The Chestnut Suite

There's a sign so its official.

Once upon a time, two sisters visited an old, once loved, and long abandoned house.  They didn't see worn floors and acoustic tile ceilings.  They didn't see salmon pink bathtubs and leaking pipes.  No, they saw lovely, rosy potential gently showered by falling red leaves and backed by the peaceful rush of the stream.
Of course, it didn't take long to realize the immense amount of work in store, even for the rooms that were almost up to par.  The downstairs, with it's two small bedrooms and two tiny bathrooms in a shared hallway, became a project for "one day."

Now, the handy innkeeper is not the sort for "one day."  He's the sort that unpacks all the boxes the day you move and builds an entire deck when the request was for a bench.

So it should come as no surprise that the original idea of updating one of the bathrooms and closing the other off and then cleaning up the two bedrooms was sort of forgotten about.

Bedroom the first, with three kinds of
paneling and one tiny window

Bathroom the first, complete with dark
alcove to stare into while contemplating
your life on the toilet.

Bathroom the second - no dark alcove,
just lots of, er, efficiency in the space

Bedroom the second, with tons of windows
to showcase the water damaged and molded walls.

Now, technically, none of these rooms counted as bedrooms because neither of them had a closet.  There was some pretty bad water damage as well as a mystery leak that we hoped came from a pipe in the wall, the alternative being a leaking foundation which would have been pretty insurmountable.

We had been using the rooms as storage, particularly for the handy innkeeper's assorted wood working tools, each of which he declares vital.  So the first step was shoving - I mean - carefully organizing said tools into a new room.  

Second step was, of course, demolition.

Demolition of the first shower,
by hand with a sledge hammer

Tearing out the leaky wall - first time I've ever been happy
about a leaking pipe.

The future sitting room - can't you see the potential?

Both showers torn out, one toilet to go

Next, we started to rebuild.  This project was by far the largest we had attempted, and though we used an electrician and plumber, the handy innkeeper did nearly everything else on his own.  Our original plan for the bathroom included a shower and tub, but once we had everything torn out, we realized the existing plumbing would not allow for both.  Until we realized we could put the tub *in* the shower.  Hmmm...

We used distressed wood paneling on the ceilings and poured concrete floors that we acid stained.  Each piece of furniture is hand made, of course, using primarily white and grey and soft green, giving the suite a sort of beachy cottage feel.  

So, after three months of non stop work, we present our newest favorite room, the Chestnut Suite.

Welcome to the Chestnut Suite, featuring a wet bar, mini fridge,
coffee maker, and microwave, as well as dining table for four
daybed, and smart televisions with Roku.

The day bed is the only piece of furniture in the suite that is
not handmade, but we'll forgive the handy innkeeper.

The handy innkeeper insists the day bed is no good for sitting - I agree,
it is perfect for curling up with a good book, or just staring out into the upper
lawn.  Those craving better posture are welcome to the dining table. 

The hallway between the bedroom and the sitting room, with
a long row of windows on the left and the brand new bathroom on the right.
The door to the bathroom is a (what else?) hand made pocket door with a
faux stained glass finish.

This is the original position of the toilet and hand sink in bathroom the first,
but we like our double vessel sinks and wide mirror better.  Of course,
you can no longer contemplate the dark abyss while using the facilities, instead,
you must contemplate this - 

The over sized shower - essentially a wet room that takes up half
the bathroom - with a rain shower head, sliding glass doors,
and our pride and joy and giant pain in the *ahem*, our restored
claw foot tub.  The entire wet room is made of stained cement.

Cozy up to this king sized bed, with a down alternative feather bed
topped mattress and cozy comforter on top.  The master bedroom
also has a (newly) built in closet and sitting area.

The master bedroom has its own little sitting area as well as
its own smart TV, perfect for when families or couples
traveling together need their own space.  The new glass door also
helps to bring lots of light into the bedroom, even with privacy shade down.

Thanks to all of our wonderful guests this year who helped to make the building of the Chestnut Suite a reality.  We are so grateful to all the lovely people we have been privileged to host and can't wait to share this newest addition with you!

Progress...Kind of

Distressed wood paneled ceilin

If you have ever undertaken a major renovation project, you know there are stages to the process.  There's excitement at first, as you make plans and blithely set budgets that you will never follow.

Then there is the exhilaration of taking a sledge hammer to whatever horrible feature you have been dying to get rid of.

Of course, once the dust is settled, you get that slight sinking feeling in your stomach as you realize a) someone has got to get all this broken up retro wood paneling and yellow tile cleaned up and hauled away and b) you can't turn back now.

And then, once all that is cleaned up, you realize now you have to rebuild it all.

So we are getting there.  The sitting room is mostly done structurally, except for the floor.  The bathroom is dry walled and painted and waiting for the shower to be poured.  The bedroom is torn apart and cleaned and needs to get drywall.  It feels like nothing has been done (it's still an empty room!), but we are actually moving along, and though we likely won't get the Chestnut Suite open for the peak of leaf season, our family and pet friendly suite will definitely be open for the holidays.

The distressed wood paneling on the ceiling comes down one wall in the sitting area.
The beginning of our wet bar has also been framed out.

The shower, being prepped for cement pouring,

The bedroom, formerly home to three different kinds of wall paneling, now just home to a bunch of studs.