Our Open House went very well yesterday, and though it seemed like a race to get to the finish line, it felt great to get there.  Very special thanks go out to The Berryville Grille and Sweet Surrender Bakery who made contributions to our buffet as well as TSC Photography for letting us use his prints throughout the house.  And, thank you to Jonathan Worsley for taking all the beautiful room shots which now grace this website!

After the sprint to get ready for yesterday, we took a mini break today, if you will.  That means we slept in until 9am, had our coffee on the front porch, took a leisurely walk….then got to work!  And in actuality, our “leisurely walk” also had a double purpose.  We went to find the original owner of the house.  Yes, for all you history buffs out there, Ms. Nannie W McGuire, the original owner of this house, is buried just four blocks away at Grace Episcopal Church, on the same side of the street that this house sits.  It was pretty cool actually.  Literally, if you go out the front door of the house and walk four blocks north, there Nannie rests.  I think she would be pretty proud that her house continues to bring joy to many people and that all can come and see her wonderful home.  Thank you also to Mike Radinsky for the research on the McGuire family.

Nannie W McGuire

McGuire Family Memorial

Nannie in the Parlor

So after our history lesson on this leisurely Saturday morning, we felt like we could work on some things that had been lower on the priority list, like cleaning out the garage.  But, we still have plenty more things to do.  We actually decided to do some more painting today as well, which means Jonathan is currently upstairs repairing a few plaster cracks in preparation for fresh paint.  We also have quite a bit of PR work to do, and that’s all me.  Some good news is that I have an interview with a reporter from the Winchester Star on Monday morning, so if and when that article comes out, I’ll be sure to let everyone know!

Plaster Repair, Traveler’s Retreat Room

-Rachael

We’ve decided to host an Open House for our Opening Day!

Come on by if you are in the neighborhood!

-Rachael

We just wrapped up a great weekend and had the treat of having Jonathan’s sister and her family down for the night to give us a trial run.  They also lent a hand in helping us make a big final push to get the details wrapped up, and for that I also owe them a big thank you as well.  Thank you Betsy, Michael, Sarah and Jacob for spending the weekend with us!  It was wonderful to have a full house!

Here are a few photos from the weekend, plus a picture of the newly painted dining room.  We’re almost there!  Friday is our “Grand Opening.”  Although no guests are currently booked (yet), it was the date I wanted to be 100% ready and we are definitely going to be there!  I’m also planning on hosting an open house that day so many of the people in town who have helped us get up and running, as well as some of our neighbors, can come by and see the house.  Looking forward to a big week!

Jacob on the Roof!

Neville longingly looks out the front door of Waypoint House.

Freshly Painted Dining Room, Waypoint House

-Rachael

We had the luxury of hiring a professional painter to do three rooms in the house so far, but the budget dictated that the next project had to be all us.  Painting is definitely the quickest way to make a big change in a room, but easy, it ain’t.  It’s a lot of labor.  Especially when you are talking about 10-foot ceilings and plaster walls.  But, after today, we can see a big change and I’m looking forward to a bright sunny dining room where I will serve breakfast!  Today I worked all day on just priming the trim alone.  There’s a lot of trim in the room.  Tomorrow I’ll do the first coat on the walls and then the trim will get its final coat of semi-gloss.

This week we also got the landscaping done, and our jungle looks like a presentable yard again.  We are still working on acquiring the last necessary pieces of furniture for the rooms, and we’ll be ready for photos for the website very soon.

So, here are some before and after photos to hold you over.  I PROMISE that real, quality photos of the rooms are coming soon!

-Rachael

So, I had fully intended to blog this whole journey and thought I would do daily updates…..well, we are a week in and you all get a recap.  Because, sometimes after working a 16 or 18 hour day all you want to do is go to bed.  That’s how it’s been the last week.

The boxes keep multiplying, it seems, and though we are moving from a much smaller house to a much bigger house, most of the room is not for us, but for guests!  So, we’ve been trying to maneuver our personal things around.  That was our first main goal – to get our living space established.  It’s vital actually.  If you don’t know where your clothes or your toothbrush, or any of your personal things are, it makes it hard to contemplate getting out of bed, really.

The going has been slower than I anticipated.  For one thing, we are really dissecting everything and getting into the nooks and crannies to clean, update and put our personal touch on things.  We want to do things right from the beginning.  There is no use in doing something halfway only to have to come back and do it again later and waste the time and the money that will take.  That is a huge pet peeve of mine, actually.  Do it once, and do it right.  But we do have to temper ourselves as Rome was not built in a day as they say.  We have years to perfect this house…we just need to get ready for guests in 15 days!

Yes, you heard me correctly.  The books are open for June 15, and though there are no reservations yet for that weekend, our goal is to be in tip-top shape by then and I know we will be.

So, to date, we have (well, we hired someone to) repaint the parlor and one of the guest rooms and guest baths.  It looks great. We are going to tackle repainting the dining room ourselves.  That will probably start next week.  We have cleaned the holy heck out of this place from top to bottom.  We have built more furniture pieces than I can count.  Nearly all of the regulatory requirements have been satisfied, and our front yard sign (thanks, Greg Scott!) should be approved by the town, be built and on its way to us soon.

The “to do” list seems to keep getting longer rather than shorter, however, as now all the details need to come into place, and as any of you who know me can attest, I am ALL about the details.

Here are a few photos of the progress so far.  Pardon the quality – they were taken with an iPhone at night.  We’ll get some good quality ones posted soon.   The Hearth and Home Room is almost finished…just need to add the dresser an mirror and the couch will get a groovy, custom made, red slip cover.  Fabric for the drapes is going to the seamstress this weekend.  The Traveler’s Retreat is the room that is ready to go at this point.  We will do some major repainting later to this room, but it is comfortable the way it is now.  Jonathan’s parents are coming to visit tomorrow and see the house for the first time, so they will stay in this room.  The Shore room we have not even touched yet, so that will be next week’s big push.

Going to the Berryville Farmers Market in the morning!  I look forward to reporting back in soon!

-Rachael