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I Bought A Crumbling Victorian Townhouse For $18,000 And Transformed It Into My Dream Home — See Inside
I bought a crumbling Victorian townhouse for $18,000 and transformed it into my dream home — see inside.
(Credit: Betsy Sweeny)
I'm an architectural historian. I've always wanted to live in and work on an old house — something in a historic neighborhood that fit the lifestyle I wanted and my budget.
I moved to Wheeling, West Virginia, in January 2019. I'd landed a position as a program manager at Wheeling Heritage, an organization responsible for maintaining the Wheeling National Heritage Area. I was renting an apartment and settling into my new life.
About eight months after moving, I was on a walk with my friend, and we noticed this beautiful old house, but it seemed empty and looked a wreck. My now-next-door-neighbor happened to be sitting on the porch and overheard us. They shouted down, "Oh, this is Brian's house. He hasn't lived here in a while. I bet he'd sell it to you. I can get you in touch."
At the time, I wasn't seriously looking to buy property — I'd moved less than a year ago and was still adjusting. But the next thing you know, I was touring the house.
McClain House was built in 1892. It's 3,025 square feet with three bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, a living and dining room, an office, and a backyard.
(Credit: Betsy Sweeny)
I went under contract for the house in March 2020, got the keys in May, and began work in earnest in July.
The house was falling apart. The first thing that needed to be addressed was the water infiltration and damage. I hired local craftspeople to fix the roof and attach gutters to the front of the house.
The water had damaged the masonry, and bricks were falling out. My partner and I reappointed the whole house. This meant scraping out all the mortar and then squishing new mortar in. The work wasn't hard, but it was time-consuming.
Doing the reappointing ourselves was our biggest cost saver
(Credit: Betsy Sweeny)
We saved about $30,000. It took around six months just to reappoint the house.
The water and structural issues made up around 30 to 40% of our budget and 80% of my stress. We could start on the interiors by spring 2021. This meant closing up windows and focusing on internal repairs.
Working on a Victorian house, I tried to maintain as many of the structural and architectural features as possible. My philosophy was if you took the house and shook it, and the feature didn't fall out, it was worth retaining.
The low cost of living in small towns and press attention helped move the project along
(Credit: Betsy Sweeny)
Luckily, living costs in Wheeling are extraordinarily affordable. I was renting my warehouse apartment for $900 a month. We were also in the middle of a pandemic, so I wasn't spending as much.
In spring 2021, I was approached by the Magnolia Network to do an episode with it. It wanted staged after photos, so within 12 weeks, I finished one bathroom, the living room, the dining room, the foyer, and the exterior. The network gave me a small stipend to spend as needed to allow for the expedited timeline.
I moved out of my apartment and into the house in December 2021 and continued working on the house while living in it. The primary bedroom, living room, dining room, and baths were completely finished — the kitchen was ugly.
For me, it's not about flipping a house as quickly as possible for the highest profit margins
(Credit: Betsy Sweeny)
You have to come to a house that's 100 or 200 years old with some humility. If you take the time to retain historical features that define a property, your end result will be higher quality and more authentic, which will increase its value in the long run.
I've shared my journey with this house on Instagram and was overwhelmed with press attention. I kept sharing because I want to show people this approach to real estate and small-town living is accessible.
Reinvesting in these historic neighborhoods provides you with an asset that, in some cases, far exceeds what you could buy new. Money aside, being part of a small, historic community is better for mental health and better for local economies — I think it's a more just way of approaching real estate.
