COUNTRY CHARMER IN THE HEART OF TOWN. 3 BEDROOM AND 1 BATHROOM! THIS 1941 FRAME BUNGALOW WITH SCREENED FRONT PORCH AND ALSO LARGE SCREENED BACK PORCH OFFERS BEAUTIFUL WOOD FLOORING MOST EVERYWHERE! KITCHEN APPEARS TO BE UPDATED WITH WOOD CABINETRY AND VINYL FLOORING! LOCATED ON OVER 1/3 OF AN ACRE, THIS IS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY! THIS IS A FANNIE MAE HOMEPATH PROPERTY.
To make a long story short, we decided it was time to cash out of our home of 40 years in Fort Lauderdale, the house needed updating and repairs, and we decided to re locate and start over. We were led to this small town near Tampa, Florida, that I never heard of, at the suggestion of my daughter who lives nearby in Lakeland. Our house sold quickly, to cash investors, because it was in a very hot real estate market, a desired area.
So
here we are, renting a home up the street from our recently sold home,
and shopping for a home from 300 miles away. It was a problem trying to
do this with our jobs, trying to set
up a time to drive and take a look, hoping that the homes we are
looking at are still available by time we are able to make the trip.
The Bumble Bee House
This was the nickname we gave this somewhat sorry looking house, not just because of the colors, but it actually had a huge honeybee infestation, that I found out later was scaring the neighbors. This is why there is the warning tape in the ad picture. This hive filled the cavity in the right lower corner between the two porch columns.
Being a FannieMae Homepath house, means two things: It is being sold at a discount, and it needed work. With our combined knowledge and family experiences, we enjoy the risks of being "fixeruppers", we saw the potential, so this did not bother us.
We weren't sure about the house only having one bathroom. The house had brand new wood flooring throughout, and we noted a newer roof with hurricane shingles. We also noticed it had upgraded electric.What we did like about the house was the larger one third acre lot with the larger space between homes, with its little barn, the privacy of the woods in the back, and no neighbors on one side, and the quiet tree lined street with its quaint older homes.
The ad says the house was built in 1941. We are hoping to get into an older home, one of many that were built in the 1920's, the older the better. Even though there was something about this particular house that I could not put my finger on, we decided to keep looking. A day later, when we get back to Fort Lauderdale, it is already a pending sale.
Deep down I am disappointed.
So, just over a month goes by, as we continue to look. I met with my Realtor and looked at 4 in one day. Some were out of our price range, some were on zero lot lines and busy streets. I almost signed electronically on one, a much newer well done home, but froze at the last minute, canceled because it was on a busier street. I have learned to follow my hunches, and to listen to those inner voices.
The next day, the BumbleBee house is back on the market!
I go out, meet with the Realtor, and take a lot of pictures. While I am there, a car pulls up, and two other potential buyers are touring the house with my Realtor, as I continue to take photos. Here are a few more of those photos:
So again, I head back to Fort Lauderdale with the pics still in the camera, decided that we should probably keep looking, and once again, tell the Realtor the same.
I go to bed.
This is where those inner voices actually wake me up, in the middle of the night. I look at the clock, it is 3:30 am, and I am thinking about the house, can't seem to get it out of my mind. There is something about it, it is telling me something.
So the next morning, I speak to my wife, we upload the pics, and discuss it. We are on the verge of empty nesting, and don't really need two bathrooms. 1941? Well, it is still prewar, and it has that nice property and barn. It also has a newer roof and upgraded electric. Plus the rental we are in is eating up our house profit.
So I call the Realtor and tell her to send the papers, we E sign on a negotiated cash offer, accepted.
The previous buyers could not get a mortgage until repairs were made, I was also told that FannieMae was seeking a way out of mortgage loans. I did my own comps on what fix up houses were selling for in the area, and we met in the middle between our offer and the listed price.
We closed on the house on December 5, 2014, and I drove out the following week to change locks and prepare for moving day, which will be January 3, 2015.
So the next morning, I speak to my wife, we upload the pics, and discuss it. We are on the verge of empty nesting, and don't really need two bathrooms. 1941? Well, it is still prewar, and it has that nice property and barn. It also has a newer roof and upgraded electric. Plus the rental we are in is eating up our house profit.
So I call the Realtor and tell her to send the papers, we E sign on a negotiated cash offer, accepted.
