On a whim, have you ever bought a fixer upper 5,700 sq ft house without recently inspecting it, with 3.15 acres of overgrown woods/yard, cistern hand dug into the bedrock, a 50-foot-deep hand dug well, with a creek, a bridge, and a pond that won't hold water?  I did and yes it was an unplanned purchase that happened on a whim.  Here is the story of what has now become a long-term investment, historic restoration, estate, homestead, outdoor, garden, creek, and pond project.

Lots of pictures and details to come.  I will put the backstory in another post after some of the pictures.  It will be a wall of text so feel free to ignore it or if you are bored or interested you can read it.  It describes how I ended up with the property, the details of the property, problems I found so far, and the various projects that are ongoing.

Part of the house dates back to 1789.  It has been added on numerous times and then neglected.  I've owned the house for 10 months now and other than repairing some serious issues I have really just been evaluating everything about the house.  Trying to understand when parts were built, how they were built, when they were upgraded, and problems it might currently have.

Now that I have a pretty good understanding of the situation I got myself in, the days are longer and the weather is warmer I have started project after project.  If I didn't start this thread now I would be too far down the rabbit hole to ever catch up on everything that happened.

TLDR Backstory: A great property that I always liked but figured I would never have the chance to buy nor would I be able to afford it if it did end up for sale ended up being auctioned.  I found out with about 2 weeks notice, managed to put together cash for a purchase, bid and won.  Part of the house dates back to 1789, addition after addition and even a whole other house, built in 1812, was added in as an addition to the property.  The property is 3 blocks from downtown in town but has 3.15 acres,  it is the last remaining structure of the man who founded the town,  the largest natural spring in Kentucky flows through the back yard, lots of huge trees, and a failed pond depression.  The property was preserved but time and rodents have taken a toll.  Shady contractors cut a lot of corners and a lot of their work will need to be redone.  As to the price, I basically got a good deal on the land and the 5,700 sq ft house was free; that is the type of deal I managed to get.  The estimated time to clean up, fix up, and make things nice is in the thousands of hours.  That is any major renovations or additions on my part either.  That is just fix up, clean up, and restoration of what is already there.

First a bit of history...

Millspring is an historic house in Georgetown, Kentucky. It is the last remaining building situated on the original 27-acre (110,000 m2) tract patented by the Rev. Elijah Craig (ca. 1740–1808), founder of Georgetown, as the first industrial park west of the Alleghenies. It was also the site of the first papermill in the region and one of the first production sites for Kentucky Bourbon.

The ell of the present structure, a small Georgian house, was constructed in 1789 by Craig. The two-story section was constructed by Gen. Richard M. Gano in 1812. While the ell originally faced the Royal Spring Branch, and the two-story section faced north, it was reoriented later to face North Broadway (Cincinnati Pike) and remodeled in the popular bracketed style by Hiram E. Stedman ca. 1860. The older sections of the house retain the original ash floors, paneled doors, paneled cupboards on the side of the fireplaces and original mantels in Kentucky Georgian and Federal style.

After Craig's death the house passed to his son-in-law, Samuel Grant, who was killed by Indians. Afterward the house was purchased by Gano, who commanded a regiment at the Battle of the Thames, and who—in collaboration with his brother-in-law—developed the city of Covington, Kentucky. At Gano's death, the property passed to Dr. Wm. H. Richardson, first professor of obstetrics and Dean of Transylvania Medical School, who brought the paper-making Stedman family to Georgetown.

A picture of Millspring from a long time ago.

Present Day Pre-Auction Pictures April 2016

Should keep you out of trouble for a couple of years. Hope you don't have anything else to do.

Present Day Post Auction









Front looking north



Front looking south



Circle drive on the north end






Chicken Coop (estimated at 80 years old)




Well Pump (rusted and didn't work)




Cistern carved into the bedroock.







Shed.  Even the shed has an addition to it.



Creek view




A man-made waterfall in the creek



Concrete Bridge on limestone rocks




Aerial View from 2006




Aerial View early 2016.  You can see how the grounds were let go.




Black Walnut Trees.  There are more than I indicated but pretty accurate around the house.




