Yank's House - Is it time for a doer-upper

Has there ever been a better time to take on a doer-upper I ask? I think not. You have all been following our story now – some of you for almost a year but have you ever considered taking on a similar challenge yourself? Well if you have now might be the time to take the leap.

With this in mind I browsed the Irish property market this week to seek out some of the more interesting prospects for your attention. The choice is so wide – from thatched cottages to old gate lodges, from farm houses to old mills. What every you fancy can be found somewhere around the country as people off load old ruined properties in an attempt to raise a bit of capital in the current slump. 

So could you be the person to turn this disaster into your dream project? Let see what you think of my choices. There is so much to choose that I have concentrated on County Monaghan for this week’s report but if you find this interesting I might follow up with some more areas over the next few weeks. Please let me know what you think. Any way – here are my choices and all for a price of €100,000 or less. That is half what the Yank’s house cost during the boom.

For the very brave among you I have chosen Barton’s Mill in Co Monaghan. If I wasn’t already up to my neck in debt I would be very tempted by this place. The property description tells us the mill is steeped in tradition and is a unique selection of hand cut stone buildings including a private dwelling in need of upgrading all sitting on one acre of land. Unlike the Yank’s house it already boasts oil fires central heating, a fitted kitchen, a bathroom and running water. But it is the pictures that win me over.

What amazing Buildings. Priced at €98,000 I feel you would need deep pockets for this one but wouldn’t it be worth it?

Still in County Monaghan I came across this little gem – a gate lodge sitting on 0.5 acre site. How charming is this?

The property description tells us it sits opposite Rossmore Forest Park. Priced at €100,000 this might be a more manageable project for some. Overall floor area 45.1 Sq Metres or 485 Sq feet.

If you are looking for a farm house this offering might be closer to what we have in the Yank’s House. Again priced at €100,000 it comes with 11 acres of land but the house is a full restoration job.

My last offering this week is a detached stone built house with a very interesting lofted out house. The house requires a total refurbishment/restoration but isn’t that outhouse amazing -maybe even more interesting than the house? Also in the description the agent tells us there is no access to the public road and this would have to be installed. So for anyone looking for seclusion this might be the answer.  

So this is what can be found in County Monaghan on a budget of €100,000. Let me know what you think of these offerings. Next week I might look at urban properties in our towns and cities for those who don’t want to live in the middle of nowhere. As always – feedback welcome.

The Yank's House - Where to next

Where to from here? The current property market in Ireland would suggest we are throwing good money after bad spending it on the Yank’s House. After all it is unlikely that the house will ever be worth what we have already spent on it – not counting all the free labour. So should we cut our losses and stop? NO! I hear you all cry but come on friend – how much longer can we afford to pump money and time into this project? And what is the future for the Irish property market and the Yank's House? 

The media sends out such mixed message – Dan O’Brien wrote an article in the Irish Times in June titled ‘Irish property market has hit bottom – probably’ http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/ireland/irish-property-market-has-hit-bottom-probably-1.1427997

Ah come on Dan! Talk about not wanting to commit one way or another. He ends his article property prices have probably bottomed out. I am no economist – but I could make a statement like this. After all either way I cannot be wrong. 

But then I look at the Yank’s House and I say to myself – this was never about  money. Pat and I never saw it as an investment. We wanted to save this old house for the future. Now several years on maybe we were not the right people to have taken on this project. After all we have limited means and are not getting any younger. So the question remains – where to next?

It is a pity that these old houses, often a faded memory on our landscapes are not valued more. And by this I don’t mean their economic value. These old buildings are part of our heritage and our local history. What sort of place will this land be if we let them all fall and we forget the people who built them? See even still I am an old romantic.

For now the Yank’s house will have to sit and wait. Maybe next year will see Pat and I rejuvenated with a new rush of energy. Maybe we will win the Lotto and have lots of money to throw at the house or maybe we will find a new custodian to take over from us. For now the Yank's House is safe and the work we have completed insures it survives into the future. 

Maybe the answer is to find a job for the Yank's House - so it can contribute to it's own survival. Pat and I are open to suggestions.  Whatever happens  -  I will keep you posted.

Yank's House - Stone picking

Bending to pick up a stone and dropping it in the wheelbarrow brings back a flood of childhood memories. Growing up on a small farm in Co Meath we often had to help out with chores. I hated any job that required a stooped back. So dropping potato seed on beds of cow dung or wading through the muck picking freshly dug potatoes were not my favourite jobs. I wasn’t very fond of weeding the vegetable patch either or picking sticks for the fire. Funny that, cause now I like to bring back an arm-full of stick from a country walk – my mother’s daughter!

So when I decided to start tidying up the many stones around the Yank’s house I was reminded of my stone picking days as a child. My father would till a patch of ground to grow barley to feed the animals, potatoes to feed his children and turnips for both of us - does anyone mangle turnips any more I wonder. The crop would be rotated for a few years then the land was put back into grass and a new place was selected for tilling.

Once the new grass grew it was important to remove any stones that the tilling had raised to the surface. If left behind these might break the mowing machine at a later stage. Armed with a bucket we would walk in straight lines over and back across the field filling our buckets with stones. I hated it. And yet now I find myself at the Yank’s house picking much bigger stones.

If there is one thing we are not short of at the yank’s house it is stones. They are everywhere. Whether they have fallen off old walls or we dug them up as part of the work.

