How to Renovate a Haunted House…

Soooo in 2016 we bought our first home!….which we would later learn was rumored haunted house…YEP, the things you do for a deal, right?

We found a +150 year old biscuit box house in the heritage area of the small quiet town of Carbonear on the ocean in our home province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Too good of a find to pass up. And a struggle to manage as well as we had to arrange the whole deal from Australia. Had to make the final sign off with Larry scooting home for a few days from a business trip in Vegas. With living away and not having local knowledge, the rushed time, the owner living in Russia and the house being older than the town’s documentation, details of the house’s history was extremely limited. But how bad could it be right??

My dear, we got way more than what we expected.

Ohhh did the stories start rolling in.

As mentioned the house is more than 150 years old. And in its long history wracked up many stories and rumors regarding things happening on and around the property. All of which would make moving in a bit unnerving…

But Home sweet home!

When we finally moved home and moved into the house, of course there was mice and bugs. But there was also what could be misconstrued as exorcist paraphernalia EVERYWHERE! Black crow feathers and cross weaved palm reeds were in the ceiling of every room.

When we started working on the yard we uncovered a completely buried, what looked like a TOMB? In reality it’s a root cellar but was a surprise to uncover.

And to finish it off, we have been finding bones buried across the property which can only assume are a mix of moose, cows and cats?

But lemons to lemonade right? Chris’s Mom lovingly refers to the prospective house spirits as Fred, my aunt gave us a bottle of holy water and my 94 year old grandmother stopped by to secretly bless the house.

Aside from this strange side to our adventure as home owners, we still took on a challenge to renovate the house over 6 months to create our new home base.

Challenge: Overhaul the house with just $8,000 and that INCLUDES all furniture.

Result: We increased the valuation of the house by +60% in just four months!

Over the coming months, we’ll be sharing what we did, the mistakes we made and what we learned along the way. From landscaping, electrical and plumbing to design and furniture building and restoration, we’re sure there will be something you guys can use for inspiration or help on your own projects.

That’s it for now. Will update again soon.

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Best,

Chris and Larry