Several of the walnut trees are very close to the house.  This one is the closest.  It drops walnuts and leaves on the house and vehicles all summer long.




Poison Ivy Tree







Poison Ivy Everywhere

I'm just establishing the background of where the property was.  I haven't even started describing the project yet.  I have a different house that is 115 years old and needs some minor work relatively speaking.  The reason this is a long term investment is because it is going to take a really long time to get things nice.  

I think it is beyond cool -- and beyond my abilities to maintain.  

I looked at a house for sale once in New Hampshire that was built in 1789.  No way for me.  Just not that guy.    

Best of luck OP.  Really neat.

Very Cool!   I'm jealous.  Nothing like that out here.

So cool

That is part of the reason for the thread.  Other than it being a lot of work there isn't much work that requires advanced knowledge.  The old houses are built solid.  The major problems with the house are actually in the 10 year old addition.  I will be showing various projects and how I did the work.  Hopefully that will help others feel a bit more comfortable if they do come across an old house.  

With this house I was familiar with it from previous visits but nothing recent.  The management company that held it for 9 months did nothing to protect the house.  They had someone winterize the place but multiple pipes still burst.  They had the power disconnected.  The flat roofs started leaking and they didn't patch it.  The auction had a 4 hour open house.  I didn't think I could afford the house so I didn't go.  I should have so that I would have seen how bad the management company let the place get.  

By protecting it I mean things like changing the locks, locking the external basement door, and patching the roof.  That brings me to my first surprise I found after purchasing the place.  I refer to this as the "meth electrical panel".  Maybe it is a crack panel, who knows.  If you leave a house vacant and copper wiring exposed, it will be stolen.




Then there are the meth circuits.  Clearly this was a very dumb meth head that decided to steal the copper.




The electric to the house was shut off.  I'm not sure if that happened before or after the person cut the copper wires.  The old panel was old and had mismatched brands of breakers.  Since the power was disconnected I took advantage of the situation and replaced the panel with a new panel and matching breakers.  Since everything had to be rewired anyway the only extra work was in removing the old breaker box.  I then installed junction boxes and patched the circuits one by one.  Thankfully the dumb meth head left enough wire that I could splice into it and left the thick wire going to a sub-panel alone.


Running the ground wires



Running the common wires



Running the hot wires



Rewired panel



Spliced together circuits

A Bad Day

The second surprise was, not only is the roof leaking but it is infested with termites!!!!


Damage to the lower section of the flat roof.  The management company actually pulled back the rubber roofing material which then directed the water towards the side instead of off the roof.  I'm not sure why as there was an overhang .  The damage to the would can be seen.  The fact that a bush is growing on the roof points to the neglected maintenance outside the house.  More on the roof later, this post is about the termites.








I knew about the leaking roof, that was very visible.  Once I got the house I took a ladder over and started pocking around a bit. This was early May right after a warm spell with rain, which is when termites swarm.  As I was inspecting what I thought was rot termites started exiting through the wall.













Talk about a bad feeling finding termites. To make things worse earlier that day the water company had been out and said they couldn't turn on the water because I had a major leak somewhere.  I left and went back to my other house.  I needed to fill a sprayer full of water in order to spray some of the poison ivy.  When I returned I noticed the wall was shimmering and moving.  That was obviously odd.  As I approached I realized what it was.  The termites had exited a wall inside the house and swarmed inside!!!  With some quick thinking I realized I had 4 gallons of water in my sprayer and some termite killer solution.  I quickly mixed it up and went to town on the swarm.  The end result was a termite massacre.

Every grain of rice looking thing or black spec on the wall was a termite. 








I got under the crawl space and found multiple tunnels from the ground up into the house.  I knocked down the tunnels and applied a quick termite treatment.  I will have to back and do a proper treatment but what I did should hold them off for a couple years.  Stopping the roof water from flowing through the walls and rotting the would is also a major step in stopping the termites.  They like softer easier wet wood.  Keep moisture out of your walls and it will help keep the termites away.

At that point I had no power, no water, an open roof, a roof so unstable sections could not be walked on, poison ivy everywhere, and not a termite infestation.  I was really questioning what I had gotten myself into at that point. 

The roof pics and the termites pics are going to give me nightmares, and I don't even have to deal with the issues!

