We Bought a School

We did a thing, a thing that I have been fantasizing about for years. I am not exactly sure where this desire to live in an unconventional space came from, but it has become an obsession for me in the last 10 years. We have looked at an array of different buildings from churches and masonic lodges to retail spaces and even an old auto body shop. But we knew this was the one when we first saw it. It met all of our requirements, and it was a school. What could be more perfect for a teacher than to actually live in a school. So here we are on this crazy journey of trying to live in and remodel a 1923 schoolhouse.

Move in day at the new place!

So what were our requirements? Well, there were a lot, which is why we have been looking for over 10 years. We wanted an old building with cool architecture, both my husband and I love old buildings, preferably stone or brick. We wanted a space that was big enough to open a future business and live in. We opened a frame shop years ago, and we often struggled to pay rent on the commercial space and the mortgage for our home. The first 5 years of a small business are tough, so we wanted to learn from this experience and be smarter the next time.

The other big issue was where? We initially started looking in the Twin Cities are where we were living. We looked at quite a few options, one of which we actually put an offer in on, but ultimately I was ready to move. I had been in the Twin Cities for 20 years, and had loved it. But I felt the need to move on, try something new. I loved raising my kids in St Paul, but felt a real need to move on from Minnesota Nice. So where to?

This was probably the hardest part. We knew we wanted to stay in the midwest, but were pretty open about where. We went on road trips to check out other cities, and even applied for some jobs. I was really pulling for Pittsburgh or Indianapolis. But on the way home from a funeral in Chicago, we decided to stop by this schoolhouse in Cudahy, WI, just south of Milwaukee. Now initially, I had no desire to return to Milwaukee. It was where my husband was from, and didn’t feel like a new beginning, like what I was craving. It felt like giving up and moving home. Not totally what I wanted to do.

But then a few things happened that really changed my mind. My dad had a heart attack, and it became clear that I was going to be the one in my family to take care of my parents as they got older. Not that this time is not upon us yet, but I knew there was no way I was getting them to move in the future, so I needed to be closer. Then after I found the schoolhouse and approached my husband about it, I knew it was a done deal. He was actually excited about the idea. Really excited, and he is never really excited about any of my crazy ideas. But I think there was a huge part of him that really wanted to come home. So we did.

The story of buying and selling is long, frustrating and quite honestly not something that I want to relive. But suffice it to say, we worked really hard to get this place. It is not easy to get a loan or insurance on an unconventional property. These are the kinds of properties bought up by investors, not individuals.

We were actually up against investors when buying this property. They planned on turning it into an 8 apartments. They had issues with funding, as we did, but somehow we came out the victors. I still can’t belive it actually happened. This last year has been stressful to say the least. We also had to sell our house, which comes with a whole new bucket of issues. I am glas we made it past all of that. I will miss my old house, we really made it cute, but I will not missing selling it. That was not fun.

Our plans for the space are to divide it into 3 1/2 spaces. When you enter the building you are met with a large staircase going up to what will be our house. Then there are two different staircases going down. The one on the east side will be an airbnb. It was recently renovated and just needs a floor (and maybe some paint, not sure about the color choices). The stairs on the west side lead to a workshop that will be Nick’s home base for his business. Attached to that is the 1/2 space, or the flex space. We are not totally sure how we will use that space. But we have a lot of ideas.

Are we crazy? Probably. But we are in it. So join us on our wild ride. I will do my best to keep this blog updated, as I know many people are interested in watching our progress. Wish us luck!

Check out the before photos!