In this four-part series, a DIY newbie and her friend transform a rural property into a “1920s grandpa cabin” while dealing with a missing contractor, power outages, and plenty of hiccups along the way.
Regan Wood had been searching for a vacation home in the Catskills for over a year, hoping to embark on a DIY cabin transformation. But when the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down, she learned just how competitive the market could be. Her realtor told her: “It went from being dead to cash offers, over the phone, sight unseen. So I’m just warning you, it wasn’t the same market that it was two months ago.’”
The Brooklyn-based photographer realized that the pandemic had shifted the upstate market into a frenzy. Wood needed to move fast. She partnered with Tara Cox, a friend who has ample home renovation experience in New Orleans, and the two put cabin scouting into high gear. Wood drove back and forth from Park Slope to upstate once a week, seeing a house hit the market and hopping in her car an hour later. They put in offers on four or five properties, but found the competitive market to be an obstacle. “We would have accepted offers, and 20 minutes later the broker would call, ‘We got an all-cash offer over the phone for 20% over asking,’” Wood recalls.
In September 2020, Wood found the perfect space: Set on eight acres with a creek cascading down the mountainside next to the house. The former hunting cabin, which was originally built in the 1900s and had been added onto several times, was a good price. Their offer was accepted, but the negotiation felt a bit off when the contract execution started taking longer than expected. “I knew something was up,” Wood says. “Sure enough, someone swooped in with all cash.”
Heartbroken, Wood decided to take a break from looking. But by late October, her broker notified her that the cash offer had fallen through, and the sellers were willing to accept their offer right now.
With the deal done, Wood and Cox began crafting their vision for the house. Wood knew she didn’t want to recreate a Brooklyn vibe upstate. Instead, she wanted the space to feel like a genuine cabin in the mountains, enveloped in outdoorsy-ness and rustic-ness. “Tara and I share a similar design point of view, but she leans more modernish, so she's been really flexible and adventurous in indulging my cabin aesthetic,” says Wood, who created a Pinterest mood board, filled with photographs of mountain cottages and log cabins, with unique country touches and a shot of Willie Nelson thrown in.
Wood had fond memories of summers at her grandparents’ lake house outside Chicago—the type of place with wicker rocking chairs and crocheted blankets over the arms of a sofa—and hoped to infuse those memories, along with a “Rocky Mountain vibe” that embraced her love for the outdoors. This worked just fine for Cox: “I’m looking forward to having a warm, cozy winter cabin for skiing and a cool mountain retreat from the NOLA heat in the summer,” she says.
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But alas! The cabin’s state resembled what Wood called “a house mullet” thanks to its many additions over the years: Though it looked like a traditional cottage in the front, the backside resembled a Bavarian log cabin. The charm alone couldn’t carry their new abode into 21st century. The space needed a significant amount of work. While a contractor would tackle the biggest jobs, Wood was banking on doing some of the work herself. She didn't let the fact that her DIY experience failed to go much further than changing a lightbulb, painting some furniture, and reupholstering things—very badly. “For realz,” Wood says. “Whenever my mom visits me in Brooklyn to help with apartment stuff, she shakes her head and says, ‘I had no idea I raised such a helpless daughter,’” Wood recalls of her home-maintenance projects.
To transform the space into her dream “1920s grandpa cabin,” Wood began to take stock of all the work that needed to be completed. With Cox’s home-reno expertise and advice, the duo kicked off in the summer. “We worked together on getting the grounds under control, which is second nature to me since I own a landscaping design business,” Cox says. “Also we pulled out some carpet and nails together. It was fun to get into the work, and it helped Regan gain some more confidence around some of the projects that she’s doing on her own.”
Previously seasonal, the home would need to be winterized. The only heating system was an old wood stove and an old propane heater. There was no insulation or even interior walls, just the backside of the exterior siding. To do the heavy lifting, Wood recruited a contractor that was recommended by a friend and prepared to start renovations in March of 2021. He did some demolition work, but after about four months he stopped responding to texts and emails. “And then he ended up disappearing with our money,” Wood says.
Realizing they were back at square one, it took another six months to find a new contractor. Wood and Cox obtained a renovation mortgage to pay for most of the work, but by the time they found the new contractor, the labor and materials costs had tripled, forcing them to refinance. During that period, the house sat empty. The dining room was filled with stuff Wood had optimistically brought to the house, thinking they would be able to use it by the summer of 2021. Now, there were mouse droppings and dead bugs everywhere. Before they could do anything, the entire space needed to be cleaned and emptied out, which Wood says was “quite an undertaking.”
The duo is still optimistic, nonetheless. “I find restoring old houses gratifying,” Cox says. “I’m looking forward to seeing this old girl shine once she’s done.”
Over the next couple months, Wood and Cox will be tackling several of the renovations projects, including:
- Updating the windows
- Painting and staining the original beadboard in two bedrooms and the kitchen
- Reglazing the original cast-iron tub
- Painting the kitchen cabinetry
- Sanding-and-staining the custom-milled floors (installed by a contractor)
- Sourcing furnishings and decorating the interiors
Thus far, Wood says, “not a lot has been completed.” She painted the newly-cleaned dining room, as well as one upstairs bedroom that had already been repaneled and fitted with insulation. But then had to halt. Another challenge surfaced when the water and power went out for three weeks, rendering the contractor unable to get any work done. The constant hold ups have forced Wood and Cox to be a bit more lax with the expected completion timeline.
“It was supposed to be done by the end of July. Well, it’s September, and I’d say we’re halfway done,” Wood explains. “That’s been the aspect that I constantly struggle with. On my best days, I have a very loose grip. On my worst days, I'm pulling my hair out.”
See what happens as the Catskills cabin reno continues in the upcoming DIY Diary installment.
