Byarton Cottage
This was our circa 1910 Victorian cottage that we sold in May of 2014. Sometimes I really miss it, especially the beautiful kitchen and baths. We spent 3.5 yrs fixing up this place, but you will never believe what actually sold the house!
This old cottage was oozing with color and character! These are just two of the four unique fire places in the home. The mantel on the left we installed and tiled ourselves. It was the highlight of Camdyn’s nursery. The two tiered mantle on the right graced the formal dining room.
Another great feature was the set of elegant french doors and transom that opened from the entryway into the heart of the house. I couldn’t resist putting my personal touch on them. They went from solid white to turquoise and red. Then I free handed birds, berries, and flowers on each door.
During a previous ownership, the massive attic had been renovated to accommodate a family room, two small bedrooms and a full bath. This transformed the once quaint two bed, two bath cottage into a generous 2,074 sq. ft. home. Our residence there was spent fixing up the interior and exterior aesthetically (which we plan to post about periodically).
We put our house on the market in mid October and everyone thought we would sell right away. Since my decorating style at the time was a warm tuscan look and we had done several artsy things to the cottage, we knew it might take a special buyer to appreciate all the art as charm.
However, over the next seven months we had tons of interest and even a few failing offers. One realtor left us a letter on the kitchen table saying it was the most beautiful home she had ever shown in 14 yrs. The only complaints we got were that the slanted ceilings in the small upstairs bedrooms made them only usable for children and that the house was too close to the road. What could we do?
Feeling discouraged, we prayed that God would give us a solution if it was his will that we move. A few weeks before we planned to go off the market, we were on our evening walk, when we stumbled upon an old picket fence that a neighbor was getting rid of. We could tell you some crazy stories of roadside finds but this was providential! A picket fence would not only add more charm, but also give a sense of separation from the street. Better yet, this one was right in our price range, free! For the first time in our dumpster diving history Michael knocked on the door to make sure this was a real trash pile. We got a smiling conformation and set right to work getting it all home.
It took a few weeks to repair, rebuild, and repaint the entire fence, but the end result made us fall in love with our house all over again. This made Bryarton Cottage even harder to let go of, but we felt that our work of art was now complete. Almost immediately after finishing the fence we had a bidding war between two deserving families, which finally ended peacefully in May.
Before
After
This was a thrifty way to add curb appeal that gave the cottage a timeless and more polished look!
We got further validation from the Lord for our quest when we found our dream location for Bryarton Farm. It was only on the market nine days when we purchased it. We were able to move straight from one home to the next. Driving all night to sign the paperwork on the farm in Kansas exactly 18 hrs after we left Georgia. All in His perfect timing.
(Enjoy a tour of Bryarton Cottage by clicking on the Cottage Tour tab on the home page)