The previous buyers could not get a mortgage until repairs were made, I was also told that FannieMae was seeking a way out of mortgage loans. I did my own comps on what fix up houses were selling for in the area, and we met in the middle between our offer and the listed price.
We closed on the house on December 5, 2014, and I drove out the following week to change locks and prepare for moving day, which will be January 3, 2015.
A neighbor who lives across the street, stops by to meet me, tells me he is glad that to see someone moving into the house, which has been empty for over a year. He also happened to be good friends with the previous foreclosed owner, who still lives in town.
He tells me that a small part of the house in the back, namely the kitchen dates to the earlier 1900's. I am like, what? I look at the back, and compare it to the rest of the house, and I am thinking, no...that is not right....
The clues that I noticed that indicated earlier construction were the exposed rafter tails, the small closets and how they were built. One still has its original door, a smaller five panel door with original knob and keyhole.
The window and door casings, the tongue and groove interior wood walls which are cedar, the high ceilings, the beadboard porch ceiling, all of what I saw were similar to other older homes I had researched, ....and nothing like a house built in the 40's.
This is where things start to get interesting.
He tells me that a small part of the house in the back, namely the kitchen dates to the earlier 1900's. I am like, what? I look at the back, and compare it to the rest of the house, and I am thinking, no...that is not right....
The clues that I noticed that indicated earlier construction were the exposed rafter tails, the small closets and how they were built. One still has its original door, a smaller five panel door with original knob and keyhole.
The window and door casings, the tongue and groove interior wood walls which are cedar, the high ceilings, the beadboard porch ceiling, all of what I saw were similar to other older homes I had researched, ....and nothing like a house built in the 40's.
The True History of The BumbleBee House
Back in Fort Lauderdale, I start researching. I go to the Tax Appraiser site, and look up the first recorded deed, 1977, a life estate. Damn, there are a lot of names on this deed. I join people search. I join ancestry.com. I start making phone calls. One of the women on the deed is in ill health, as it is her daughter that answers the phone. She tells me about the great memories of this house, and that she will reach her aunt, to give me more info. Well, her aunt calls me back, and just recently in June of this year, 2016, visited me here in the home.
Here is what I have learned:
*Her grandmother purchased the home, with insurance money from the death of her son, which happened a couple of days after Christmas in a railroad accident in 1924. He was filling in for someone else, and wasn't supposed to be on that train that day.
* She doesn't know if her grandmother bought an existing house or had it built. I have found the deed of when it was purchased from a previous owner, January 1927.
*She was one of four children that was born in the house, in 1936, and lived here with seven siblings, one brother, the rest sisters, including a set of twins, her mother, father, and grandmother. Eleven people in a small 2 bedroom house.
Here is what I have learned:
*Her grandmother purchased the home, with insurance money from the death of her son, which happened a couple of days after Christmas in a railroad accident in 1924. He was filling in for someone else, and wasn't supposed to be on that train that day.
* She doesn't know if her grandmother bought an existing house or had it built. I have found the deed of when it was purchased from a previous owner, January 1927.
*She was one of four children that was born in the house, in 1936, and lived here with seven siblings, one brother, the rest sisters, including a set of twins, her mother, father, and grandmother. Eleven people in a small 2 bedroom house.
*What the neighbor thought was an addition, was actually at one time the back porch, and the original but smaller kitchen. There use to be a window in the second bedroom which opened into the porch.
* The house always had a bathroom, with a clawfoot tub, but no toilet. They used chamber pots and an outhouse. The aqua green tub, (shown below in this article), came later, possibly in the 50's.
*The bathroom never had a common door, both bedrooms had an entry into the bathroom.
* The house used to have a fire place in the living room, later removed in the early 40's and replaced with a cook top wood burning stove in the dining room. The chimney was rebuilt on the north side of the home, from the original bricks, many of which are still stacked in the barn. I have found in the attic where the original chimney poked through the roof.
*The front porch used to be the full width of the front of the house, and was closed half way in the early 40's to expand the front bedroom for this large family.
*The house had bulbs hanging from wires in the ceiling, an indication of a style in the early 20's, and knob and tube fixtures. The house still has three porcelain tubes above the porch.
So based on the above information, a woman that runs the historical center in this town tells me the house was most likely here before 1927. Since the area was platted in 1914 there is confirmation from her sources and other neighbors that this house was built circa 1915. I have the name of the previous residents, which will require more searching of microfilm archives at the county courthouse.
