01/29/2025
This past year I renovated a 1940's house in Mount Holly, NC, that I am living in. I took a 3 bedroom 1 bath house in terrible condition and voila! it became a 2 bedroom 2 bath house. The original kitchen had a sink and 5 cabinets. It was so small the stove faced the side of the refrigerator. I removed the wall between the dining room and kitchen to enlarge the kitchen.
The back bedroom became the master, and was originally an L-shaped room with a closet built right in the middle of the room. The closet was about 2 foot deep and 3 foot wide. I removed 2 windows in the master (it still left 4) and 1 window in the new master bath. I took the bedroom in the middle of the house and made a gorgeous master bath, huge closet, and a linen closet. I removed part of the brick wall between the middle bedroom and the new master bedroom to break through to the new master bath with an arched doorway, keeping with the original arched doorways throughout the house.
The front bedroom became my office with a large walk-in closet, and the renovated original bath.
The living room is very cozy with two triple windows, and a fireplace.
The 3/4" oak floors were in good shape except for the new master bedroom. That floor was sagging, so we pulled it up to find old termite damage, and it had no foundation band; the rotted joists were sitting on pieces of 2x4. We used the old hardwood that we took up in the master to patch in areas where we had no floor, like the kitchen, and filled in where walls were removed and doorways added. We found new 3/4" oak and replaced the master bedroom floor. You would never know they were changed once the beautiful walnut stain was applied.
The exterior is full brick, and the interior was plaster applied directly to the brick. We built a hog wire fence in the back for my Boston Terrier, Gracie, and we removed the old black front porch railing and replaced it with the same hog wire panels.
There are a few things I'll do in the future: add a Murphy Bed to the office for a guest room, sand down and stain the front door inside and out, add wood shutters and stain them walnut, stain the fence panels front and back with a walnut stain, and paint the hog wire black, and redo the fireplace. I've tried to stay with the mid-century modern style, so the fireplace is still an unknown. Lastly, I'll add windows and french glass doors to the garage, and make a stained glass studio.
If you have a project you want to discuss you can reach me at (704) 231-5494. Thanks for taking the time to look, and feel free to look at other past projects...we always welcome comments.
