Well, it’s official…we just closed on a new project!! I’m excited to introduce The Alumni House. John and I have mulled over the idea of owning something in Provo for years. We both spent many years there going to school, and loved our time there. For the last couple of years we have been driving down there and scoping out the area, narrowing down what we would actually like. With Andy starting school there in the fall, I have been feeling more and more like its time to finally jump in and get something.
Silly me thinking it would be easy to get something right now! lol! After putting offers in on 5 homes over the last few months and watching them all go to the highest bidder…(some up to more than 200K over ask), we thought we might be out of luck. A few weeks ago, while we were away in Dallas, I saw a house pop up that I knew well…one that friends of ours had actually stayed in a few years ago as an AirBnb. Because I knew the area so well and had actually been in the house before, I felt comfortable making an offer sight unseen. It had literally been on RedFin for less than a minute when I texted our agent and said we wanted to put in an offer. She couldn’t even find it on the MLS, it was THAT new! Within a couple of hours we had an offer in and gave the parameters of wanting a response within 24 hours. When we landed back home in SLC that next evening, the offer was accepted and we were in escrow. (there were already two back up offers in that 24 hour time period as well! YIKES!)
This cute bungalow was built in 1928 and is divided up into a duplex with a great basement apartment. It will be the perfect spot for our kids to live while they are in school (we anticipate having kids in the area for the next 8-10 years), it will give us a place to spend the weekend for football games and to be close to the kids, and we’ll be renting it out from time to time to Alumni and friends who have kids at school and are coming into town for a visit or to attend events on campus. We are excited to make this a pretty place to stay. The proximity to the school is awesome…just 3 short blocks. It’s also a quick walk to downtown Provo. With more and more shops and restaurants coming to town, it’s right in the middle of all the action. I can’t wait to spend time there!
Before anyone moves in, we’re going to do a little bit of a facelift. 😉 You know I can’t help but have a little fun with it! She needs new windows, a new kitchen, bathrooms etc. It will be a dream project to take this cute little old house and dress her up! There are some pretty original details…we’ll see what we can work around.
I’ve been debating whether or not to paint the exterior brick. I’ve researched the particular post-war style of brick that it’s constructed from and I’m leaning toward not painting it. I have this image in my head of a cute little white brick house, but the history major in me is having a hard time painting over something with so much history! 😉 Hopefully it will clean up nicely because there are some damaged areas that look kind of rough right now. If we can clean her up, I’m hoping to achieve a look like this with the red brick and black accents…
What would you do? Keep the original brick or paint her white?
I can’t wait to share the inside of this little bungalow. I’ll share the floor plan, the changes we’re making, and before, inspiration and after images of each space in these coming weeks.
Want to see more of my before and after projects? Check some of them out here:
Midway Modern Farmhouse Home Library Design
Midway Modern Farmhouse Master Bedroom Before and After
Midway Modern Farmhouse Dining Room Before and After
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Happy designing!
Tammy
I’d definitely keep it the original brick. So many houses are being painted – the original brick on this one could be the “old-fashioned historical charm” for this house. Latex paint can ruin brick’s natural porosity and cause issues like mold and rot. If you could get a lime wash or something like that, it might work!
I agree Heidi! The brick on this house is actually a really old, hard to find, expensive brick…so I hate to paint over it. I’m hoping that the areas that are in bad shape can be repaired fairly easily so we can keep that original brick. If not, a lime wash is a great idea! 🙂