Couple's DIY project restores home to its original glory

By Staci Dennis
Correspondent

NORFOLK

For Justin Hickman and Terresa Landess, finding their first home was more of a hunt for the perfect diamond in the rough, rather than a quest for a shining gem.

The duo set their minds on buying a place they could fix up and eventually resell for a profit. But the search proved harder than they thought.

"We looked at so many houses, and they all were the same," Hickman said. "They were cookie cutter and generic. We wanted something different."

Their agent suggested looking beyond traditional neighborhoods and suggested older homes in Norfolk's Ocean View community. When the couple walked into the 3,070-square -foot home on West Seaview Avenue in spring 2005, they knew it was a perfect fit.

"It needed a lot of work but we both knew it could look beautiful when finished," Hickman, 30, said of the circa-1912 dwelling. "This place was built like a fortress, and we wanted to bring it back to its original beauty."

The couple immediately started working on fixing it up, beginning with the hardwood floors and then installing a fence. Since the house is a historic site, they applied for grants to help restore the exterior, including a new roof, porch renovation and fresh coat of paint.

"When we bought the house, we used all our assets to get into it," Hickman said, " so we couldn't do all the updates right away."

To help pay the mortgage and raise money for future repairs, the couple rented out rooms in the house. When they saved up enough to start new projects, they said "goodbye" to the roommates and started construction.

Updates include a kitchen rebuild and all the bathrooms, as well as adding a loft on the third floor. The efforts cost them about $100,000.

"We didn't have a working shower for six months," Hickman said. "We had to make do."

During the next five years, the couple worked on the house a little at a time, sometimes starting one project before another one was complete.

"We would have to stop some of the projects right in the middle of doing them because we would get frustrated and couldn't figure things out," Hickman said. "So we always had a few things going at one time."

The duo did its best to keep the house's original integrity. They added some special touches, such as swirled plaster ceilings, and repaired walls with plaster to keep the same look and feel.

"I did some construction in high school, but nothing like this," said Hickman, a massage therapist. "I had to do a lot of reading and research to make sure I was doing things right."

Hickman and Landess recently put their house up for sale. They plan to move to France so Hickman can continue his education in the medical field. The couple paid $250,000 for the house and hope to sell it for $425,000.

"I'm glad we decided to do this," said Landess, 30. "It was a huge project and a great learning experience."

Staci Dennis, sdennis@cox.net