While most families bond over popular pastimes like watching football or cooking, one Canadian clan strengthened their family ties doing something a bit more challenging: renovating a decrepit farmhouse.
When the Proffitt family from Cardston, Canada came across a free 100-year-old farmhouse listed on Kijiji (essentially a Canadian Craigslist), they immediately swooped it up—and then began the process of transforming it into the perfect space for a big family, according to the website where the house is currently listed for sale. Together, all of the kids, parents, grandparents, and even neighbors worked together to renovate this formerly uninhabitable house built in 1916.
While the farmhouse was listed for free, there was one catch—whoever bought the home would have to arrange for the structure to be moved off the property.
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"From the moment we walked inside and saw the nine-foot ceilings, original wainscoting, the original maple flooring, and the beautiful crown holdings, we felt that our lives were about to change," homeowners Rebecca and Eric Proffitt explained.
Soon after, the couple moved the 2,000-square-foot house to a different plot of land with gorgeous views of Old Chief Mountain and gave it a new basement and foundation.
For more than a year, the family worked together to demo, rebuild, renovate, and decorate the farmhouse—and it was by no means easy. "There was no heat in the house and so at the beginning of each day we bundled up our little ones in their warmest hats and gloves and trekked off to the house project," said the Proffitts. "Honestly we reached our wits end so many times. It was our labor of love and what made it all the more special was the fact that we shared that year with each other."
Now, the four-bedroom home has a new bathroom, basement, laundry, room, and a room for homeschooling. The residence also boasts an insulated outdoor shed, a covered porch, and a separate cottage house, which the family uses as a rental property.
"Sometimes we are asked if there were anything we would do differently or if we would do it all over again if we knew what we were getting into," the Proffitts wrote. "The simple answer to both is a resounding yes!"
See more of renovation on 100YearOldHouse.com.
(h/t LittleThings.com)