You have taken on a huge project, OP--tag to follow, since I am a sucker for these amazing old places as well, but too chicken to tackle one myself since I know the amount of work that is needed (not to mention the time and money!) to restore and maintain one!

You might as well go ahead and develop a metal detecting hobby as well, because there will be some cool things to find on your property!

And try to figure out where the old outhouse would have been as well, since that can be dug back out and may have some amazing finds/artifacts. (They are known for being old bottle dumps, and some of the old bottles are so collectible they go for THOUSANDS of dollars.) If you did not want to dig the privy out yourself, there is a metal detecting club that has a group of guys that would LOVE to do it for you. They document the dig with video and photos, and generally work with the homeowner/historical society/whoever...any and all home-specific artifacts that turn up stay with the home/owner (the guys may get a share of some of the bottles that come out). Just something to keep in mind as you are learning the home's layout, etc. (There will also more than likely be an old covered-over trash pit(s) somewhere on the property.)

OST

after finding all that i would probably think and make me feel better to just knock the house down and start over. also would clear the grounds around the house our too. with having that many termites i would think most if not all the wood in the house may be swiss cheese

I was thinking about that as well.  The former owner told me where the outhouses were but everything is overgrown with trees.  He spent 30 years living there and a history/antique buff.  He is also a preservationist who wanted to keep everything as it was.  So I'm sure he never had anything done like that.  The biggest problem with metal detecting is everything has been added on to over the years and the land which is on a gentle hill was terraced multiple times covering everything up.  

You are right about interesting things on the property.  Even typically boring things, like a dirt driveway, can end up being interesting.  Case in point..
There was a cedar tree stump in the back driveway of the house.  I thought it was a 6-8 inch tree but it was closer to a 14" tree by the time I dug it out.  When I finally got the root ball out the main root contained and had grown around a vertical stack of 8 bricks.   This was about 3 feet below the current driveway.  So 80-200 years ago someone piled a stack of bricks in the back yard, later someone filled the area with dirt, then a cedar tree started growing or was planted, years passed and two more additions were added in the back yard on that corner of the house, then the previous owner must have cut the cedar tree down when he put on his addition and started using that back door as his primary parking location and entrance.  How does a cedar tree grow directly on top of a stack of bricks?  I have pictures of the root ball.  So far I have not found anything of value, just things that make you wonder what went on.

There are termites everywhere around the house.  Most of the house itself is fine as termites are not fans of dry slow growth lumber.  It isn't made with the fast growth soft pine we have now.  The addition was and the termites went to town on it as soon as it got wet.  Some of the wood was damaged by powered pill beetles or something like that.  You can see that in part of the electrical panel pictures.  They just turn the wood into powder.  

Structurally the majority of the house is very sound.  One corner of the 1812 house/addition had pulled away from the house and I believe the floor joists in a room on the second floor ended up pulling away from the wall.  The foundation was re-supported probably 50 years ago and is about 3 feet thick now.  There is a limestone rock wall, also 3 feet thick supporting part of the house.  It will need some work.

I've dealt with termites in my 1903 Victorian.  They have gotten into the house a couple times and may be back again.  They are everywhere in this area.  Treatments and keeping the wood dry generally keep them at bay.

Awesome project OP

In before the barbecue!

Great thread Swire - let me know if you need a hand.

Cut those poison ivy vines!  I've had good luck with Crossbow herbicide and a back pack sprayer.  Good time to hit the plants right now.

Looks like you got some work cut out for you.

The poison ivy just start greening up and sprouting.  I have triclopyr and 2-4-D ready to go.  Crossbow is a mixture of both but I've been running them desperately as the brush generally isn't where I need to take out broad-leaf weeds, at least not on the part of the yard that I'm working on.  I have one 4 gallon backpack sprayer and love it.  

I'm planning to get this sprayer as well.  It uses a 20v rechargeable battery, no more pumping.  
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q03MMDO?tag=vglnk-c102-20

I'm hoping to have a lot of events once I get the place presentable.  Current projects are plumbing, electrical, garden, landscaping, tree trimming, and chipping the brush.  I have pictures of all those projects but I'm still trying to get this thread caught up.  The plumbing project has been a nightmare the story and pictures will be one you don't want to miss.  It involves a 4 foot long 1 inch in diameter round object inside the house but it has no connection to plumbing.