One of my far off dreams for the Yank’s house is to use these stones to repair some of the old walls.  To create outdoor rooms, with gravel floors and places to sit. This will preserve the footprint of the yard - it’s history and the story of how it evolved to be as it is today. But in the meantime I have a lot of stone picking to do. 

Yank's House - Holiday Time

Here at Yanks’s house we are celebrating this weekend. Pat and I are married 30 years. We are having a party for family and close friends on Sunday afternoon and then heading to beautiful Rome Monday morning for 5 nights. I cannot wait!

Originally we had planned to have our party bash at the Yank’s house but it just isn’t ready so we moved the venue to a local hotel and I am glad now as I have nothing to do – no cooking or cleaning. I can just relax and enjoy the day.

My dad of 86 years asked me why I was having a party – I told him and he said ‘Well that isn’t very long, your mother and I were 62 year married this year’. Very true – they are amazing! On their anniversary he asked her would she last another 8 years because 70 years would be some record. Unlike me he hasn’t learned to live one day at a time.

Last summer we got shocking news when Pat was diagnosed with cancer. Thanks God his treatment has been successful and he is doing fine now again but on the day he was diagnosed he asked me what we were going to do. My answer was ‘We are going to fight this and start living every day to the full’. Lately I heard him tell this story but he claims my answer was – ‘we are going to throw a party’ ha!

So this year I have tried to keep my word, not to worry about silly things and to appreciate every day and just to be happy. And you know what – it is working. Pat and I are so excited about this weekend about our party and our holiday next week. We are looking forward to being surrounded by family and friends as we celebrate the past and look forward to a bright happy future.

Yank's House - A stitch in time

Many regular followers of Yank’s House on Twitter will remember my worries this winter over the wonderful old chimney in our ‘out-house’. Part of the walls adjoining this old building/chimney fell one stormy night.  We were worried the next storm would knock more walls and these could pull the chimney down with them. This building was once a little house and probably home to the Yank as a young boy.  It is part of the footprint of the site and tells us something of its history. To Pat and I it is precious. So the damage to the surrounding walls was of great concern to us.

Pat and I carried out an evaluation of the damage. We were horrified to find wide splits in the walls especially where the corners should have been tied in. Another storm might do untold damage. 

Money isn’t plentiful on this project and spending some of our dwindling budget on an old chimney might not seem very wise but we really felt we had little choice. It was a matter of staying true to ourselves and to the Yank and to the undertaking we accepted when we became custodians of the Yank’s House. 

We didn’t have any lime on site so we needed to head off to The Traditional Lime Company for a few bags. We asked Jason (Stone mason) if he would come down and check the job out and fit us into his schedule. Lucky for us Jason wasn’t as worried as we were. He didn’t think there was any immediate risk to the chimney. Also with the down-turn in the economy, Jason wasn’t busy, so we didn’t have to wait too long for him to start.

Jason tied in the corners of the building and pointed up a supporting pillar. 

To one side of the chimney there was once a doorway. This has been built up using round stone. Over this there was a wooden head. We were worried about this because the wood was damaged by woodworm and damp. If it disintegrated further it might unsettle the wall above it.

So Jason removed this timber and filled the gap with stone. He tried to take out the round stones to replace them with more traditional building stones but they wouldn’t budge. He told us not to worry about them falling.

It looks a bit funny but it tells a story. At some stage an extra room was added to our little house and this doorway was opened to give access. Then at a later stage it was closed up again, maybe by the Yank himself. 

Jason has assured us that this chimney is not going to fall. We still need to do a major job on it, scraping out the joints and pointed the stone.

Jason has advised us to extend the roof over the wall to prevent the rain from hitting the top of the wall. When we have this done he will come back and build the gable up to meet the roof closing it all off from the weather.

We are relieved to have our lovely old chimney secured – especially tonight as I sit here writing my blog – listening to the wind and rain howl outside. 

Yank’s House – Spring into action

Ha! I like this heading. It suggests I have been struck with a bolt of energy – wish I was but alas no. I am merely referencing the fact that today could pass as a spring day – the first of 2013 here in Ireland. The east wind was missing and we had a blue sky and sunshine all day.  What a treat! And I had to rescue two butterflies from the Yank’s house today.  

There were two butterflies on this window. I picked them up and let them out where they flew high into the sky

Pat and I headed off to check the house out and pottered about for a few hours. We haven’t been for ages – the weather has  just being too bad. But today encouraged by the sunshine we headed off and even managed a few small jobs. I cleared the bedroom with the floor I want to paint and swept it out. Then Pat did a few repairs for me. 

Pat fixing the floor

Maybe if we get another good day I will get started on the sanding and cleaning in preparation for painting. Pat also finished off the paneled wall with a trim along the floor. I will paint this to match the wall when I am down again.

New trim needs painting

I spent a bit of time out in the garden today also. I wanted to enjoy the weather. I checked our trees and pruned some low shoots and branches to encourage the growth up the young trees. I am trying to encourage one main leading shoot so the trees will grow straight and strong.

We put crow guard covers on our chimneys way back at the beginning of this project but every year – in spring, the crows come back and drop nest construction materials down through the guard. They cannot get into the chimney and haven’t been able to build a nest there for years but they just keep coming back and trying to block up my chimneys.  I cannot understand all the energy they put into collecting these materials and then pushing them down a chimney that they cannot get into.

In this image you can see what the crows are pushing down mt chimneys

Then again, maybe it isn’t much different to Pat and I.  We return to the Yank’s house every spring with our tools and materials and we have never actually been able to move in, or spend one night there. We haven't finished our nest either.  Maybe 2013 will be our year!