Renovation House Tour: A “Before” Look at Our Coastal Project

Step inside our first renovation house project on the coast. From the front door to the bedroom closets, we’re sharing every inch of this exciting project before demo day.

I’ll be honest, starting a renovation project on the Cape feels like a pinch-me moment for my mom and me. Cape Cod has been our weekend escape and favorite summer destination for the last 10 years, and now we get to call it home. 

Before demo day, I wanted to document every inch of this Nantucket-style property exactly as we found it. The good, the weird, and the structurally concerning parts included. And trust me, there are a lot.

So here’s the full before tour, the story behind the architecture, and a first look at all the exciting renovation house plans to come.

Get to Know the Renovation House

Our latest renovation house is a 1970s Nantucket-style colonial located on Cape Cod. It features a widow’s walk with ocean views, charming period details, and a surprisingly oversized lot that trumps any of the renovation houses we’ve ever worked on. 

If you’ve spent any time on the Cape, you know that large lots are hard to come by. Especially with an ocean view. We feel incredibly lucky to have found this beauty so close to the water.

The main house has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, totaling 2,500 square feet. The detached studio apartment adds another bedroom and bath, increasing the floor plan by 600 square feet.

The Architecture & Style

The house is a 1970s take on a Nantucket-style colonial. If you’re not sure what that means, here’s the TLDR.

Nantucket-style architecture is built on centuries of coastal New England tradition and heritage. It’s defined by cedar shingle siding (that weathers to that iconic gray color), steep gabled roofs, symmetrical facades, and central chimneys.

Our renovation house was built in the 1970s, when the colonial revival style was still going strong across New England. Homes from this time period kept the traditional Nantucket bones and historic architectural features like Widow’s Walks, but were a little more generous with their footprints, ceiling heights, and open-concept interiors.

The History of Widow’s Watch on the Cape

Speaking of widow’s walks, this house has a beautiful one on the rooftop that overlooks the Cape Cod Bay. If this is your first time hearing about them, Widow’s walks are basically just rooftop platforms that became a defining feature of coastal New England homes in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

And they have a really cool origin story. The story goes that sailors’ wives would climb to the rooftop of their homes to scan the horizon for their husbands’ ships returning from month (or even year-long) whaling voyages. As time passed with no sign of return, women kept their watch, giving the platform its tragic name. 

Historians have a more practical explanation, though. Since many widow’s walks were built around the chimney, they allowed families to store sand or water nearby and reach the roof quickly in the event of a chimney fire.

I’d like to think that the truth is somewhere in between. But what matters more than the origin story is how rare this architectural feature is today. Original widow’s walks on the Cape are getting harder and harder to find, because so many have been replaced by modern roof decks or removed over time. Not this one, though. She’s staying.

The Landscaping

The lot is just under an acre, which is almost unheard of this close to the water. It has a sprawling grass lawn, established garden beds, and original rock walls running along the property lines. 

As pretty as they are to look at, these stone walls you see throughout New England actually served a really important purpose back in the day. During the 19th century, European settlers reutilized the glacial stones they found in the soil to delineate their farmland. They acted as a kind of fence, keeping the soil free of rocks and dividing their farmlands.

Today, New England still has about 100,000 miles of stone walls remaining (a pretty big hit from its peak of 240,000 miles back in the 1800s). These walls are part of what makes the landscape feel so New England, and we can’t wait to bring ours back to its original glory.

Renovation House Tour: First Floor

Let’s take a look at the first floor of the home, which features an oversized foyer, an open-concept living and dining room, and a perfectly square kitchen.

The Foyer

When you walk in the house, you’re met with colorful floor tile, a stunning wooden wall with raised panels, and a staircase leading up to the second floor. It’s a surprisingly grand entrance for a house of this size. 

The Living Room

Turning right, you’ll walk into the living room with stunning wood beams, wide-plank pine floors, and original wainscoting. These are the details that made us fall for this house on the first walkthrough, and we’re going to do everything we can to preserve them during the reno.

The living room also features a red-brick fireplace, wooden mantle, and oversized French doors that lead to the questionable (and honestly unstable) deck. That’s definitely going to go. 

