RACHAEL (36) & SHAUN (37)

Home: 1921 Tudor

Layout: 6 Bedroom 2 Bath

Square Footage: 3,300 SQFT

Approximate Budget: $60K

RESTORATION NEEDS                   

1.)   Kitchen

2.)   3rd Floor Main Bedroom/Bathroom

3.)   Bathrooms

4.)   Entryway/Bedrooms/Flooring

Rachael spent her twenties working hard and making sacrifices to be able to save enough money for a down payment on a place of her own. She always thought that she wanted to live in a converted loft, but after touring a historical home she was smitten with the whimsy and character of the older spaces. Her home is a traditional Tudor with stained glass windows, original crystal chandeliers, Pewabic tile and original hardwood floors throughout. Now that she bought her dream house she feels she is in over her head and hopes she hasn’t overleveraged herself into a money pit. This is the first house she has ever owned and she was not prepared for the sheer costs to restore various aspects of the home. There are issues with old windows, worn floors, a non-existent kitchen, exposed walls…the list goes on and on…

Rachael is doing her best to learn how to restore her massive home on her own, but she will be the first to admit that she doesn’t know what she’s doing. She has her boyfriend Shaun who lives down the street helping her. Shaun restored his own historical home but it took him five years working around the clock. She doesn’t want her restoration to take that long and she certainly isn’t as handy as Shaun. Rachael is suffering from a severe case of “Analysis Paralysis.” Her to-do list is already a mile long and she feels that every time she starts a project, another problem or project reveals itself. It feels like a never-ending cycle of one-step-forward, one-step backwards. Rachael’s budget is razor thin, so she is not sure on how to proceed and where/how to spend her money. She loves the original glass, the original hardwood, but everything needs work, not just some things. Rachael doesn’t have the knowledge or experience on how to prioritize her projects.  All she knows is that she doesn’t want her renovation to be a five-year long process…

Kitchen: Unfortunately, the kitchen doesn’t really exist. When the she bought the home the stagers tried to put in a modern kitchen that didn’t meet the charm and historic character of the rest of the home so her and Shaun began to tear it out. Problem is, she didn’t know how to rebuild and replace once she started her own demo! The staged kitchen didn’t include any appliances and the cabinets weren’t even attached to the walls. She is living now without a kitchen! Although she and Shaun have done their best with the space, they are afraid that they’ve done more harm than good. The butler’s pantry has an open area on one end that she would love to turn into a banquette with a table for her and Shaun to enjoy their breakfast in. It could be a sweet little nook with two windows that would make for a peaceful place to start the days.

3rd Floor: It has two large rooms, one large room and one smaller room is more of the size of a closet. It also has a bathroom that is in terrible shape. However, there is a really incredible claw foot bathtub! This space has the potential to be an incredible main bedroom and bathroom area for Rachael. Shaun thinks it’s perfect as it has enough storage for her clothing, shoes, and things, but Rachael is concerned about how hot the 3rd floor gets in the summer. It certainly has the potential, but it’ll be a lot of work to convert that space into anything resembling a living area. 

Bathrooms: The first-floor powder room is her favorite room in the house because it has the potential to be a show-stopping space. However, it needs updated plumbing, drywall, a new toilet and sink and window repairs. The radiator needs to be sandblasted, powder coated and repainted.

They call the bathroom on the second floor the “handyman special.” The previous owner staged a shower in the original tub. The shower was never plumbed/hooked up and the tub can only be used to take a bath. This bathroom needs new patch drywall, light fixtures, plumbing and fixtures before they can even repaint.

The master-suite bathroom on the second floor needs an entire gut in Rachael’s opinion. Although it’s part of the master suite it’s the least inviting space in the home and the last place that Rachael and Shaun would want to get ready in the morning. The current state is by no means clean or serene. Her dream is to make the space larger by knocking the back wall out the connects it to an adjoining bedroom.

Entryway/Bedrooms/Flooring: The front entry should invite you in but at the moment it looks like someone took a baseball bat to the outside. The door itself needs to be replaced with a historically accurate door. Throughout the years the owners attached three different door handles/locks which have resulted in holes in the door and non-functioning latches. The entryway tile is in great shape put the paint is peeling on the walls. The bedrooms throughout the house would be perfect for friends and family to stay in during dinner parties, but they are currently in no shape for hosting. All the bedrooms have peeling paint and worn out flooring and rusty radiators. The floors throughout the massive home all have paint spots and are in desperate need of refinishing.

Although Rachael has Shaun to help, she feels that she is in over-her-head. She hasn’t been able to find a contractor to help and the sheer volume of projects makes her head spin. This is absolutely more than she can tackle on her own. Meanwhile, the home comes with an interesting history. The home was originally owned by David and Daisy Northcross who founded Detroit Mercy hospital in 1917. It was the first Black-owned and operated hospital in Michigan. Rachael and Shaun feel an obligation to restore this house to preserve its history in Detroit. Rachael and Shaun absolutely need Nicole’s help if they are able to save this beautiful and historic space.