Old Girl Deconstruction

If you've read my blog for a while, you may remember this post about my Grandparent's house on our family's property. I posted that back in September of last year, and the deconstruction of the "old girl" has finally begun. My Godmother found the perfect person to tear her down as he builds wooden furniture from restored wood. He has already used some of the wood from the house in a couple of his pieces and they are really beautiful! If you have Facebook, you can check out some of Andre's amazing pieces HERE.

Each year he donates some items to the Janell LaCombe Memorial co-ed softball tournament, 5k and  auction that our good friends put on each year. You may remember my posts about this tournament in the past. I will also be posting about this year's event very very soon! It's strange to think that next year, we may be auctioning off furniture built with wood from the house I grew up in...I find that sad yet comforting that she will live on in beautiful pieces in other people's homes. 

Last weekend when we were home, we stopped by the "old girl" to check her out. Deconstruction has most definitely begun! Most of the paneling and walls have been removed to reveal bead board and hand-hewn beams. 

A few months ago, Hubby was up in the attic looking at all the beams and making our "shopping list" of what we wanted to keep once she was torn down. He noticed some of the wooden slats on the roof had white paint of them and guessed they were from the old house that stood on the property back in the 1800's! 

...How cool...

Well, he was right! Andre came across those same pieces and said they looked like they were from about the 1850's. 

There were also small hand-hewn beams in the walls and he showed my God-mama how back in the old days they would cut notches in the wood then take a long piece of wood and slide it into place as a brace. Then in between each of the pieces of wood, they would cram mud and moss and that was essentially their sheet rock and/or insulation for the house. You can see these notches below. These pieces came from the original house as well. 

There were also other pieces of the house that were aging gracefully and beautifully. I loved how the stucco seemed to just be peeling off of the columns in the front.

I also loved these few shots looking through where her windows used to be. 

I had fun finding and taking these shots that made her look like herself, where you couldn't tell she was being torn down...

(You'll notice I didn't take any photos of the front of the house :), I wanted to remember her like this:

It was cool to learn about the house and about how old she really was. It did make me sad and I definitely had a moment of tears, but only once. I grew up in that house. Every memory from my childhood from the Island revolves around that house or in the yard and it was sad to me to see her being torn down, even though I know she is in bad shape and beyond repair.

My "secret hiding-place" as a child is even still there...even though it is full of poison ivy and is likely home to many creatures at this point...

 I was snapped out of my mini pity-party by the Hubby standing off to the side of the house looking at the trees. I walked over and asked him what he was doing and he said "you know, we would probably only have to cut down a few of these little ones..." He was mapping out where our house would eventually go when we move back home. That made my heart smile not to mention got my mind off the deconstruction happening before my eyes. 

We took some photos of my belly peaking out from around the house. I really wanted some of these photos, since Trey will likely be born after the house is completely gone. I wanted him to know how special and important this place is to his Mama and Daddy.

Then of course we took a few photos on the steps of the "old girl"...just one last time...

Here are my Mama, God mama and cousin Lisa. 

And then: Mama, Hubby, Me, and God Mama

I feel so blessed to have so many memories in one place and look forward to little Trey growing up to love the Island as much as I do...I can see him learning to drive in the same pasture I did. I can see him hunting in the back with his Daddy. Just makes my heart smile tremendously.... RIP old girl. I know you will live on for many many years as beautiful pieces of furniture and then you will live on forever in our future home we build.