An Illinois couple who bought a run-down, 200-year-old house and spent the last five years breathing new life into it believe it’s been “worth it.”
A former ER nurse, Megan Grandchamp, 35, and her husband, Christopher Grandchamp, a police officer in Aurora, currently live with their three children in the property, which was built in 1843. Despite not having any experience in remodeling, the family took on the daunting challenge, spending over $300,000 and countless hours to see the project to fruition.
“We didn’t know what we were getting into,” Mrs. Grandchamp told The Epoch Times. “When you open a house like this that’s 200 years old, you’re always going to have surprises.”
‘Back in Time’
It all began in 2019 when Mrs. Grandchamp—who grew up in Oswego and moved to Yorkville after marriage—was looking for a house just for fun.“I stumbled across this house in Oswego, [which] is probably 10 to 15 minutes away from Yorkville,” she said. “We went for a showing that day, and we put an offer in that night.”
Originally built in 1843 by a stonemason named John Hem, the house had an extension added to it in the 1900s.
While it had remained in the Hem family, the home had been carefully maintained, but it fell into disrepair after a couple bought the property 25 years ago.
When the husband passed away, the house became a burden for the wife, who remained living there despite struggling to maintain it.
“It was very rundown, the grass was up to my waist,” Mrs. Grandchamp said. “We actually didn’t know the boundaries that well. We couldn’t see the end of the property because the weeds were so overgrown.”
The inside of the house was perhaps even more daunting.
“The roof was leaking,” the stay-at-home mom said. “We actually had it inspected, and the inspectors said everything [was] wrong with it. So it needed everything: lighting, plumbing, and air-conditioning.”
However, the Grandchamps saw past the glaring issues and envisioned a bright future for their family in the antiquated structure.
“It’s just amazing,” Mrs. Grandchamp said. “You could tell that everything was handmade. ... No new construction house is built like this house.”
Mrs. Grandchamp was fascinated by the flagstone foundation, large windowsills, and a big shop on the property.
Redoing the House
However, after purchasing the home, the Grandchamps were in for a “pure shock.”With a 5-month-old baby, they had to get the house to a condition that was safe and comfortable to live in.
Soliciting help from family members who had skills in various areas of construction, they strove to breathe new life into their new home.
To make living in the house possible, they got one half of the home ready, though not necessarily comfortable, and then worked on the other half of the home.
“We had to live in half of the house and kind of demo and remodel one half,” Mrs. Grandchamp said. “And then, once that half was finished, we moved over to that side. We got the main kitchen done because we always need a kitchen. We got [the] bathrooms redone, and we got our master bedroom on-suite done. Once those were done, we were able to comfortably live. And then we could start on the kids’ bedrooms. But this is all over five years.”
As the remodeling progressed, they were surprised by all the things they found, which ranged from bugs and mouse droppings to antique fixtures.
“The fun stuff about it was, you know, there was hookups in the walls for lanterns because they didn’t have electricity [when the house was built] ... they had gas lanterns,” Mrs. Grandchamp said. “They had radiators in all the rooms because that’s how they had heat.
“We found a couple of things in the walls, such as old shoes, vintage [items] like mouse traps with graphic designs all over ... it was very cool.”
Another interesting find for the Grandchamps was a handwritten postcard on a wall by a sender who was on vacation overseas. The postcard was mailed to someone in the house.
“I think just discovering a house like this and rebuilding a house like this,” Mrs. Grandchamp said. “Once you start tearing down the plaster walls, you kind of uncover things, but with us, we knew everything needed to be replaced going into it, so it wasn’t a surprise.”
They were able to retain most of the foundation.
“The foundation work is very expensive, and they knew how to build in 1843,” Mrs. Grandchamp said. “The specialist that inspected our foundation said it is in great shape, it was perfectly straight. The only thing we needed to add was some drainage tiles to help with water that would seep in.”
The best part for the Grandchamps, undoubtedly, was finishing.
Their lovingly restored two-story house boasts a living room, a large kitchen and dining room, four bedrooms, two balconies, a loft, and an attic.
“We’re in the process of opening a design company, now that we’re pretty much done with the house,” Mrs. Grandchamp said. “As for the outside, since we had a concrete patio in the back, we have a pool. And now we’re working on it. It’s like a mother-in-law suite pool house. So it’s going to have a bedroom out there. It’s going to have another kitchen out there. It’s going to be essentially a mother-in-law suite.”
Sharing more about her design inspiration, she said: “My main concern with the design was to have more of an open concept. It was very closed off when we bought the house, which is normal for the time period.”
With a huge extended family, the Grandchamps opted for an open layout.
Reflecting on the five-year experience, Mrs. Grandchamp said: “We were naive, definitely. But the reward was when we took those pictures of the finished house, and it was finished. And you know, you forget about the hard times, and the [demolition], and the penny pinching, and all of that stuff when everything’s finished.”
Reaping the fruits of their labor, the Grandchamps now enjoy the home that they’ve given new life to. Mrs. Grandchamp said her family loves to sit on the window sills.
The most surprising aspect of the remodel was the relationships they built with those connected to the house as the family still keeps in touch with the widow they bought the house from.
“They’ve been here multiple times,“ Mrs. Grandchamp said. ”And they’ve seen [what we’ve] done, and they love it. And they’re so thankful. It’s really fun to be able to share that with them because they’re all older, and they’re not able to buy this house again and redo it. But they’re living through us.”
