totally out of our old home—with the project not entirely complete but largely so, surrounded by seemingly hundreds of boxes, looking towards an exciting, if not somewhat uncertain future in our new home Hillsong. We are very happy and very proud (hopefully in the good sense.)
So in a few (or more) paragraphs here’s how we got to this point. I guess the first thing is to define what “this point” is. As of Monday June 10, we are completely moved out of Meadow Lane. Movers transported our large furniture and we took the final trailer or two full of smaller stuff. The previous week we had Saied’s music store move our piano and harpsichord.
Our former phone number, which dates back to Lauren's arrival in 1977 is now inoperable and up for grabs, since we cannot port a Bartlesville number to the metropolis of Ochelata.
Over the past number of months we had been gradually packing and moving smaller belongings, most of which went to (and are still in) the large workshop at Hillsong. But it was the past week or two that saw the majority of work sorting through 20+ years of belongings and clutter. Actually more, since it included unopened boxes from our move from Yale Drive in 1992, plus not just a few boxes of stuff from Juanita and Lauren’s childhood and farther back. Plus our own kids’ rooms and belongings had only been mildly dealt with since they forged out on their own. In other words, the amount of “stuff” in our house was simply staggering.
While time pressures made us move far more things than we really should have—just throwing stuff into boxes to sort later—we still managed to fill up a dumpster and a half with every conceivable thing, ranging from pathetic junk to really nice stuff. And I’m talking about the BIG dumpsters they use at construction sites! Our dear daughter Liz was very generous with her time and helped us on several days, rewarding her hard work with many amazing finds from her childhood and more.
But it was earlier, on May 18, that we actually spent our first night here at Hillsong. Enough work was finished (and cleaned up) that we (just Juanita and Lauren) moved the basic things we needed—bed(s), appliances such as the washer, dryer, and refrigerator (those that we hadn’t bought new and previously installed) and of course our computers. Once the satellite service was up, and the DSL was going, then we basically had all we needed to survive!
It is hard to believe that construction of various sorts actually began last November, and that it has been about 11 months since we bought this place (and have been paying double mortgages!) But we are so grateful that so far we have survived, and are really, really happy to finally be “home.”
What made this even a little more miraculous was the fact that on the very day we decided to “switch bedrooms” we received and later that day accepted an offer on the Meadow Lane property! Actually we delayed taking the trailer with the beds, etc., out so we could go downtown and sign the papers first! We had not even listed the place, but our realtor (thank you Sara!) was able to set up a deal with an investor who will be updating and flipping the house. The price was way under market, and even less than we owed on the house. But after crunching the numbers I was confident that we would have spent that price differential, if not more, simply in keeping up double house payments and expenses for several more months plus whatever our costs would have been to do the updating and repairs ourselves. At this point, the chance to have the house off of our shoulders and not be facing a summer of more expenses and more work, and probably more financial shortfalls, was an offer we were hard-put to refuse. Hopefully this will be a win-win deal for everyone. Meadow Lane will be seeing a similar transformation that Hillsong has seen. Hopefully some new family will be as happy as we are.
So what happened here for these past six months? Well, if you didn’t see the original version of the house at our party last August then this probably won’t mean much. And of course if you want to be surprised (SPOILER ALERT) when you see it next in person, then don’t read what follows. It won’t sound like a whole lot here on paper, but believe me, we have yet to greet a guest who knew the “old” house who has not stepped in the front door and simply stopped, frozen in stunned amazement. “Wow!” and “Oh My God!” are pretty standard utterances. Sort of like the reveal at the end of all the renovation shows on TV. But I think people really like Hillsong (as opposed to simply being shocked and horrified.) It is really quite a transformation. A quick list:
1) Walls removed: the entire vestibule at the front entry. The walls separating the living room from the “den” (long dark north room). The walls separating the dining room from the living room. The wall separating the den from the kitchen. The wall/cabinet on the left side of the fireplace.
2) Oh, the biggest wall removed was the entire north exterior wall of the den (the patio wall.) That room’s ceiling and roof were also removed (and replaced—see below.)
3) The fireplace on that north exterior wall also was demolished (we posted pictures of that, you may remember.)
4) Ceiling of the living room and dining room (now one large room) was raised in a cathedral fashion.
5) Ceiling of den was raised via installation of trusses, with peak at about fourteen feet.
6) Ceiling of front entry (former vestibule) and hallway to bedrooms raised to nine feet.
7) Skylights installed in hallway.
8) Central red brick fireplace resurfaced with smaller beige tile/stone.
9) Refinished all existing hardwood floors and added new hardwood in kitchen and den.
10) North exterior wall was replaced with three sliding glass doors opening onto patio.
11) Patio was resurfaced with new concrete.
12) Kitchen gutted and rebuilt from scratch. Nice island and cool appliances.
13) New bar (yet to be built by Lauren) will go between kitchen and den, roughly where former bar was. It will utilize some elements of the old bar, but NOT the yellow Formica!
14) Built new front porch—larger concrete steps and entry, with large columned overhang built onto house to cover. (Still needs final finishing and painting, along with a nice hanging light, which we have yet to find/afford.)
15) All main living areas repainted a nice light color. Also in various stages of repainting bedrooms and bathrooms.
16) Finally, we added a pretty incredible safe room (already used twice!) onto the back of the house with access from inside the house. About 10 inches of reinforced concrete on all six sides, deep footings, emergency power and heavy steel door. About 10’x10’. Come visit us during the next tornado!
What it boiled down to was either add on the big great room where the patio is, or do everything else instead. We couldn’t afford it all. So at the last minute we opted to do everything else and I think we made the wise choice, in spite of the many challenges along the way.
We will soon begin putting together all our photos, and particularly develop some good before and after comparisons. I would hope that by the end of the summer we’ll be able to host the follow-up party—maybe not a real “After” party since I don’t think we’ll ever be truly finished, but at least an “In-Progress” party that will hopefully be the first of many.
Then, over the next weeks and months (besides the formidable unpacking) we will be finishing up the remaining “small” details, like paint on the exterior, building the bar, constructing back steps down to the patio, making the bathrooms presentable, etc., as time and money allows. Given the unfortunate recent change in Juanita’s employment we may find ourselves with more of the former than the latter. But we are confident that God will provide. We know he put us here for a reason. It will be exciting to see what he has in mind and how he’s going to pull it off.
The invitation to visit is always open. (That reminds me, I need to install a doorbell—in the meantime, knock loudly!) These days, the usually-open gate may or may not indicate that someone’s home. But feel free to drive up and check. Someone is usually there. We look forward to greeting you!
Thanks for everyone's interest and encouragement during this past year. We hope that many wonderful times are in store for many wonderful people during the upcoming years at Hillsong!
Lauren and Juanita
