It all started with our leaking roof. My wife and I had not long
moved into our home on Pleasant Street, Sharon MA when we discovered
that the roof was letting in water in the wrong places (are there right
places?). Physics took hold and we encountered the snowball effect…one
thing led to another because we ended up fixing more than just the roof.
We
ended up fixing the roof on our 100 year old home, but also had the
chimneys replaced, new soffetts and gutters installed, cedar clapboard
and decorative elements put on and we painted our old “new” home with 6
colors. And on and on it went. Fortunately, I have a successful
life-event direct marketing business within my home and was able to
fund our ongoing home restoration projects.
During the
restoration process, which began in earnest around 2004, my wife,
Melanie and I grew to understand much about the home restoration and
renovation business.
So I could “speak” the trades people
languages and better understand what was involved -- I went to
Contractor school to learn all about the various building codes
involved in home construction and restoration. I am now a licensed
contractor in the State of Massachusetts.
Given our love for
period homes and restoration, my wife and I launched a new venture in
2007 to buy and restore old Victorian homes. We named the new business
– ModVic (short for Modern Victorian Home Restoration). The idea is to
maintain the beauty, charm and character of an older home, but
sensitively modernize it for today’s living.
We’ve renovated our
4 bathrooms in our own Victorian home, but our newly restored period
kitchen is a shining example of the kind of the work we are hoping to
do in our restoration projects. The cupboards, the fridge, even the
stove all have a Victorian look and feel to them.
Our first
restoration project outside of our own home is located in North
Attleboro on Mount Hope Street (hyperlinked) and was built in 1856. It
was built by a jewelry manufacturer named Benjamin Stanley Freeman and
the family lived there until the 1920s. The home is high Victorian
Italianate style that looks like houses drawn by cartoonist Charles
Adams. In the 1920s -- it was converted into four apartments. Our plan
is to restore it back to a single family home.
We plan to
restore, modernize and sell the historic property at 390 Mount Hope Street, N Attleboro to a buyer in the Spring 2008.
Restoring this home will hopefully be the start of many more come.
Throughout
the years – my wife and I have been able to identify trustworthy
carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians, color consultants,
architectural historians, architects and others who love restoring
older homes. We rely on all these partners to make it all happen –
every time we work with these passionate professionals – we feel it’s a
spiritual journey for all of us of uncovering our past and preparing
for our future.