Reclaiming Aunt Sallie's

We are reclaiming an old homeplace we have, with plans to use it for a studio, and getaway.
It's been a dusty, nasty mess, but we've found some treasures along the way.
Here are some before photos...

The wallpaper was so cool. The things living behind it were not.
Old wallpaper was not glued, instead it was tacked down about every 6 inches. I have removed 17 million wallpaper tacks in the last two weeks. They are very sharp if you step on them.
No matter how many you pull out, there will be a few more when you run your hand over the wall. They are sharp...
These are of the old kitchen, which we estimate was the first part of the house built back in the late 1880s. The previous home (of my husband's great-grandfather) had burned, so this one was quickly built, and probably added onto.
The chimneys are a mess. We still have to clean out all the stuff that has fallen down into them. Ick.

The dogs are very interested in the work. They are very sure there are still vermin occupying the 130-year-old structure. It wears them out running about searching all the crevices. Sticking their noses in everything and sniffing. And then sneezing on everyone..
In this photo, Scup is verifying the condition of these old feather mattress toppers.


Aunt Sallie (who died in the late 50s) even received a census notice. I intercepted the census investigator who stopped by months ago, and explained that no one lived there for DECADES, but she must have been required to leave one.

We've removed all the paper in these. And this child wouldn't look so happy if she'd have known that the next step was to scrub down and rinse the walls (no easy task, since there's no water up there yet...)




And congratulations to Cari for being the first senior to be photographed in the mostly finished front room! It was good because she had toured the place before with the TC local history class, when they came for a tour! She knows how full of junk it was!
We look forward to many more portrait sessions in Aunt Sallie's!