Slowly but surely, we’re making real progress on the beach house. Over the next few weeks we’ll see major advances as the property gets all-new electrical and plumbing plus a fully functioning HVAC system—perfect timing for hot beach days. We’re thrilled to report there’s no more danger from old knob-and-tube wiring, the furnace is finally being treated like actual equipment instead of being “accessorized” with cardboard and bedsheets, and running water is returning to the house after an extended absence. A damaged sewer line caused by tree roots means we even have to dig into the road to run a new line out front, but it’s worth it to get reliable plumbing again.
Since our last big update, we’ve checked off several major exterior tasks: a new roof that stops leaks, fresh pink HardiePlank siding, and a lot of window work. The pink siding has me completely smitten—I even started a dedicated Instagram account to celebrate it—and the new roof was a huge relief. The trim, currently a creamy yellow, is the last exterior detail waiting on painter availability and friendlier weather. It’s been slow, but we expect those columns to be finished soon and then the whole exterior will feel much more pulled together.
We were able to save all five of the original stained-glass windows, which we’re ridiculously excited about. There’s one at the front, one on the right side, and three on the left. Some needed new panes, many required sill repairs, and they’ll all be reglazed, but they’re already looking much better—especially alongside the new white trim on the rebuilt side of the house.
Several other windows were too rotten to save or had been replaced with poor-quality vinyl, so installing consistent, energy-rated windows across the house was a welcome upgrade. That change improves comfort, efficiency, and overall appearance.
There’s still plenty left to do outside: brick repairs around the foundation, installing a new metal porch roof because the old one is beyond repair, and adding stairs to all three entrances. The existing front and back concrete-block steps were failing, and the side door never had stairs at all. We’re planning brick steps out front to replace the concrete blocks, which should feel much more finished and appropriate for the house.
Yes, Sherry can make that leap up the steps despite her “short stems,” and no props are needed—she even claims to do it while chewing gum. #showoff
The porch ceiling has been another design decision in progress. At first we planned to paint it white so the pink siding would stand out, but the existing blue tone grew on us and harmonizes nicely with neighboring homes. We collected some fallen paint flakes and compared samples back home, eventually choosing a lighter, less saturated blue—Breaktime by Sherwin-Williams—to refresh the ceiling. For safety, all testing and handling of potential hazardous materials like lead, asbestos, and mold were performed professionally.
Even with remaining tasks, the new siding makes us giddy—every time we pull up, we grin like proud nerds. The interior framing and reinforcement are complete, so our floor plan is really starting to take shape in three dimensions. Bedrooms and closets are beginning to read clearly where there were once only rough outlines.
Our favorite new interior feature is the upstairs hallway we added so people won’t have to walk through one bedroom to reach another. John was just as excited as I was about seeing that come together.
One neat structural detail came from our contractor discovering a sagging spot on the upstairs landing near the stairs. Instead of adding an unsightly post, we commissioned a local blacksmith to forge a custom iron support bracket that connects to the stairs in two places to eliminate the bounce. It’s a cleaner, more elegant solution that cost far less than adding a big post and might read like an original detail once finished.
With framing in place, we also spent a lot of time marking locations for electrical outlets, switches, fixture boxes, and plumbing fixtures. That meant walking through every room to decide outlet placement, door swing, ceiling fixture locations (island, dining table, bed-centered fans), and plumbing placements for showers, toilets, sinks, and appliances. It was a painstaking process that took hours onsite plus additional planning and to-scale renderings at home, but it felt great to lock everything in.
After that came the fun—and overwhelming—task of choosing and ordering most of the fixtures, finishes, and fittings: lights, faucets, vanities, tile, and cabinetry. Appliances and furniture will come later, but this was a huge wave of buying that required decisions and coordination. Now that many selections are placed, we’ll share bathroom, kitchen, and laundry plans in a future post once we’ve documented everything in our color-coded binder.
P.S. If you want to catch up on the beach house from the beginning, we have posts covering how we bought it, initial floor plan ideas and a video tour, style inspiration and the look we’re leaning toward, how we chose the color and HardiePlank siding, earlier progress with walls and the new floor plan, and a funny story about the rotting side of the house photobombing HGTV.