ELEANOR (35) & HAL (37)

Home: 1914 Prairie

Layout: 4 Bedrooms, 1 Bath

Square Footage: 2,200 sqft

Approximate Budget: $40,000

RESTORATION NEEDS

1. Mudroom

2. Guest Bedrooms

3. Bathroom Addition 

• Eleanor and Hal are a newlywed couple that has lived in Detroit for five years. She is a free-spirited, artistic girl from New Jersey and he’s a proper English gentleman from across the pond. They met at a party in New York where they used to live and the rest is history. They’re a fun, unexpected couple who loves dancing to Motown and caring for their rescue dog, “Leica.”

• Eleanor teaches photography at the College for Creative Studies. Hal is a lawyer in the Mayor of Detroit’s office as part of the public rights law team. In their spare time Eleanor and Hal run a non-profit organization called Darkroom Detroit with the mission of making cameras and photography more accessible to the community of Detroit.

• When they bought their historical home they knew that it needed A LOT of work to be done. Hal naively believed that he and Eleanor could do 100% of the work themselves. However, after months of chipping paint, struggling with plaster and throwing hammers across the house in frustration, Eleanor and Hal had to finally throw up with white flag and admit that they needed help. So they decided to hire a contractor…

• The couple had a difficult time finding contractors (especially those with Historic experience) to help with big ticket items, including their leaking roof. Unfortunately, the contractor they hired did a lackluster job, took their money and the roof still leaks!

• Hal and Eleanor feel stuck with a home in disrepair that they can’t fix themselves and they’re nervous about wasting the remainder of their budget on a contractor who won’t do a quality job or respect the historical integrity of their home.

• The Mudroom: Detroit winters mean mud, sleet, snow and ice, and with a big dog who needs to come-and-go, a mud-room is an absolute must. However, their mudroom is barely even a livable room. It has no drywall, floors or closet. It does have exposed electrical and wooden framing… Hal uses the room as a space to store his triathlon gear. Eleanor dreams of a space that has proper storage and can be fully functional for their busy lifestyle. They desperately need this space to be completed.

• Guest Rooms: The guest bedrooms in the house desperately need repairing. One of their guest rooms is missing a wall due to water damage that occurred from an open window and where they had to fix some in-wall plumbing. The other guest room is in need of new drywall, molding and paint. They desperately want to restore these rooms in the near future as a possible nursery, and the other as a guest bedroom for their respective mothers who often come to stay for long stints since they don’t live near Detroit.

• Bathroom: The only restroom in the house is located on the second floor of the home. It’s a major inconvenience not only to them but also to their guests. Eleanor and Hal would love to add an extra bathroom and have discussed adding an additional restroom on the first floor.

• They want the bathroom addition to open on to what they call the “library” which is now a rundown room with popcorn ceilings that they use for storage.

• Eleanor and Hal are really passionate about restoring their home to its original state but they know that they can’t do it themselves. There are so many projects to be done, (including an unfinished entry way as well as an unfinished back porch) that they feel helpless and frustrated. To make matters worse, they are eager to start a family but would like their house to be completed before they add a bundle of joy to their home.