The remnants of the outhouse:
* The house always had a bathroom, with a clawfoot tub, but no toilet. They used chamber pots and an outhouse. The aqua green tub, (shown below in this article), came later, possibly in the 50's.
*The bathroom never had a common door, both bedrooms had an entry into the bathroom.
* The house used to have a fire place in the living room, later removed in the early 40's and replaced with a cook top wood burning stove in the dining room. The chimney was rebuilt on the north side of the home, from the original bricks, many of which are still stacked in the barn. I have found in the attic where the original chimney poked through the roof.
*The front porch used to be the full width of the front of the house, and was closed half way in the early 40's to expand the front bedroom for this large family.
*The house had bulbs hanging from wires in the ceiling, an indication of a style in the early 20's, and knob and tube fixtures. The house still has three porcelain tubes above the porch.
So based on the above information, a woman that runs the historical center in this town tells me the house was most likely here before 1927. Since the area was platted in 1914 there is confirmation from her sources and other neighbors that this house was built circa 1915. I have the name of the previous residents, which will require more searching of microfilm archives at the county courthouse.
The remnants of the outhouse:
I was told that the family raised hogs and chickens for food. The barn still has hay in one corner of the rear addition. They also grew crops on the lot next door that was originally part of the property, which was later sold to a local church.
THE 1938 PHOTO BELOW:
The girl in the top row left is one of the twins. She eventually took ownership of the house in 1978. The girl on the middle row right is the mother of the girl I first contacted, who was born in the house in 1929. The girl on the lowest right is one of the other sisters. The woman who is telling me the story is an infant in the house, which is just to the left outside of the picture. The rest are neighborhood kids, the fellow in the center grew up in the house next door to us, his widow still resides there.
The Restoration Begins
The house was missing its original windows, which were replaced with the aluminum awning jalousies, only five of which actually closed or worked at all.
It is also missing its original interior doors, except for that one smaller closet door in the second bedroom. I am currently searching for salvaged originals.
The first order of business was to stabilize the slightly sagging foundation on the south side, the interior walls of the house beneath the bathroom was not supported properly. There was an attempt at leveling at some point, there were a couple of old rusty jacks and piled up bricks and cinderblocks. It also had a bad sill plate.
I had already started to address the sill plate and damaged studs and siding under the group of four windows on the other side. For some reason when Mr. Code Inspector came to inspect the foundation repair, he decided to walk around to that side of the house saw what you see in the pic below, and said I needed a
permit, which would have meant all kinds of engineered drawings.
Fortunately he didn't cite or put a stop work order in, and I was able to finish the work later.
The Porch:
The first thing I did was remove the damaged screen and framing, as well as the damaged fascia exposing the rafter tails. I got a little creative and took a hole cutter and made simple, decorative porch corbels, with an angled design, which added to the vintage look of the house.
The previous owner, for some reason, covered the front porch with decorative stone cement, which gave the appearance of flagstone, it was not easy to walk on and just didn't look right. So I decided to scrape it off, and found the plywood base. I am wondering what the next step would be, as I am considering deck wood instead, when I noticed the plywood had moisture damage in one corner and it was rotting away. I poked at it to see what was below.
Now I am ripping and unscrewing the plywood off of the porch and uncovering the original porch in very good condition.
I later painted it, after some minor repairs, the original deep gray color.
I also removed the incorrectly installed front door with its 1" gap at the bottom, as well as the pet opening cut into it, and replaced it with a fan lite
Today:
The Porch:
The first thing I did was remove the damaged screen and framing, as well as the damaged fascia exposing the rafter tails. I got a little creative and took a hole cutter and made simple, decorative porch corbels, with an angled design, which added to the vintage look of the house.
The previous owner, for some reason, covered the front porch with decorative stone cement, which gave the appearance of flagstone, it was not easy to walk on and just didn't look right. So I decided to scrape it off, and found the plywood base. I am wondering what the next step would be, as I am considering deck wood instead, when I noticed the plywood had moisture damage in one corner and it was rotting away. I poked at it to see what was below.
Now I am ripping and unscrewing the plywood off of the porch and uncovering the original porch in very good condition.
I later painted it, after some minor repairs, the original deep gray color.
I also removed the incorrectly installed front door with its 1" gap at the bottom, as well as the pet opening cut into it, and replaced it with a fan lite
Today:
Then we painted the exterior, before installing the new windows.
After the windows were installed I put up our home made decorative batten board style shutters, and landscaping.
We then discovered that the AC system was failing, so we invested in a brand new much more efficient system.
