Our first good surprise...

Secrets under the vinyl

We have ripped all the vinyl off the front of the house in anticipation of replacing the original siding with hardy board.  Hardy board is a wood composite that looks like clapboard, but does not require the maintenance of wood.

When we removed the vinyl we did find a few surprises.  It appears that there were actually two windows on the upper level.  This makes sense as the one window looks a little lost up there.  I was planning on putting shutters on either side to help, but now I think we are going to put the other window in.  Yes of course that involves tearing out another wall and shifting things around yet again...

T also found some evidence of decorative trim on the left side (where he is pointing).  We hope to get the holes dug soon for the concrete window supports so we can remove the braces...  We also removed the front pine tree and hired someone to replace the walkway.  Progress!