| Home, redone |
By: Corey Butler Jr.
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Posted: Wednesday, March 3, 2010 1:20 am
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Mary Doerr’s kitchen before it was remodeled. Doerr’s rural Kenyon farmhouse has seen many of its rooms renovated during the last year. (Photo provided)
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Mary Doerr didn’t expect to get her 19th-century house remodeled by someone who answered a newspaper ad.
But that’s how it worked out.
Nearly two years ago, Josh Lerfald answered an ad seeking part-time lawn care work for Dancing Winds Farm, a sustainably managed, Grade A goat dairy and farmstead cheese plant four miles east of Kenyon.
Lerfald, who says he simply loves to work, was looking for a little more labor on top of his daily grind of running Josh Lerfald Construction.
After working together through the summer and fall, Doerr turned to Lerfald in December 2008 to help overhaul the 1856 farmhouse.
At first, only the four-season porch was meant to get a facelift.
“It was an eyesore,” Doerr admits.
She had won about $1,500 in material from a drawing at the Minnesota State Fair that year, sparking the remodeling of the home she’s owned since 1985.
“I was ready for that anyway,” she said. “It was the boost I needed.”
It didn’t stop with the porch, though.
The porch led to remodeling the kitchen, bathroom and office space.
“It’s been a challenge,” Lerfald said. “It’s been a whole nine yards of work.”
Because of the age of the farmhouse, Lerfald said deficiencies were commonplace at every turn.
The porch had its concrete breaking beneath the floor. Holes inside the kitchen walls were such that Lerfald and his father could shake hands where support struts should have been. Plumbing in the bathroom had to be rerouted into new walls.
“It was the time for updates,” he said.
And during the last 15 months, Lerfald and Doerr have been able to piecemeal together a remodeled home with a historic feel.
As much as tearing apart and rebuilding the rooms was a challenge for Lerfald, coming up with what should be done was almost as equally challenging for the tandem.
Going into the kitchen project, Doerr had three plans.
“None of them really fit for me,” she said. So, after talking with Lerfald, they compromised and took components from all three.
Gone was the horseshoe counter, replaced with an island counter and stove allowing for more intimacy when entertaining guests.
The new design was far and above the previous one.
“It was a kitchen, but it wasn’t functional,” Lerfald said.
Aside from having nearly every room in the house remodeled — the duo said the few remaining rooms will likely be tackled in due time — Doerr said she’s most proud of how it was done.
Many of the projects were done with little waste.
The old kitchen cabinets are being used in Doerr’s shop. Doors, trim and other materials were reused.
“Very little was put in the Dumpster,” she said.
Doerr wanted her house to be as green as possible, using spray foam insulation, floor heating and Energy Star appliances.
It’s the way it had to be done.
“It’s been such a pleasure,” she said.
— Reporter Corey Butler Jr. may be reached at 507-789-6161 or 507-333-3148.
IF YOU GO
What: Second annual Housing & Home Improvement Fair
When: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 4
Where: K-W High School Commons Area
Free admission, free food, door prizes and product samples for attendees. |
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