The Kitchen: Originally, we had a large opening that led from the dining area to the kitchen, an open concept, with a small laundry area. Below are the before pictures.
What we didn't have was a pantry, or a refrigerator. When we ordered the appliance package, we discovered that the refrigerator didn't quite fit where it was designed to go, you could only open a drawer part way. So we moved the refrigerator in front of the wide opening, and I designed and made a built in shelving divider to hide the back of it.
.....and then created an open pantry concept in the refrigerator space. We also traded the huge stainless refrigerator for our daughters brand new and smaller, but black, GE. Eventually we may paint the cabinets, and decide about the slate flooring.
Finally, we remodeled the bathroom. As the house was being jacked up during foundation repair, several tiles and soap dish kind of oozed off of the wall.
What was on the walls was another discovered disaster.
There was no cement board under the ceramic tile, just mushy plaster, over Masonite tile board, on top of the original tongue and groove wood wall.
Our intention was to replace the tub, but decided to keep this one instead, because of its vintage design. I had spent a rainy day scraping the peeling finish off to discover this aqua green tub, in great condition.
What I found out from the recent visit as stated above, was that the tub had been replaced with this deco style tub, that it always had a claw foot tub, and that there was no common bathroom door, the bathroom was accessed from both bedrooms. What used to be access from the second bedroom is now a large closet in the bathroom.
What is funny about this tub is that originally we were going to put a clawfoot tub and remove this one. Now I wish I had, after learning that would have reverted to original, and having remodeled around the tub that is now here.
So after covering up the tongue and groove with cement board, I enlisted the help of a local tile guy to re-tile that wall. I had removed the plaster from one wall to expose that tongue and groove wood that had wider boards, patched a portion of the floor by the tub and covered it with adhesive grout-able vinyl flooring.
...of course I could not have done any of this work without proper supervision....
A Year Later
So here we are now, a year later. The memory of sleeping on a mattress on the living room floor, the fifty boxes of our stuff on the back porch that I unloaded from the twenty foot UHaul along with the few furnishings we brought, the drafty cold January air coming through the junky windows and pet doors, all of that seems like it was years ago.
But time flies when you are busy restoring an old house. The work is now complete, and I can relax and think back to that 3:30 am wake up call that I am happy I answered, that led us to the BumbleBee house and it's interesting history.
Here are the rest of the real estate ad photos, and the before and after comparisons today:
But time flies when you are busy restoring an old house. The work is now complete, and I can relax and think back to that 3:30 am wake up call that I am happy I answered, that led us to the BumbleBee house and it's interesting history.
The BumbleBee House Today
Here are the rest of the real estate ad photos, and the before and after comparisons today:
UPDATE: When it comes to the BumbleBee house, I may have been the BumbleBee, but my wife was the HoneyBee. My wife Terry Passed away on March 29th 2016, devastating me and the lives of my 3 young daughters. The empty nest is now just an empty house without her. I stay and maintain for the sake of our daughters.
Bumblebee on left, Honeybee on right, 2014
UPDATE: This neighborhood is developing quickly and in the past 18 months two brand new homes went up, one next door and another across the street. The one next door is owned by the church, a young family escaping Miami bought the one across the street. As of this writing there are 3 more planned within a block, including another one across the street.
My old house and barn sticks out like a piece of history amid the new cookie
cutter, hip roofed,
(Florida hurricane code) higher elevated homes...
....and I love the way my house disturbs that vibe.
UPDATE: This neighborhood is developing quickly and in the past 18 months two brand new homes went up, one next door and another across the street. The one next door is owned by the church, a young family escaping Miami bought the one across the street. As of this writing there are 3 more planned within a block, including another one across the street.
My old house and barn sticks out like a piece of history amid the new cookie
cutter, hip roofed,
(Florida hurricane code) higher elevated homes...
....and I love the way my house disturbs that vibe.
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PLANT CITY, FLORIDA
2020 STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL
STRAWBERRY HOUSE B&B
SPARKMAN HOUSE B&B
PARKSDALE PRODUCE MARKET
WILLAFORD RAILROAD MUSEUM
PLANT CITY VIRTUAL RAILCAM
PLANT CITY, FLORIDA
2020 STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL
STRAWBERRY HOUSE B&B
SPARKMAN HOUSE B&B
PARKSDALE PRODUCE MARKET
WILLAFORD RAILROAD MUSEUM
PLANT CITY VIRTUAL RAILCAM