BTW, if anyone near Georgetown wants some tomato plants, pepper plants, or lettuce plants we have a bunch of extras.  Just let me know.  Pictures coming on those too.  

OST for a highly interesting thread.

Beautiful house!  Mine is new construction; only 101 years old.  Tagging this.

Yes, the Elijha Craig.  The minister that is one of several people who claims they invented bourbon.  He did so using the waters of the Royal Spring in Georgetown, which is the spring/creek that flows through my back yard.  The property is the last remaining structure on his 27 acre track but I'm not sure how much time he spent there.  I just know it was built by him.  I've been looking for a secrete bourbon stash but so far I have not found it.

I have a lot more pictures to upload to get the thread up to present day.  I will post little updates on the things that I'm doing but I'll save the details and pictures until the timeline is correct.

Today I was working in the new garden trying to get tomato plants planted as they are way over due for that.  The garden is one of the shrub/flower gardens in the 2006 aerial. Depsite it being a garden for at least 10 years, probably closer to 20, the soil is completely worthless as it is mainly clay.  It was overgrown with honeysuckle, I used the Teramite backhoe to dig it all out.  Then a commercial grade walk behind tiller.  That was about 5 and 6 weeks ago.  It has rained multiple times since then.  The ground is hard, as if it has been years since it was tilled.  

What I thought would take 2 hours took 6 hours and I'm still not done.  It also changed my planting plans as I bought a bunch of extra organic matter to put in the holes so the clay doesn't choke off the plants.  The rows are about 30 feet long and are being setup for the Florida weave style of supporting them.  The first row has 3 plants in every 6 foot space.  Seeing a ton of plants remaining the second row has 4 plants every 6 feet.  The 3rd row will also be 4 plants every 6' and I will still have plants left over.  Then the peppers get to go in.  I might have room for one row of them. but I will probably have to create a new garden spot for the rest.  

A few days ago I planted 20 blackberry plants.  All thornless, 10 are Triple Crown and 10 are a Prime Ark pimocane variety.  I then planted 2 giant pumpkin plants between thsose rows with are 10 feet apart.  I bought giant pumpkin seeds from a 1,200 pound pumpkin.  There is an online site that vets the sellers that I ordered through.  All the giant pumpkins are of the Atlantic Dill variety.  I bought some store seeds as a comparison.  The leaves on the giant pumps are 2 to 3 times larger than one the Atlantic Dill store sees.  Pics of these will come when I get the timeline current.

The former owner is/was involved with running tours at another huge plantation.  They get a bunch of people through it but really the tours don't pay for much.  The tours bring in big donors who like the charity tax write off and that is what helps them.  

I do have plans to do something with the property though.  I haven't showed the bad condition of the place yet, so I doubt anyone wants to tour a smelly partially tore up house.  Once it is fixed that would be a possibility.  Other thoughts are renting it out as a meeting hall, weddings, and other events. The walnut trees by the house would have to go for that because I can't have walnuts dropping on peoples cars.  The other idea is a winery or at least the tasting room and banquet rooms that wineries have.  All would require a conditional use permit being approved by the city and a couple of my neighbors not from the area and hateful towards those who preserve history.  

The first project that I focused on and it is still ongoing was the roof.  There is a 2 story section that needs to be replaced, a single story shingled section with at least 3 maybe 4 layers of shingles on it, and then the flat roofs with EPDM.  I knew nothing about EPDM before I bought the house.  Basically think of a it a thick version of inner tube rubber.  I'm sure it is made different but it acts just the same way.  It was a mad scramble to learn what the roof material was and how to patch it.  It is generally glued down to a fiber board or foam board insulation.  Seems straight forward enough but the glue is very expensive and the rubber shrinks.  Patching it requires overlapping any seam by 3" and using special cleaners and adhesives for the rubber which is different from the glue to hold it to the insulation.  I'm still working on the roof decking and issues I keep finding under it, like a raccoon skull and mismatched wires joined with electrical tape.  So until all those issues are fixed I can't seal the roof back up completely.  

