Beechwood Revival Episode 6: Framing a Historic Home and Moving the Staircase

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We took this house all the way down to the studs. Now we get to build it back up.

Catch Up On the Renovation Story So Far

If you are just finding the Beechwood Revival Project, pull up a chair, friend. Here is where we have been.

In Episode 1 we shared how we bought the Beechwood house to be closer to my son’s high school. I fell in love with this street and I fell in love with this house, and together with my husband Daron, we made it ours.

In Episode 2 we started demo. Once we got inside, we realized the condition was worse than we expected, so for it to be safe for us to actually live in, we had to take it all the way down to the studs. Walls came down. The fireplace came out. Floors came up. A whole lot of cleanup so we could build it back right.

In Episode 3 we said goodbye to two things I genuinely was not ready to let go of. The trees I fought hard to save. And the original sunroom. Neither made it. But Daron kept reminding me to trust the process, and I am still holding onto that.

In Episode 4 we went underground. We dug for the new addition, ran into a sewer pipe nobody expected, and found an old cistern that had been sitting under this house for a hundred years. Foundation walls went in not long after that, and we have been counting down to this moment ever since.

Now we build back up.

What Framing a Historic Home Actually Looks Like

Welcome back to Episode 6 of the Beechwood Revival.

Today we are framing, moving the staircase, and opening up the upstairs bedrooms. This is the part of the process where the house finally starts to feel like a house again instead of a shell. Walls are going up in the exact places we dreamed about on paper months ago, and there is something about watching a hallway or a doorway take shape that makes all the mess worth it.

But of course, an old house does not let you move on without one more surprise.

The Fireplace Nobody Expected

Remember that old fireplace we pulled out back when we were down to the studs? When we started removing it this week, we found hundreds of pounds of concrete poured directly onto the original hardwood floors underneath.

I am not sure who made that decision or why, but somebody at some point decided concrete belonged on top of a hundred year old hardwood floor. So now we are cutting it out and replacing that section of flooring entirely. It is not the plan we walked in with this week, but if you have followed this renovation for any length of time, you already know that is how it goes with a house this old. It keeps its secrets until you are standing right on top of them.

Moving the Staircase

The bigger move this week is the staircase. We are taking down the entire side wall to make room for it in its new location, which also opens up space for the addition on that side of the house. It is a big change structurally, but it is the kind of change that lets the old and the new finally start talking to each other.

This is where Beechwood stops feeling like two separate projects, the original house and the new addition, and starts feeling like one home. That was always the goal. Watching the framing come together this week, I can finally see it.

Opening Up the Upstairs Bedrooms

While all of that is happening on the main level, we are also opening up the upstairs bedrooms. These rooms were closed off and choppy before, the kind of layout that made sense a hundred years ago but does not serve a family the way we need it to now. Framing them open is giving the whole upstairs room to breathe.

This is the part I keep coming back to. We are not erasing what this house was. We are giving it room to become what it is going to be.

Trusting the Process, One Wall at a Time

Every episode of this renovation has taught me some version of the same lesson. You cannot rush the middle. You cannot skip the part where things get harder before they get better. The concrete on the hardwood floors this week is just one more reminder of that.

But framing is different than demo. Framing is building. And there is a kind of hope in that, watching walls go up instead of coming down.

If you are in your own season of framing right now, in your home or in your life, keep going. The old and the new can absolutely come together to make something special. We are watching it happen one wall at a time.

What’s Next

Next up, we are finishing framing and moving into the next phase of bringing Beechwood back to life. Follow along at @OurFarmerHouse so you do not miss it.