Hobby Farm Home Tour

This beautiful home out in the country, is a true getaway for John and Nicole.  I started cleaning for them four and a half years ago, and what changes I have seen.  Many of my favorite photographs have come from their property and I find my visit each Friday, a perfect ending to my week.  Here is the story of their house...

I started cleaning a warm summer a, the week Nicole moved in, back in 2008.  John had owned the house for about 5 years and his life was about to change.  Each visit I watched Nicole add her personal touches to the house, room by room.  Within a month, the backyard would be filled with guests, celebrating the marriage of Nicole and John.  I fell in love with the house and felt so lucky to be able to enjoy the property and witness the growth of this awesome couple.

The house has seen several remodels, including one I did not get to witness.  The original  garage was turned into their master bedroom before I came.  The master bedroom was then again remodeled shortly after I started cleaning.  All the woodwork was painted white and a soft shade of sky blue painted on the walls.  New furniture was brought in and it was done.  An enormous room filled with charm and warmth.  Nicole wanted it to feel like heaven, and indeed she has done that!  The wrought iron canopy bed with hand stitched flower pillow cases and soft blankets graces one side of the room and a wall full of windows with white sheer panels ties it to the sitting room area.

The kitchen is a busy place in this house, since John loves to cook, especially using the veggies from his home-grown garden.  The kitchen was remodeled just over a year ago, with country style cabinets, soapstone counter tops and all new stainless steel appliances.  The kitchen is warm and inviting.
The dining room is attached to the kitchen with a bold splash of color.  Red, velveteen chairs add a comfy feel to the area and the colorful, round rug features the quaint nook.
The windows all along the back look out over a rolling carpet of green with a huge metal arbor and filled with a large patch of daisies in the summer.  The wild animals make an appearance on a regular basis as well.

In  the summer, the gardens are beautiful and so fun to cut flowers and bring them into the house.  The deck is filled with pots of flowers and herbs and the clematis are climbing the wooden deck poles.

Ok...Back into the house we go!  It is 6 degrees outside right now and I am drawn to the flower photos, wishing for summer!

 

Heading upstairs are three spare rooms and a beautifully remodeled bathroom.

I love this room, the White Room, has a charming chandelier hanging and a light, airy feel with white linens and a homemade quilt at the foot of the bed.

The Horse Room, is a large, open space overlooking the backyard garden.  On many occasions I have seen the cardinals and blue jays playing in the crab apple tree outside the window.

The third bedroom is a small bedroom, at one time, the Green Room, but now is being transformed into Johns office.  Here is a photo of it as a bedroom still.

The remodeled bathroom upstairs is a peaceful space with a large soaking tub and white subway tile surrounding the room.

After 4 years of cleaning for John and Nicole, they welcomed their new babies into this world!  Twins...a boy and girl!  As always, Nicole had wonderful taste and turned the office into an amazing space for two precious babies.

And of course, with two new kiddos in the house, there comes more laundry!  So, John set out to create a dream laundry room with lots of folding space, and finally...a vented dryer!

Finally, we head back outside.  Such a welcoming property deserves a couple more photos of it's natural beauty.

And then there is DoeBelle...

She came just about the time I did to the farm.  A gift to Nicole from her Dad for her wedding.  She was a baby...so cute and timid and fluffy!  We have become friends.  I bring her carrots and feed her apples from the apple tree.  She comes running when I stand by the fence an call her over.  And in the spring, she gets a little, down right crazy!








If you haven't realized by now, this family...and house have a special place in my heart!

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A Little Garden TLC

BEFORE: Backyard 

The gardens ( Backyard, Side Garden and Front Garden) in our new house needed a little TLC...and I needed A LOT OF BUG SPRAY!  Our town holds an Historic Home and Garden Tour every year.  Our neighborhood will be on the tour next year and was on it 5 years ago.  The Historical Society said there will be a lot of interest to see what we have done with the house since the last time it was on tour.  So...we have some work to get done in the next year!  I think we are well on our way!

AFTER: Backyard

We have planted a bunch of perennials and pulled and killed lots of weeds and cut down lots of little trees growing out of stumps back there.

We have also laid out the pathway that will be pea rock going to the front of the house.  Right now there is a broken down fence between the two which they have strapped to a tree.  That will be coming down soon to connect the two gardens and create a beautiful shade garden.


(Left) The pathway that will lead from the front garden to back garden.

The Front Garden is on a quiet street shaded with trees and squirrels running wild...including two albino squirrels.  It was consisting of lots of weeds and lily of the valley.  We thinned out the lily of the valley, pulled weeds and planted perennials.  Then laid down mulch to choke out the weeds.

We also found some landscape blocks and moved them to the right of the house making the entrance to where the pathway will come through.  We planted some ferns and lily of the valley in this area as well as one of my favorites, a bleeding heart bush. (Seen below)

The future pathway to the backyard

Now we go onto the side garden.  This is the most visible garden since it on a busy street and where the driveway is.  So most of our guests come to this entrance.  I'm including a porch picture as well, that we have recently painted!

After: Side Porch which is our main entrance

The side garden was filled with rock on top of rock!  We had to sift through all of it (almost a foot deep)  It was quite the challenge but worth it.  The dirt was great and ready for planting!  We just needed some warm weather here in Minnesota.  

Collecting larger river rock from around the yard, we had enough to do a border around the front of the garden.

We transplanted our hosta and day lily's from our old house and added some lavender, daisies and perennials as well as a few herbs.  It is filling in nicely!

Our yard was also not in great shape but we are happy to say the grass is now plush and filling in great.

Please find me on facebook:

Through My Creative Mind

to see the day to day progress on the house!

Our new adventure...An Historic House!

Hi Everyone...Wow it has been a very long time since I have posted and life has gotten so busy.

Here is a little history of the house..from what we have pieced together and found information on.

Our house has two different dates...1859 and 1892. The Historical Society can not prove that our house is the original house from 1859 but they do know a house was on this property in the same spot on the lot back then. There was a huge fire in 1884 which destroyed much of the downtown area

and I was told that the house is close enough that the house may very well have been damaged.

The Hanscom family moved in the late 1850's to Minnesota from Maine. They lived there until they died close to their 70's in the mid 1890's.

The house is about 2,300 sq ft plus a large laundry room and both a smaller side porch (mud room) and a large L-shaped 3 season front porch.

The house has had several owners through the 1900's and the most recent owner had huge dreams for the house but got transferred to another state a few years and never made it back.

We moved in May 2nd, 2014...a whole month ago!

Here are a few projects we have done around the house so far.

The Front Porch...One of my favorite rooms in the whole house!
It's a huge L-shaped porch along the front of the house and is full of windows. We had to paint it from top to bottom but what a difference it made!

Here are a few of the before pictures.  The ceiling and walls need a good painting.  

We had to finish painting it as it snowed outside in late April but it was worth it!

A panoramic view of the L-shaped porch finished

The previous owner said at one time the post light in the yard worked but just suddenly stopped working.  We figured out that the time had just run it's course and so we solved the electrical mystery.  We then got a new post light and put a light sensor on it as well. A beautiful new light!

Please follow our progress as we go forward with remodeling some of the other areas of the house on a budget!  You can also follow along with our day to day remodeling projects on my facebook page: Through My Creative Mind