The Way Before Photos

We moved to Portland in 2003 and settled in immediately in the Hawthorne neighborhood. These photos are what we call the "way before photos." We never actually saw the house looking like this. I mean really, I don't think we would have had the vision or the energy to start here, exactly.

These photos were taken by a neighbor so that she could make a nuisance complaint to the city about the weeds and the fact that no actual permits were pulled when two giant holes were ripped in the roof, in the middle of winter, thus beginning the upstairs dormer/master bedroom/master bath project. Can't really say that I blame her as she was undergoing her own renovation project at the time, and permits are a costly pain.

The house was vacant for approximately five years after the previous occupant passed away. Well, it remained legally vacant, anyway. The house was apparently host to a sizable homeless camp, many of whom set up shop inside while one man claimed the front porch as his residence for over a year, sleeping on one side, with his own master bath on the other side of the porch. Super sexy.

Even now, seven years later, we occasionally have transients wander by and tell us that they used to live there before us. Even now, seven years later, I'm unsure how to respond to these statements. I mean, do you ask, "Wow, are you the one who dove through the dining room window when the police came to get everyone out?" Or, "Are you the one who spray painted the giant swastika on the basement floor?" Really, what is the appropriate response?

So we got here in September 2003, and that began our very slow, always ongoing renovation of our little Hawthorne bungalow.