My 1914 Bungalow

Original Features Preserved:
Doors and Windows 
Wood Floors and Trim,
Cedar Shake Siding

Restored the Side Porch Covered Pergola

Home sweet home.  In case the name of the gallery didn't give it away, this is my most recent, and favorite personal renovation.  This is where Sampson and I called home. I've been working on my home since 2017 and with it's 110th birthday coming up in 2024, I've got some new plans in the works because, well, home is always a work in progress.

Hear more about my home's history by reading The Story then look through our beautiful pictures in The Gallery and then scroll down to our Sources and Links section in case you'd like to add something from my home into yours.

The gallery

The story

sources & links

Enjoy the tour!

Because every historic home has one.

During the spring of 2017, I was working on The Harris Home which was right beside the cutest little bungalow that had seen better days. I'm always on the look-out for investment properties, especially in Hampton Heights, so I knew the property had gone through the foreclosure process and would soon be up for sale. So, I watched and waited until one day I noticed a crew clearing out the house. After convincing them to let me take a peek inside, I was immediately smitten. Even with all of the trash and bad smells, severely outdated kitchen and bathroom, really strange lay-out, and with a back porch where the ceiling was literally falling in, I knew I wanted this house.

At the time, I had only been in my (then) current home for a little under two years, so I really had no intentions of moving again so quickly. However, by the time I got to the back of the house and saw the jungle of a very large back yard, I knew this was going to be my next home. Here's why...

1. First, I loved the back yard and the size of the lot. Working in the yard is like therapy for me and I always like to have room for my dogs to run and play. Even with the overgrown lot, I could see the potential. Immediately I had the back yard cleared and then seeded, added a fence for the dogs, and then had a new concrete parking pad poured in front of the garage. Over the next few years I worked on landscaping, updating the exterior of the garage to match the main house, and converted a small storage building into my office. I spend the most amount of time out in the back yard.

2. Second, even though the back porch was completely dilapidated as in the ceiling was literally falling in, it held the perfect location for a great screened-in porch along the back of the house. I love screened porches and had never had the opportunity to add one to any of my previous personal homes so this was a big selling point for me.   

3. And last but not least, I knew it would be a smart financial decision. Because it was a foreclosure, I was able to purchase the house at a really low price and because I didn't go completely overboard during the renovation, and have done a lot of the work myself, it has turned out to be a good investment. In an effort to make this the last stop for a while (I've been known to house hop over the years), I did go ahead and make a couple of upgrades including adding stairs and plumbing to the spacious attic with plans on converting it to livable space down the road, and built a new addition to the back of the house where the screened porch and master bedroom are now.  I typically don't add on new square footage to my houses.

The trade-off in doing a lot of the work on my own, along with the help of family from time to time, is that it took longer to complete. I work on my own home in between other projects so that's just how it goes. I purchased the house in May of 2017, immediately started on renovations with the help of a few contractors, and moved in on December 1, 2017.  At the time of move in I had all of the necessities: one working bathroom, heat/air, refinished hardwood floors, a refrigerator, and a fenced in back yard for the dogs. Everything else is optional for me. And so I worked on the rest of the house over time. 

The house is essentially completed but if I'm being honest, the rush of trying to get in so fast caused some steps to be skipped with those problems showing up now so as I look to 2024 and celebrate the house's 110th birthday, I have new projects scheduled.  Some are repairs, others just little tweaks, and a few complete makeovers as my style has changed.  And let's be honest, I'll always have a project, or two, in the works pretty much always because that's just what I do.  But I can say that this is hands down my favorite house and renovation project.

But of course, I always say that.

This bungalow, built by M. V. Martin, has doubled interlocking porch posts. in the years 1926-1940 it was owned by James B. and Margaret M. Hodges, who previously lived on the east end of Carlisle Street just off of S. Church Street.  Mr. Hodges was an employee of Southern Railway.  In 1951 William Hughson Green, a violin teacher, and Sylvania McCreary Green purchased the house and moved here from 484 Hampton Drive. Mrs. Green, who taught with the State School for the Deaf and Blind, continued to live here until 1980, when the house was bought by Dawn Pennington, a nurse at Spartanburg Regional Hospital.  Ms. Pennington lived here for several years.

Excerpt from Hampton Heights of Spartanburg: Its History, Houses, and People by Vivian B. Fisher

floral wallpaper

linen curtains

Walls & Trim: SW Extra White

PAINT COLORS

smart roku tv

tv wall mount

vintage faucet

string lights

drop cloth for curtains

curtain rings

outdoor furniture

hunter ceiling fan

outdoor rug

We used the upper sash of a window found in the basement as a swing out window above the kitchen sink and reused all of the original cedar shakes we were able to save here on the back screened in porch.

REPURPOSED MATERIALS

Cedar Shake: Valspar Oatbran
Ceiling: SW Watery

PAINT COLORS

DIY Outdoor Curtains + My Simple New Hack

frames set

white large frame

dry erase calendars

round brass pulls

swing arm lamp

black stripes jute rug

We started with a 12x15 storage shed and used repurposed materials such as the windows and beadboard along with vintage items like the desk and General Contractors sign to add character to what is now my office.

REPURPOSED MATERIALS

Walls and Trim: SW Extra White

PAINT COLORS

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10 Recent Changes I Made to My She Shed Office

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