First up is the roof as it was when I purchased the place.

Roof Edge







Roof edge with a plant growing on the roof







Tree over hanging the roof





The hole under the plant was hole big enough for full sized raccoons to get in.  It also had holes through the tyvec where the termites had eaten through and the swarm exited.








The roof decking over the sun room not only had termite damage but it was also rotten from water damage.  Parts of it were not stable to walk on.  It was one of those situations where you had to be on your hands and knees to safely move around.  Even then the roof was unstable.  It bothered me enough that I had night terror one night and my g/f told me I jolted up in bed and got on my hands and knees just like I had been on the roof.  I don't remember doing that action but I do remember a dream where I thought I was going to fall through the roof.  Fun times.  







Not only was the roof destroyed but since the management company did nothing to protect the property rodents chewed up the electrical wires.




Rotten roof with some new sheeting laid out on it so that I could at least walk on the roof.




Now to the inside.  How did the termites get up to roof?  Through the wall and header support of course.  The roof was leaking into the wall and rotted the header and supports.






















The roof over the great room is also flat and had small holes with a few larger tears.  In all I believe I put 29 patches on the roof.  It took a few hours.  In that respect EPDM is great to work with.










My first completed project, at least for that section of the roof. 




The lower roof is the much bigger project.  The header had so much moisture and was chewed up so bad that when I was pulling it out earthworms started coming out of the header.  You know you are screwed when earth worms crawl out of wood 14 feet above ground.  I never thought that was possible but I swear it happened.  

Just an FYI.  All of this work was completely solely by me.  I had help getting the 2"x10"x18' delivered but every piece of wood was lifted and nailed into place with no help.

The first step was to jack up the roof and get the weight off the rotten header.




Second step, install a new 2x10 by 3 with a plywood strip in the middle built.  I built it in place as there was no way I would be lifting the completed header by myself.
Even with the new header all the joist ends were rotten and not of much use.




To solve the rotten joist problem I used sister joists and also cut off the ends of the rotten joist and "spliced" in good wood.  The reason for the splice is a good nailing surface for the sheeting seams.  While this technically isn't a proper fix it is good enough for now.  The whole roofing system needs to be redesigned and this will buy some time until that happens.







Finally (sort of) the rough framing is done.  I still need to put some braces in place where the exterior sheeting fits into the joists but the header, joists, and external sheeting are nailed in place.





What comes next?

Well as one of my other threads shows I have bad wiring under the roof sheeting.  Much easier to work on when I can open the roof.  So replacing the existing wires, running new lighting circuits, and running network cables for multiple security cameras.  Also the ladder rafter is nailed by a couple 2x4s.  Seriously, the 18 feet span only has a couple 2x4s holding it in place and it is already sagging.  So I need to push that back into place and then properly build it.  

After all of that then I can look at gluing the rubber back down; however, there is one problem.  On the sides that join the stucco walls, the genius installed put the short term EPDM behind the long term stucco.  I need to grind down the stucco flat up to about 8 inches and then glue the EPDM to the outside of the stucco and security it with a terminating bar.  That is the proper way to make that transition.  

Only after all of that will the roof finally be sealed.  

I have nothing to add to help you in this awesome project resto other than a huge subscribe!

Tag.


And who's standing in the window in your pictures at top.

I assume you are talking of a ghostly person?  You will have to be more specific about which picture.  The previous owner had various ghost hunter groups out there.  There is also a medium I guess what you would call her that has been out there a few times.  She claims there are 30+ spirits at the house and grounds.  The weird part is guests of the previous owner and guests that I have had there have all said the same thing.  I had one friend over and got busy so I told him he could walk around.  After we left he told me details on a ghost in a certain room.  What he described matches what others have said.  I told him nothing of any ghosts and he isn't one that would generally think of believing in seeing/feeling ghosts.  

I took the one of the kids through the house the other day because she was talking about a ghost she saw on the bridge by the creek.  I took her through all the rooms in the house and gave her about 15 seconds in each room.  The rooms where other people sensed something so did she.  Now it could just be those rooms aren't as inviting, darker...etc. but the fact that everyone hits on the same rooms makes it interesting.

