Where You Live: Saving a Historic Schoolhouse in the Mountains and Turning it Into a Very Livable Home

Two Innovative Homeowners

Acquire an Unlikely Candidate and Make it Their Home --

but, now, new jobs take it to market.  The "For Sale" Listing here.

Leave it to a couple of chemists to come up with the right formula that turned an "ugly duckling" schoolhouse into a treasured historic property in Salida, Colorado. And in true Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale style, this once-unsightly structure underwent its own  "beautiful swan" transformation . . . . But, it wasn't without a lot of do-it-yourself know-how and back-bending work.

Holly, one of the homeowners, stenciled the name of the old school onto new flooring. The original wood could not be saved. She later found records indicating the school had been in existence even earlier.

Picture a 19th century, two-room school house constructed of red brick embedded with scratched initials that will forever recall the playful antics of restless schoolchildren of long ago. Reminders of their silly mischief also can be found outside in the large tree shading the "new" home. For some reason -- maybe out of boredom -- they hammered small nails into the tree trunk. Oh well . . . no harm done, as the tree has flourished in the last hundred or so years. 

Holly laughs easily, but especially so when pointing to the initials of the names of some of the children who once attended school here. In fact, one elderly man stopped by not long ago to point out his contribution to the brick exterior.

Holly says the school house had belonged to her husband's family for quite a while. Since it was in poor shape,they used it as a storage facility. The couple really had to restore or redo most of the interior. Some things they wanted to save they couldn't -- like the floors and blackboards, which disintegrated when they tried. Nevertheless, this is a one-of-a-kind home with a lot of character. 

The original school bell sits atop the house.

 At some point in past years, the bell had been taken. Holly says it was returned  unexpectedly when they began the restoration. 

The couple added square footage by building an "entry room" onto the house, in addition to a master suite and laundry room. Above, is the home's front door.

 The entry room.

The original doorway into the school is to the right.

The original doorway that lead into the school. The exterior brick is original -- and is where the initials of schoolchildren are etched, as a forever reminder of its original purpose.

The dining area -- and the doorway from the entry room.

 The main room -- and the original school's footprint. Holly says the space was divided up into two sections. When the children entered, they first came into an area where they hung up coats and stored away their belongings. In the center was an old stove. She said you could see where the children had stood to warm themselves; the original floor slanted inward toward the wood-burning stove as a reminder of those cold days.

The kitchen:

Holly and her husband chose to go with a country-sophisticate look in their kitchen, which features a  Shaw sink, cherry cabinets and granite countertops. She made the country-style curtain.

The Guest bedroom and bath:

The Master Suite, which offers a nice view of the the garden:

Holly and her husband did much of the work, in and outside the home, themselves. If they didn't know how to do a task, they turned to the Internet.

She confided she's not a fan of hanging Sheetrock, so they did hire out some of that work.

Outside:

The couple also had built an garage and apartment:

Thank you for visiting! And I thank Holly for showing me her school house. I enjoy sharing the inspiration of preserving something old. 

I also LOVE hearing from you, so please feel welcome to leave a comment.

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I've posted another new post here. It's a guest blog by Arcadian Lighting -- about Tufted headboards.  They are gorgeous!!