Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt were taking on their oldest house ever last night on Windy City Rehab! They were also raising the roof on things, but it was all about trying to keep that historical aura. Check out the latest renovation below in our Windy City Rehab recap!
For last night’s episode, they were back in Bucktown. The house was built in 1861, which Alison said that means Abraham Lincoln was president at the time! The listing price for this house is $625,000 and Donovan said they know it’s overpriced. He’s thinking it’s around $550K or $560K.
Alison said someone took care of this house and the door is amazing. It contains some stain-glass windows. She wants to raise the roof on the house! They head inside to see what Alison wants to change inside. There is a powder room right off the kitchen, which happens to not even have a sink in it! Donovan said the first level alone could cost $200,000!
For the second level, Alison said that everything is pretty much creepy. There are three bedrooms on the second level. He said it’s about $160,000 for the second level. In the basement, they have to replace some floor joists and it happens to have another bedroom.
Outside, they look into expanding the house in addition to raising the roof. Overall, Alison is happy with the house and she is more impressed than she thought she would be on this one. Since winter is right around the corner for them, she said they need a quick turnaround.
They go over the numbers and they figure an offer price of $550,000 plus $525,000 for renovation expenses. They would sell it for $1.4 million, so a $325,000 profit for five months of work on Windy City Rehab is their plan for now!
Gallery: ‘Before’ Windy City Rehab Photos
After some negotiating on the house, Donovan was able to get the house for $561,000! They only have four or five months to get this one done, so they get started on the renovation right away! They are keeping a sconce in the entranceway, as Alison thinks it could be from when the house was originally built.
This is the oldest house they have ever done, so they want to pay tribute to it, but make it more marketable. To do that, they will increase the square footage by expanding out the back of the house and adding a top floor with windows. They are keeping the original front door, but adding an overhang. Inside, they are pretty much gutting everything! They are having an open layout on the first floor. Bedrooms and bathrooms are being added in the second level.
Here come the problems, as the water main in the basement is broken. The pipe was covered in tape to “fix” it and now it has to be worked on and fixed right away. Meanwhile, Alison heads out to Architectural Artifacts to do some shopping. Since the house is old, she is looking for some older pieces to bring back into the house.
They are working on the roof and Alison wanted to reuse the cornice on the new house, but Donovan said it’s not salvageable. She wanted to use it for the history of it and Donovan wanted to use it for budget purposes.
Alison heads out to Conrad Roofing to see about recreating the cornice and corbels. He said they can do it for $24,500, but the timing is an issue. She needs it in about a week, but is taking a risk by extending it a week to let them do it right. She then heads over to a friend’s place that is opening a bar and they have some pieces for her to take for the house.
There have been some major issues with the sewer, water and gas. They have been dealing with the city and delays and it has cost them like $30,000. This has put them way behind, but Alison said you have to be in it to win it. They wanted the house to be ready for the spring market, so now it’s a battle of trying to make up time.
Alison heads to the workshop to discuss some of the pieces she picked up along the way. They are going to use the unsalvageable pieces from the cornice in the back and fireplace. They are working things out on that front door also.
Back at the house, they are trying to paint and match the bricks they added to add another floor. It didn’t match at first, but they are working on that paint and Donovan seems happy. There is painting and work going on in the inside. The new metal cornice is also being installed.
The cabinets are being installed and Alison said she went bold with the colors, as that helps get it sold. They are in a race to get things done and ready, as they seem to have 48 hours to get it listed. Alison heads out to get the stain-glass worked on for the front door. They pick out colors and Alison is loving every second of it on Windy City Rehab!
They are getting the work done, as Alison is putting Ari to work! They got that old cornice and corbels into the house with the fireplace, which Alison is excited about. Now they are trying to get that mirror from the bar into the house. She was worried about it being too big, but it ended up fitting nicely into things, even though Ari and his guys struggled big time getting it on the wall. The door and stained-glass window are in place and it looks like we are good to go and Alison thinks this one is going to sell fast!
The house is on the market and they are hoping for a quick sale! Inside, that open concept looks amazing on the first floor. It opens it up so much. There is a 13-foot island in the kitchen area! The family room is where they worked those old cornice and corbels into the shelving and fireplace. The basement is completely redone and looks great, even with all those water main issues!
Gallery: ‘After’ Windy City Rehab Photos
Possible buyers have been coming and going through the house and Alison is excited. She is pretty sure they can get that $1.4 million asking price and only after it took them about 6-8 months to complete it! They did come close, as we got the update that the house sold a few weeks later for $1.365 million in an off-market deal!
What did you think of this renovation on Windy City Rehab?
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