Youtube  

Seriously, lots and lots of Youtube.  It took me probably 2 weeks of researching roofing material before I even learned what type of material it was.  Followed by manufacturer documentation, websites, and pictures.  The roofing manufacturers have some of their product installation videos on Youtube.  Menards carries a bunch of the EPDM material.  I also found a local roofing supply company that carries it but seems higher in price.

Other than that it is just basic construction and being flat it is pretty easy to work on.  The two story house roof is what I need to hit next as it has a serious leak.  That has me more concerned than the EPDM.  I know how shingle roofs are built but I'm not sure how to tie off or work on the roof without falling off.  I have a cousin that did roofs for years and he offered to come out to help me with projects.  So I might use him at least for instruction.

Wineries are popping up left and right here.  The last time I heard the number was now in the low 70s.  I've been to Elk Creek, I know people love it but I wasn't that impressed as I'm not that big of a Cabernet drinking.  My favorite by far is Wildside Winery outside of Versailles.  I started going there when they were nothing more than 20'x30' building.  They have been growing steadily in size since then.  The guy that runs the place is great and provides all sorts of information as well.  

I wonder if Elijah Craig would be trademarked now and not something that I could use in reference to alcohol.  

Georgetown is growing, the city is now wet but was considered "moist" until recently.  Country Boy brewing just a built a huge building, an Irish pub open, and another place called Bourbon 30 opened.  There is a push to revitalize the whole downtown area with new restaurants.  So food idea would work but parking would not.  A tasting room and Kentucky product gift shop could work, assuming neighbors would allow it.  I'm about 5 miles away from the Kentucky Horse Park so lots of tourist come through the town.  All those would be years down the road but I need to fix/rebuild the house with those ideas in mind.  

I said it in jest.
But as old as it is. It would not surprise me. Plus. Soon as I saw the pictures I said to myself
"That places has some ghost in it.".

Dunno how you are about that stuff. But doing renovations like your doing will stir them up.

If your curious..just set out a camera or voice recorder...simple stuff . Just to see what you get.  Heck brong a dog into those rooms That's if your curious.
If not...i wouldn't worry unless ..they start getting spicy with ya.

I'd be more worried what past investigators have done. Imho..they can get rather aggressive in order to get results. To me that's like poking a bear..wether a person believes in the paranormal or not.


I think old houses are cool as shit...but they have history..and that's what makes them cool.
A metal detector hunt would be cool on the grounds....



Now go buy a k2 meter..digital recorder..mel meter and get to making poltergeist arfcom SF addition....lmao 

Remember always taunt them.."hey ghosty..your a bitch...bet you can't hurt me..."
Works on TV..


Good luck on the place..


Is there a basement?


My place was only built in the early 60s....the past owners repair work..makes my head hurt at times...its just part of it.

Fyi.
On the flat roof.
Project I was on. They removed the old. Sheet..with tar..pea gravel. Replaced with a foam  base and rubberized sheet.  I'm sure tech has evolved in the last 15 years. But even then it's basic tar paper..them roll roof. Think shingles but in a 48 inch iirc roll. Similar to tar paper. Seal /over lap the seams.
Just from what I've had to do a see.
Mines pitched but it was replaced in 07'. I'd like to do a roof over . Thermal barrier and them metal.

The medium was there when other ghost hunters were there as well.  She will not provoke the spirits because it gets them worked up and bad things will happen.  She left when the other hunters were intentionally provoking them.  However, the former owner said all those groups were just making up things.  He said the medium is the only one who was accurate and not trying to make connections to things that aren't there.  For example in the 1789 section of the house he had a reproduction book that looked authentic to the age of the house but was new.  One of the ghost hunters was going on and on about how a spirit was talking about how he had read the book.

I'm not sure how much of that stuff is real and how much the mind creates.  Different random people reporting the same thing is interesting though.

My approach to the repairs is not a renovation, it is simply restoring what was there at least for now.  When spirits see that I'm taking care of things and not changing things they calm down.  I experienced that in my 1903 Victorian.  When I first moved in I could feel a presence move through the room.  I also had cats that would always stare at a particular doorway as if something was there.  After I patched the walls, painted, refinished the floors everything calmed down.  

