When a couple in Birmingham, just north of Detroit, bought an 1895 Queen Anne-style Victorian home, they knew they had a large project on their hands. Looking at pictures of the home as it was in 1990 made the wife a little overwhelmed. The husband saw it as an oppurtunity to make something special. It was an ambitious two-year effort that eventually paid off in a big way.
As the wife explained recently, the couple enjoyed collecting antiques and to find the old home was a rare gem. The couple first began their renovation efforts on paper which took a year of planning and replanning. As some of our readers know, construction projects such as this require a lot of help from contractors and even sometimes from the city to ensure that the remodeling is being done to code. After the planning phase was done, renovations took another year after that.
If you were to look at a picture of the home now versus when it was first built you might not even recognize it. According to the couple, anything they could match they did but tried very hard to make the home modern as well. Not only was the electrical and plumbing update but so too were many of the amenities in the home such as walk in closets and a Jacuzzi tub.
While the couple is happy with how the renovations turned out, other Michigan residents in the past have been less pleased with their experiences. That has been due in part because of contractors who fail to meet deadlines or cause homeowners headaches from construction defects. While this may not have been the case in this situation, large remodelling projects such as this can create immense amounts of frustration, especially with so many contractors and sub-contractors are involved. It’s in situations such as this that we would suggest real estate help from a skilled attorney who can advise you in what is lawfully allowed and what may need litigation to sort out down the road.
Source: The Detroit Free Press, “Michigan House Envy: Couple added five-sided turret to Queen Anne beauty in Birmingham,” Judy Rose, June 16, 2013
