After many sleepless nights, headaches, and worry, Donna Anderson can now breathe a sigh of relief after moving into her newly-renovated two-storey home on Second Street East here.
“We bought the house in December, 1999. It was in horrible shape and really needed work done,” she recalled. “At the time we bought it, there were huge holes in the roof where you could see the sky.
“Neighbours also told us there were rats in the house.
“Needless to say, I was not too excited about the idea of buying this house and having to basically start from scratch,” she admitted.
Having once owned his own construction business, Donna’s husband, Kevin, took on the renovation of the house as his own personal project.
“After we bought the house, Kevin started work on it right away,” Anderson said. “Since then, he has been working on and off on it for the past year, finding time to do it between paying jobs.
“Kevin replaced the entire roof and also changed the floor plan of the whole house,” she added. “He has worked very hard on the house and I think that it really shows.
“He has done a lot of fine carpentry work and his attention to detail has made the house just beautiful.”
Though she confessed she did not share her husband’s vision, Anderson could not be more happy with the finished product.
“When we bought the house, Kevin drew up the plans for the renovations and shared them with me,” she remarked. “He had this amazing vision of what the house would eventually look like.
“I just could not see it and really did not believe it would look anything like what Kevin envisioned. It was so dilapidated and run down that I thought there was nothing that could be done.”
Sharing his wife’s initial reservations about the house, Kevin Anderson often found himself stopped by curious onlookers who had an opinion to share.
“It was very discouraging at first for Kevin,” Donna Anderson said. “People would stop by and ask him why he was even bothering to try and salvage the house.
“They would tell him that he should just tear it down.”
Determined to turn the rundown house into his family’s dream home, Kevin spent many hours working by himself, with the occasional helping hand lent by his wife’s grandfather.
“My grandfather is 96-years-old and very active,” Anderson said. “One day I came home to find him on the roof of the house with Kevin. I told him that he had better get down.
“He just loves to help but aside from his assistance, Kevin has really done everything on his own.
“It is amazing to remember what the house looked like before he started working on it,” Anderson continued. “When I look at what Kevin has done with it, I really can’t believe that I ever doubted him.
“There were some ups and downs, but Kevin loved doing the work and I think that it really shows through in his work.”
With only a few small details left to finish, the Anderson family is all moved in and finally feeling at home in their new setting.
“We moved in March 31,” Anderson enthused. “Kevin is now just working on the kitchen cabinets, and we just got in the flooring for the kitchen and the bathroom.”
There are a few things left to do around the house but the big stuff is done, Anderson noted.
“This house is really a testimony to Kevin and all the hard work that went into this project. Our home is better than anything I think I could have ever imagined.
“We love it.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
