This Little Old Cottage Preserved Like a Time Capsule

This little old cottage of ours was preserved like a time capsule under the cheapy siding that was placed on top of it.

Nate uncovered the original soffit by breaking up more of that cheap cardboard-like covering or shell that enveloped our whole house! He was surprised by how well it held up over the years and said all it took was a little bit of paint and caulk to seal it up. To me it just seemed like a cheap way to modernize the siding. Nate said it was like compressed board they use nowadays to make furniture out of.  

I’m just glad that it preserved our original wood no matter how crappy it was. Especially because we were able to remove it and uncover some wonderful hidden gems underneath!

UNCOVERING THIS LITTLE OLD COTTAGE PRESERVED

Nate used a 44 in Indexing Deck Removal Bull Bar (in my own words~ a long crowbar) to puncture the cardboard and break it up and pull it down. It was a very dusty job and he had to eventually get a mask to continue working. 

We also needed to remove a stud that was not original to the cottage. It looked like it was just placed there to hang the fake cardboard shell. The exposed soffits were so awesome! What excitement when he peeled away that cheapy cardboard covering. Can’t believe we uncovered the original soffits and hardwood that was preserved underneath.

We’re really glad that the prior owners put that cardboard shell up even though it was pretty ugly. It’s what kept everything original preserved! Nate thinks it was something that was popular in the 80’s. Very refreshing to be able to tear that off and expose the time capsule of our little cottage!

PRESERVED WOOD NEEDED SOME TLC

Now we would be able to repair some of the damaged wood and have this little old gem shine again!

Nate removed a very large stud with a Stanley 36 in Wrecking Bar (again, in my own words~ a pry bar this time). It was placed under the soffit to hold up more of the cardboard-like shell. It was so nice to see the original trim preserved underneath there as well.

We also did realize that some of the original wood would need some TLC to restore it back to its original condition as much as possible. 

I asked Nate when he thinks they put this shell on the house and he was thinking it was probably in the 80’s. It was the answer for a cheap way to cover everything and it was really popular and didn’t last that long and he thinks they stopped making this type of siding and covering. 

It was a lot of work removing this stuff up high on the side of the house up to the peak of the gable and underneath in the soffit area. He worked on a ladder chipping at it piece by piece. As always, I was excited about the discovery of our original green gables as well!

It was a great idea that he covered our brand new colonial style windows with cardboard so that when debris, pieces of wood, and studs fell~ they would not damage or break the windows we had recently purchased and installed. 

This was certainly a dusty job! For the worker, Nate and camera person, me! I got so much dust in my eyes just from filming and documenting this whole process. I’m really glad that I captured as much as possible though. Great memories and lessons learned along the way. 

ORIGINAL GABLES, SOFFITS, AND RAFTER TAILS~ OH MY!

After all the hard work, it really paid off to have a more vintage looking house than an 80’s one and to see the exposed original green gables and trim, soffits, and rafter tails all around the house. I would have never thought in my life that I would be so excited about all these original gems that we found!

We also uncovered the original rafter tails in the back of the house as well. Those beautiful gems have been hidden for way too long. It was time to bring them back out to shine in all their glory and beauty. But, for real, they still needed a lot of work! And I mean what’s the charm in a historic cottage without beautiful rafter tails. We’re so delighted to be able to uncover those. 

Someone must have removed the cardboard in the back of our house where the addition was built. They installed wood under the soffit to possibly make repairs in that area in the past. Nate thinks it may have been all rotted out and that is the reason for it. Maybe because of water damage. There obviously was some major damage for these lengths to be taken. Talk about trying to do some detective work and figure out what happened, why, and when~ when it comes to the history of our home. 

WORK TO UNCOVER THE TIME CAPSULE

Nate continued to use the 44 in Indexing Deck Removal Bull Bar (once again, in my own words~ a long crowbar) to break up more of the siding. The fork or hook at the end did a good job of pulling the crappy stuff down. 

There were several boards that needed to be replaced and Nate has since worked on that and we’ll share some of those projects with you soon. Little by little, this little white cottage is really starting to shine and come back to life in her original form! It’s really exciting to see as we’re literally peeling away these layers to get to the preserved time capsule.

PRESERVED HERITAGE VILLAGE VISIT FOR INSPIRATION

We went to a preserved heritage village nearby for inspiration with house details like the colors, porches, doors, rafter tails, and anything else that sparked our interest. It’s not an actual neighborhood where people are currently living though.

The small tenant house that looked like a little dilapidated shack reminded us of our little cottage the most! It was built in the 1940’s and common for larger landowners to have tenant farmers to work their land and live on the property. It only had two rooms – one for food prep and the other for sleeping. There was no indoor plumbing and outhouses were common. So thankful for our modern day amenities!

Psalm 90:17

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own. Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead!

You can also watch a video about this here.

To see more adventures of our tiny fixer upper journey, click on the links below.

💪🏼 SANDING AND PRIMING OUR LITTLE COTTAGE 🏚

🏚 REPAIRING COTTAGE GARAGE FRAMING AND INSTALLING NEW DOOR 💪🏼🧰