Work begins!

The first thing I did after closing was to remove the wall that separated the front hall from the back. This wall was added in the early '50's.

With that done I turned to the drop ceiling that was installed around the same time.

I'm currently looking for a period staircase as this one was built in the early '50's also.

The next thing I tackled was the wall in the parlor. I knew there was a fireplace behind the wall, we will be rebuilding the chimney at some point soon so I went ahead and opened it up.

That's some crazy wallpaper! I have a Greek Revival mantle circa 1852 that will go here.

I had the intention of going back to the original walls but I found that the walls on either side of the fireplace were added in the 50's, originally the fireplace stuck out into the room about 1 1/2'. I would love to go back to that but that would mean cutting into the bathroom so instead I will  cover it back up with 1/4" sheetrock.