We Bought An Abandoned House! 

Thank you!😊 We love your channel, we’ve been watching from the beginning!

@@AndreaEppy We're gonna be watching yours from the beginning now as well. Welcome back to St. Louis.

Thanks for the welcome! Maybe we’ll bump into you at Refab sometime haha

@@AndreaEppy I'm sending our audience to check out your channel via a post on our community tab. We figured your new home was something to keep them entertained until our new video on Monday morning. Congrats again!

I subbed of course. How could I resist?

Thanks so much Nate, and welcome!💛 We definitely want to keep as much original as we can- I especially love that molding design in the ceiling! Unsure about the dining room at the moment but we’re considering all options. More updates soon!😊

Connor, so nice of you to say! Thank you so much, it’s always been a dream of ours!

Welcome!👋🏼thank you, and I’ll be posting updates soon! Glad to have you here. 😊

Thank you so much, I love the encouragement! We're SO excited too!! Posting updates soon😊

Welcome!👋 So glad you're here.😊 Absolutely, we definitely plan to keep as much original as we can!! I'm glad others think it's beautiful, too!

Absolutely, we definitely agree with you! We’re trying to keep as much original as we can😊. There might be a couple things that not everyone will like but we’re trying to adapt more to our lifestyle too.

@@AndreaEppy I think that’s a great idea/plan

Thank you Stephen!😊 We plan on keeping that ceiling- I think it's such a nice original feature! I'll be posting updates soon!

@@AndreaEppy great!!! It will be a beautiful home for you guys. It's a process. One step at a time will get it done.

Absolutely the roof is the first thing we want to fix! Getting some bids from companies currently. And the basement stairway is in dire need of help! Posting more updates soon!😊

Thank you so much for the kind words, Rachel! We feel so happy to find one of the few like this left in St. Louis that still need renovating! It’s always been a dream of ours to fix one up to it’s former glory. That’s a good point about the acoustics- something we definitely want to keep in mind. I actually love that wide archway idea! That way we would still be able to keep the details in the ceiling of the dining room too. Thanks for checking us out! I’ll be posting more updates soon!😊

What is s a 4 square like we don't have any in Victoria Australia.

That was one of the things we talked about with the architect this weekend! I think we’re going to close it off and keep that as the big closet for the master bedroom😊

Welcome!💛 We definitely want to keep as much original as we can!

Thanks so much Craig!👋🏼 We’re glad you’re here! I’ll be posting more updates soon☺️

Thanks so much for following along! Yes, I'm SO excited for that stained glass to come to life again! Posting updates soon😊

That’s a great idea, we might end up doing that! Depending on what the historical district allows- we have to run everything by them

Welcome!👋🏼 You’re definitely right! Those are all on our to-do list, we’re slowly chipping away. And thanks for checking us out😊. More updates coming soon!

Thanks so much for the encouragement!!☺️ Are you also in St. Louis?

Thanks so much!💛 I think it has a lot of potential too! We’ll be posting updates soon.

Welcome, Elizabeth!👋🏼 Thanks so much for checking us out! It’s always been a dream of ours to fix up a house like this- we’re very excited! More updates coming soon😊

Welcome Teresa!👋🏼 Thanks so much for checking us out! I hope you enjoy😊

Welcome!😊 Thanks for checking us out! Posting more updates soon👍🏼

Either that, or get it condemned...

That one is actually being restored right now by our neighbor!

@@AndreaEppy that helps a ton, makes everything you do worth more!

Absolutely! And he’s a really nice guy too!

😄 Glad you like it as much as we do!

Thanks Joe! New updates coming soon!😊

Welcome Susan!👋🏼 thanks for checking us out! We plan on trying to keep as much original as we can since it’s in a historic district. Lots to do but I’ll be sharing updates soon!😊

Thank you so much!😊 we’re so excited and happy to be able to do this project! It’s been a lifelong dream of ours!

Such a small world - we love St. Louis and all of the great architecture! Stay tuned for an update video here soon! :)

Absolutely! We’re taking all the proper precautions😊

Thanks so much Kay! Welcome😊!

Thank you! Yes we love the stained glass windows! I signed up for a class to learn how to make them, since there are two missing by the fireplace and I’d like to make my own there! And congrats on your house too! Good luck and thanks for watching😊

Thanks so much for the welcome! We absolutely love this area😊. Excited to bring this home to life again!

Thanks so much, Nancy!😊

Thanks so much Barbara!😊 I'll be posting more updates soon!

Welcome Tyler!👋🏼 That’s awesome, love to meet fellow renovators in St. Louis! We’re probably pretty close then, we’re near the history museum/ wash u area. We definitely want to keep as much as we can- would LOVE to keep some hardwood floors if possible. Good luck in your renovation as well! Would love to hear updates as you go😊

If your house was built in 1897 what antique features do you have?

@@icemancometh8679 I have a custom main staircase, a servant stairwell, a secret door that connects what would have been the children’s room to the master bedroom and my third floor used to be the servant quarters. The original owners did a renovation in the 1910s/early 1920s so they took out all the pocket doors and internal transom windows and turned them into Spanish influence archways. The houses across from mine were built 10-20 years after mine and they’re all Spanish influence. Either the owners of my house saw the new style of the new houses and decided they wanted to change theirs or someone knocked on their door and sold them the renovation. I have beautiful, decorative Victorian doorknobs, all my original doors and custom Art Deco style trim work throughout the entire house. My fireplaces have been brick in because they were coal burning but you can still see the gas lanterns posts throughout the house. And I still have all my original hardwood floors as well as the push buttons for the old knob and tube electricity. And I still have the bathroom sink from the 1910s/1920s remodel. Oh, and all the original windows although the storm windows that cover them are from like the 1980-1990s. It’s all red brick with a stone foundation and my ceilings are around 11 feet although in the servant quarters they’re around 9.

