424 Indiana

CHRISTOPHER ARMSTRONG HOUSE

Folk Victorian c. 1891

Hello Neighbors!

Update: 4/16/2022

Porch is coming along and we can really start to feel how the inside is going to flow and function with the outside. The hardwood floor went down this week and we are so tickled about having even floors. We have always lived in old homes and could never “play marbles” haha. The goal is to be complete by mid June. Next up, interior trim and finishes! We are hoping to have a little party when we are done so we have a chance to meet some of our new neighbors without trying to talk from the house to the street over power tools.

Update 3/3/2022

It occurred to me that some of you may be wondering what the heck we have going on in the front yard, yeah me too!! hahaha Obviously we lost the original porch floor in the house lifting. We made the decision at that point we didn't want to go back with a wood porch floor..too much maintenance...not enough durability....it's too close to the ground on the north side...etc so we are pouring a concrete porch floor and dressing it up with some brick. So the plan had been to back fill around the foundation, tamp it down and let is sit for a few months hoping we could get away with a little 4-6' stem wall for the porch floor support. Not so, when we went to dig for the new footing we saw that the soil wasn't appropriate to bear on so the guys had to dig on down to undisturbed soil...about 9'. Yesterday the new footings were poured for the now 9' stem walls and those will get poured today. Hopefully next week we can get the porch floor done and start reassembling all the porch pieces I saved. Meanwhile inside, insulation is complete and drywall starts on Monday. No progress on tile or plumbing fixtures just yet but I'm confident I will find something that I like soon.

Update: 1/14/2022

Sub-contractors moving through now at a very quick pace, surprisingly with how busy most of them are. Testing some exterior paint colors..not sure if I have the right shade yet. I’d love some suggestions. Something timeless..classy…light..will look good with brick. Cabinets have been ordered so now into tile and light fixtures. Still hammering out some trim details for the interior, that stage will be here before we know it. We are so excited to be back in town, can hardly wait to move in! Is it too early to start planning the new house party?? ​ Update: 10/13/21 The new basement is complete with floor and now we can start putting everything back together. Steel was set over the weekend giving us firm footing for framing on the 1st floor. We will be replacing lots of bad floor joists (26 in total) and trying to reconstruct the south wall with some new lumber as well. Until we can get some walls in on the 1st floor the 2nd floor is unsafe for visitors. The garage in back is about 85 percent complete. This will give us a little work space to fabricate missing pieces through out the house. Normally I'm an advocate for keeping the orignal windows like we did in the 331 Indiana house but it's just not feasible on this one with some many missing or severly water damaged. The porch was unfortunately an unexpected loss but I saved and labeled all the posts, railings and other decorative items so they can be put back exactly where they came from. ​ ​Update: 12/5/20 We are glad to be back working on Indiana Street; the last time we were here was when we rescued 331 Indiana in 2017-2018. By now, you have probably seen some activity at 424. We began cleaning up the site and accessing the structural needs of both accessory buildings and the existing home. We think there is a VERY good chance of saving all three. Our main concern right now is the barn; it’s in bad shape we are hoping to get a bit of new support to shore her up in the next couple of weeks. As for the rest of the project, we plan on renovating the home as sensitively as possible. This will be our forever home and the last house we do for us! So stop by and introduce yourselves! We would love to meet our new neighbors. Our yellow lab looking dog is Tucker, he is very friendly so don’t worry about approaching. This is a big project, it will take a little while…or more likely a long while…and probably will look worse before it looks better but it will be very pretty when it’s done. Promise. J