If you want to learn more about refreshing a dated brick fireplace without ripping it out, I shared two really easy DIYs that make a big design impact. Read the post here 👉 Red Brick Fireplace Makeover Ideas You Can Do in One Weekend.

The Dining Room

Unlike most colonials, which keep the dining room closed off, this house has an open-concept living and dining layout. The same wide-plank floors, wainscoting, and beamed ceilings run through both rooms, which makes the whole first floor feel bigger and more cohesive than the square footage suggests.

The Kitchen

To the left of the dining room is the small (but mighty) kitchen. We have big plans for this room, but for now let’s just focus on the existing space. The kitchen features solid-wood inset cabinetry with really charming hardware, Formica countertops, and (what I assume is) a red fireclay sink.

The stainless appliances have seen better days, and there’s a charming built-in wooden bench that I’d love to repurpose somewhere else in the house.

Renovation House Tour: Basement

To the left of the kitchen pantry is a solid wood door that leads straight to the basement. Not the most glamorous entry, I know, but it’s to be expected for a basement. What’s not expected, though, is the size (and design possibilities) in this hidden space.

The wooden staircase curves into a blue-carpet hallway filled with cobwebs, wooden built-ins, and untapped potential. As you turn the first corner, you’ll see the full bathroom (yes, I said full) featuring a single vanity, toilet, and shower/tub combo. 

Across from the bathroom is a linen closet and an unfinished closet under the stairs, which could function as extra storage. The hallway ends with a charming wooden built-in filled with books and knick-knacks. 

One thing that really struck me as I walked through the basement for the first time was the height of the ceiling. It felt like every other room in the house (open and spacious) rather than a stuffy basement. 

At the end of the hall is the third bedroom, but it could also be used as a family room, game area, or bunk room for kids. It features the same old blue carpet, a beautiful red brick fireplace, wooden built-ins, a sink, and two closets. Not bad for a basement.

Renovation House Tour: Second Floor 

The second floor features a large primary bedroom, a smaller second bedroom, a full bathroom in the hallway, a linen closet, and a staircase to the attic. The wide-plank pine floors continue up here, keeping the house feeling cohesive from bottom to top. Let’s explore these spaces to give you a sense of the renovation house plans we have in store.

The Primary Bedroom

The primary has a huge, underutilized footprint. It’s basically a large rectangle with two tiny closets, beautiful French doors, and a pretty unstable deck overlooking the backyard. 

It features charming wainscoting, a red-brick fireplace, floral wallpaper (which I personally love but we probably won’t keep), and wood beams on the ceiling. 

The Second Bathroom

Compared to the primary, the second bedroom is tiny. There’s not much to it, so I’ll keep this part of the tour short. The bedroom features three nice-sized windows facing the front and side of the house, a modest closet, and the same wide-plank pine floors. It’s a great space for a home office, nursery, or full-size guest room, but not much else. 

The Full (Blue) Bathroom

I can tell the previous homeowners loved the color blue. This full bathroom features blue paint, blue plumbing fixtures, blue-patterned tile, and light fixtures with vibrant blue detail. 

Attic Access

The last hallway door opens up to a wooden staircase to the attic. This is an unfinished space full of spiders, so we don’t have to go up there.

But just imagine all wood framing, insulation everywhere, a central chimney, and a flimsy wooden ladder that leads up the widow’s walk. Don’t worry, we’ll be going back up there later. Just with better lighting and a more stable ladder.

Renovation House Tour: Studio Apartment

And if all of that isn’t enough, this property also has a detached studio apartment with a full bathroom and a 2-car garage below. Crazy, I know.

The possibilities are endless here. It can function as a separate apartment, a spacious home office, an artist studio…I could go on and on. 

The Renovation House Plan

Now that you’ve toured the renovation house, you can see why we’re so excited about this project. The home is full of charm, historic details, and potential. It just needs some TLC to get it back to its original glory.

If you love old home renovations, stick around. We’re going to document every step of this whole house remodel, from the budget breakdowns to the material decisions to the hard-learned lessons I know we’ll have along the way. 

If you want to follow along with a plan in hand, I put together a step-by-step home renovation checklist to help you organize your own project from the start. Read the post here 👉 How to Create Your First Home Renovation Budget For Beginners.

This post is all about our latest renovation house project!