The Dayton House Renovation Airbnb Project

The Dayton House

"It's like an ongoing HGTV show but in real-time."

We took on the The Dayton House Renovation Project, a future Airbnb in the making, in January of 2020, not by choice but by compulsion (or so it seems).

It was only after our friend, Tammy sent us pictures of a large tree branch laying right on top of our front porch roof. Then came the unexpected twist.

Lori, who cleans for us, texted us to advise us there was mold all throughout the house. The cause of the mold at first was a mystery, but after some the insurance company did some investigating it was determined that a recent leak in the expansion tank down in the basement carried the moisture up through the ducts to each floor, including the attic). Guess how long (or short) it took to spread? Just about two weeks, that's it! It took many many months and about $80,000 of mold remediation (covered by our insurance, thankfully) to realize we had a huge project on our hands, especially after Joe, our Amish contractor chose to gut the whole house instead of just what we told him to (bless his heart, truly). All of this took place at the very beginning of COVID. We're glad that the scare of COVID is pretty much over. Our renovations are not, and we just added more to our plate.

It's a good thing we had no idea what twists and turns we were in for regarding the Dayton House renovations because we never would have chosen this path. But we have to admit that this ride has been one of our most exciting, nail-biting and rewarding projects we've ever had and we can't wait to see what God holds for us and the Dayton House in the future! At this point, it's a future Airbnb that will provide income for our retirement. However, we have to keep in mind that it's God who is leading and guiding us in this just as He has since the very beginning when we purchased the property in 2005 from Mary and Duane.

If house renovations were all delightful and exciting, what fun would that be? I mean, what's a house renovation story without obstacles, a bit of discomfort, inconvenience and adversity, right? We're only 5 hours away and we hired some very skilled Amish contractors and woodworkers who don't have phones but it's all good, really. It will all be in our book we're going to write one day.

Our most recent updates are posted on our Dayton House Renovation Project Facebook page. If you would like to stay in the loop and watch our progress in real time, click here and LIKE or FOLLOW our page. We'd love to have you join us, and one day BE OUR GUEST!