Need Some Creative Ideas for Tear Down

[Sarah Smith]

My grandmother passed years ago. Many years prior to her passing she moved out of the home to live with another family and the home sat vacant for a very long time without anyone checking on it. Thru the years it has been vandalized and damaged also by weather. I was unaware until recently just how bad the condition of the home is until recently when I sent an appraiser over and he said it was a tear down which a couple contractors have also now told me as well.

The property is historical and has a county historical marker which it received after my grandmothers passing which we were not able to place yet. My vision was this summer to rehab the home as a primary residence but now needing some creative ideas of what to do once we do a tear down. She has a very sizable lot which could actually acommodate 3 homes on it. I really hate to tear it down but seems no other solution. Can someone help me with an idea or two of something we can build in place of the home we will tear down which can still honor family and the significance of the spot the home once sat on? Her children are elderly now but family bonds are strong and they still love gathering together so would love a gather spot of retreat like spot for them to sit and perhaps for family to go on holidays for events. The home is 150 years old, 1500 sq ft. one story with sizable porch to give an idea size to work with on making into something else.

I welcome ideas. Also what is a temporary housing solution to include on the lot as we have a family member and her son needing a place to live and we have the land however they do not have money at the moment to do a build. A livable spot would add a little more value to the property. Thanks in advance.

[Scott Mac]

It is a peer and beam style home.

A good first move would be to get an arrow staple  gun and Staple some thick plastic over all of the windows on the outside and all over the holes on the walls on the outside and over the doors to keep the interior sealed . You can have workmen go up and put tarps up on the roof for you also to tarp the holes . To stop further erosion in the house . 

Another thing you could do if you wanted is to pay to have a home inspection done. They'll give you a written report of everything that's wrong with the house that they can find on an easy inspection . If you're planning on keeping it and repairing it that is . 

Also if you're planning on keeping it a sewer scope inspection would be an intelligent thing to do.

That will give you an idea of what you have , and some intelligent discussion material to talk to contractors about regarding finishing it up to a closed state and repairing it . new windows new doors new wallboard fix ceiling etc ...

Having a list of the problems made by an expert might make it a little bit easier to make the decision do you want to tear it down or do you want to make it a labor of love and restore it like Grandma had it - maybe with an air conditioning system in it and Hardiboard on the outside, and new windows et cetera...