THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 24, 1996 TAG: 9602230379
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANET DUNPHY, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Pierce Farr and Cheryl Clark wanted rooms with a view. After sharing a condominium in an upscale Norfolk community for six years, the brother-sister team searched for a new place to live.
Farr found a huge old bayfront house in West Ocean View but its dilapidated condition shocked even the family dog.
``The first time we brought her (their Rottweiler) there, she walked in and looked around as if to say, `This is it?' '' recalls Clark. ``She wouldn't even lie down on the carpet.''
Clark and Farr bought the 4,000-square-foot beach-front home on Willoughby Spit in September for $190,000. They had outgrown their condo.
After making a thorough search for a home, they were surprised to find they could afford such a large property.
``We wanted more room and we wanted a view.'' says Clark. ``We were drawn to the redevelopment around Willoughby. During the year that we were looking we saw prices going up there.''
The Cape Cod style house with a porch faces the water with several sand dunes between it and the Chesapeake Bay. The picturesque setting made up for the work that awaited them on the inside.
Besides needing extensive updating, the house at one time was divided into four units, so there were walls and small room configurations throughout.
In fact, the rental prospects of the eight-bedroom, four-bath house could provide income as soon as Clark and Farr could make some repairs. They explained to the potential tenants that they would have to live through some renovations. It was leased within a month for a substantial portion of the mortgage.
The house also has an undeveloped, 750-square-foot basement and a free-standing, two-car garage. The wooden garage took 10 gallons of primer and 10 gallons of paint.
The house had been unoccupied for several years. Clark and Far budgeted $30,000 to renovated and, with about two months to go, are still within their budget. They are living there while they renovate.
The most immediate problem facing the pair were the ceilings, which were falling down. They tore them out and discovered that through the years they had been dropped down lower and lower to mask problems.
And they encountered one of their first choices on how to spend their money: sculptured ceilings or flat ceilings?
Tearing the ceilings out seemed like a never-ending job. ``We must have made 100 trips to the dump,'' says Farr. ``Thank heavens it's free.''
Ultimately, it was the ceiling plasterer who held them up for two months. He took their deposit to fix their ceilings and never seemed to have time to do it until Farr chased him down at another one of his jobs.
While they worked, and waited, on the ceilings, they had new heat and air systems installed, choosing separate units to accommodate the duplex.
They laugh now about the twin radiators, each weighing 1,200 pounds, that had to be cut up before workmen could even remove them from the living rooms.
A friend made Adirondack chairs for their front porch. Clark and Farr discovered a buried sidewalk that runs the length of their house to the beach. They also power-washed the house and garage.
They have knocked down walls themselves between the bedrooms, upstairs and downstairs, to make sitting rooms and offices. The bay is visible from the back of the house to the front.
When the painting is finished, the wooden, tongue-and-groove floors with the 1 1/2 sub-flooring will be sanded and finished with polyurethane.
``Our friends saved us,'' says Clark. One put his own Chesapeake home renovations on hold to change their toilets, wiring and install ceiling fans for the West Ocean View home while another performed woodworking magic and spent time hanging many new doors.
Soon the room that once had a green tile ceiling and the wall that bears the painted word ``Graffiti'' will be gone, traded in for more traditional colors in anticipation of the antiques to be moved in.
``A lot of money is being spent in the area.'' says Clark, acknowledging that the locale still has some problems to overcome, but indicating the $300,000 homes being built down the beach. ``It's the next Ghent. It's going to happen.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
GARY C. KNAPP
Cheryl Clark and Pierce Farr are deep into the joys and aggravations
of restoring a Willoughby beach cottage.
West Ocean View will be Norfolk's next Ghent-like attraction, Clark
and Farr maintain.
by CNB