@@icemancometh8679 I also have a balcony that still has its original woodwork but the wood is completely rotted. It overlooks the backyard. Thankfully the base of it is brick so you can still walk out onto it but, like everything in that house, it needs love and money.

@@tylerbhumphries Thank you for that answer- I love hearing about old houses with these features. As for the back balcony people love to donate to gofundme accounts to help people out when it comes to saving things from a bygone era. And I'd like to take a moment to remember the pocket doors and transom windows which we all love sniff sniff cough cough 😫🌧ok, I'll stop now but really hate hearing that! I watch the Second Empire Strikes Back channel too and one episode shows Kaleb shutting both pocket doors at the same time - they tower above him . One lady wrote in I was born to walk through doors like these - so funny. 😁

We’re definitely going to try that first! I’d love to be able to keep the floors, fingers crossed🤞🏼

Thanks so much! I’ll be posting lots of updates along the way!😊

Thanks Alicia! You’re so right, that’s part of the reason we were only looking at older homes. Appreciate the support!😊

Thanks Ron, I'm excited to get started on it!

Don't worry, we will be keeping as many original features as possible, while doing some modern upgrades in places like the kitchen.

Welcome Gaspard! 😊Thanks for checking us out!

Thank you so much!😊 We think so too! We’re definitely hoping to save as much as we can that’s original! I can’t wait to take off those red boards and fix up those big windows!

ANNA MISS YOU!!💛

KATHLEEN HII!! Thanks! It’s always been a dream of ours, so we’re excited to finally be doing it! Hope you’re doing amazing☺️

I think so too, Richard! It has quite a bit of work to do but I think it will turn out really nice once everything is complete! Going to be a long road haha😅

@@AndreaEppy Cool cool 😅 If y'all plan to have a house warming party in the future 🥳🎉 DM me on Twitter.. hopefully if I could make it, I could DJ for that party.. all the best with the new house 🤗💯

We’re definitely going to try to keep as many things original as possible, but also adapt some things to adapt for our lifestyle!😊 We talked it over with our architect and we think we’re going to do a compromise and not completely open the wall up, but put an archway that matches the other one. That way we can still keep the ceiling design too!

Thank you so much, we’re so excited too!! I’m especially excited about designing the kitchen and office, but those will be a bit down the road haha! I’ve been on Pinterest so much lately😆 Can’t wait!

@@AndreaEppy A great addition to a new office would be some new XD Daily Challenges though.. Hopefully some day :))

😂That’s true, never say never! I may pick it back up sometime in the future!

@@AndreaEppy Sounds awesome! 😊

Thanks Eric! And exactly our thoughts. We’re taking down every single wall though so it probably won’t matter since everything will pretty much be renovated besides the bricks to be honest! We’re going to get a cleaning crew with hazmat suits to take everything out👍🏼

Definitely check the floor tiles too...

Definitely!👍🏼

Thanks Eric! We have a lot of work ahead!😅

@@AndreaEppy It will be a fun documentary.

Thank you so much, Andrew! I agree, I LOVE the windows! I'll definitely be posting more update videos here. I'm honestly not sure how tall they are at the moment! Need to measure next time im in it.

Such a small world! It’s seen a lot of changed in the last few years!

Welcome!💛 And I agree haha, I’ll relay that to the videographer (husband)😅!

Such a small world!😊 I thought that too initially, but I don’t think it was a sears house because these brick walls are load bearing, whereas I believe the brick sears houses were only veneer!

Thank you so much! I'm always learning new things with this house- I didn't know it was called that! We're hoping to have the renovations complete in a year.

@@AndreaEppy I'm guessing by the outside look and interior, you have a stunner there, can't wait to see the end product and how you both bring it to realization.

😂 That house is currently being fixed up by the neighbor! Last ones on the block being renovated. Ah, that could be true, good observation!

Good ideas, thanks for sharing! Yea, the front door I don't believe was original since I think a bigger one can fit there. We will probably get a nicer one when renovation is almost complete. Super interesting about the plaster needing to breathe, I didn't know that! We'll see how much is salvagable. I'm a little hesitant to keep the original plaster in case there's any toxic elements in the paint/ etc. Yes, I'm super excited to see what's under the vinyl tiles! The upstairs has some nice wood floors, but not sure about the first floor. We'll definitely be adding a fence, but probably not til the end just in case we need to tear up the yard for sewer system and such.

I don't mind at all!😊 I've had a youtube channel for a few years and have focused on design before this. I did livestreams with Adobe sharing my design work, so I think a lot of folks came from those livestreams!

Trust me, we want to keep as much original as we can! We love the original style of the trim, archways, etc! Since no one has lived in it for 15+ years some of these things are too far gone or rotting, so in those places we’ll need to recreate the originals. Underneath the tiles on the first floor there isn’t hardwood and it was removed at some point and is just plywood (sad!!), but the second floor flooring we think can be saved! We’re consulting with a historical renovation expert during the process👍🏼

We bought it for $96,000, but it needs about $250,000 - $300,000 of work! We're eligible for historic restoration tax credits though. I may make a video about the costs once it's all done if folks are interested. Congrats on your new apartment!

No one had lived in this one for 15+ years👻