I may have either brought a spirit from the other house to the 1903 Victorian or woken up the presence already there.  This morning I heard the g/f return from taking her children to school but I heard two voices as if one daughter was still home.  I asked and she wasn't.  As soon I left the g/f said the smoke alarm in my office started going off.  She couldn't reach it, 10 foot ceilings, and went to other house to get a 3 step ladder.  She still couldn't reach it but it had stopped going off...until she hit enter sending me the message about that activity.  Odd things for sure.  Maybe a coincidence maybe something else.  

I've only had 3 experiences at this house so far.  They are really just unknown activity.  The first was when I first got the house.  I took the kids to, without telling that I bought it, told them I was looking for my friend, and then took off through the house looking for him leaving them alone.  I was hoping they would explore the house on their own but didn't.  As a made a loop through the house I got back to the kitchen to see that the door had closed after I went through it.  The kids never got to that part of the house.  The second was with the g/f.  We he knocking from under the 10 year old addition.  There was no one in the crawl space and the door was locked so no animals in there either.  The other was hearing voices.  Maybe an echo from the radio that I have but it made the hair on my neck stand up.  This happened the night after I busted out a part of a wall to find a plumbing leak.  So the whole renovation stirs them up thing could be a factor or I just freaked myself out due to something non-paranormal that happened the night before that with the plumbing.

There is a basement.  it is under only the 2 story portion of the house.  It is beyond creepy but that is because it is very rough looking.  Half is dirt floor but half had concrete poured.  If the walls down there could talk though.

At first I thought I had the rolled roof like you described.  Then I looked at replacing the roof with that.  Once I learned about the EPDM material though I liked it.  It is used a lot more in Europe than the US.  Instead of getting a 48 inch roll you can get 10 and 20 foot wide rolls.  Fewer seams means fewer seam leaks.  Patching is also very easy.  The previous owner wanted to preserve the original roofs to keep everything intact.  I'm not sure I will do that.  No one cares about the roof substructure.  I won't be changing it any time soon anyway.  

Thanks for all the ideas.  They are great so keep them coming.  I just checked and Heaven Hill Distillery is who makes the Elijah Craig bourbon.  Their site details how he invented it Georgetown on the property where his mills were, which is the property that I own.  Also the technology company that I work for has done work for Heaven Hill, so I already have inside contacts.  Time to turn that seed into various possible plans that I could propose.

Property Taxes

Part of the backstory of the house is that some legal action in another county caused the former owner to offer it up.  The bank with the largest lein on it showed up at the courthouse steps and outright offered $344,000 for the place, no bidding.  Apparently that was to settle any other liens or actions that might be tied to the property, so they could get clear title.  The PVA picked up that "sale" and used it as the property valuation. The timing of the auction was right before the PVA two week review period for negotiating the property value but the closing didn't happen until after the period ended.  So, reference my post called Bad Day and then find out that you own property taxes based on if the property was in immaculate condition but really had no water, no electric, rain pouring through the roof, and termites.  

I've been waiting for the review period to open up this year.  It is always the first 2 weeks in May, which is set by state law.  I saw the notice in the paper and received my property valuation card on Monday.  They lowered the valuation down to $124,000 which was a lot better but I still wasn't happy with it given the condition of the property.  

Today I showed up at the PVA office with multiple pieces of documentation and some of the pictures I have posted here.  I wasn't sure what the process would be as it said I first need to "file for a conference" whatever that meant but I came prepared anyway.  Either they weren't busy or they just take people as they come in but they immediately started asking questions.  The office had no one else from the public, just me.  The PVA walked by, saw the pictures, and then started talking to me.  He said he remembered me coming in last year and feeling bad that there was nothing he could do to adjust the taxes for that year.  He looked at the pictures and talked me about the property a bit and then agreed to lower the assessed value down to my purchase price.  That works.  I actually think it should be valued at the land value minus the cost it would take to tear the house down because honestly that would be the fastest way to liquidate the property if it ever needed to be sold.  The cost to repair and refresh the existing structure would cost more than the value of the house itself. So in my book the value of the house, other than for historical purposes, is zero because of the work required to make it presentable.