$20k and the kitchen sink!

Situated behind the Woman's Century Clubhouse is a carriage house built around the same time. Originating in the 18th and 19th centuries, carriage houses like ours typically feature high ceilings and large ground-floor carriage doors, originally built to store horse-drawn carriages; sometimes they included a second floor to house the coachman.

Ours is a simpler single story affair similarly sized as a modern 4-car garage. The carriage house was a key reason we purchased the Woman's Century Clubhouse because Gordon is an enthusiastic potter and woodworker (as well as a hobbyist in many other sciences, arts and crafts) and he needed a dedicated space.

The carriage house is insulated and on a foundation with a good concrete pad. It needs a new roof and gutters, and we plan to install solar panels someday, but our first order of business in getting our AirBNB up and running is to outfit Gordon's woodshop. The woodshop needed power, as did the pottery studio, which also needed water. So, we set aside a few bucks at closing to cover the cost of running utilities to the carriage house.

Little did we know...

When the plumber came out to trench a line from the existing water line (running from the alleyway to the house) to a new sink in the carriage house, he found the line exactly where it should be--except that it was placed too shallowly. City code requires it be located below the frost line... it was not, by a long shot!

Suddenly, our budget for AirBNB renovations and utilities to the carriage house (including the contingency fund) was shot!

They dug up the backyard and reinstalled the main water line... then connected it to the carriage house...

and all for the low, low price of $20k [yeesh]!

However, the good news is that Gordon has now been able to start demolition on the AirBNB kitchen, and we are prepping to install a new set of cabinets, as well as some beautiful built-ins, a new tile floor, and a butcher block countertop! And, we can cut back on parts of the budget (looks like we are doing all of the painting) and furnishings (thankfully we can repurpose and relocate an existing Murphy bed).

Sounds like time to shop for second hand, retro and antique furnishings and fixtures... Anyone have a comfy, good condition couch needing a new home? ;-)

Demo started in the AirBNB kitchen!