‘It’s not a rebuild. It’s a renovation.’

MT. PLEASANT — Northwest of Mt. Pleasant, at 1913 Franklin Avenue, lies a home that was ready for some major touch ups in the spring of 2021. The home of John and Ann Bennett, which lies on Franklin Avenue, surrounded by Windrush Hill Farm, is nearly completely finished after one year of hard work.

The home, which was an early 1900s farm house, had its entire first floor gutted. The Bennett’s chose local Mt. Pleasant business Wiley Construction, and one year after the project started, the Bennetts couldn’t be happier.

“We’re retired now and wanted to stay in the house for another 20 years,” said Ann Bennett as she sat in her new kitchen. “We moved our bedroom to the first floor from the upstairs, remodeled the bathroom so we could have a walk-in shower, and just wanted to make it livable for us.”

Wiley’s put in the time to tear out the old drop ceilings, all the old carpet and old wall paneling as they completely started over on the first floor of the house, which the Bennett’s have lived in since 1990.

“It’s not a remodel,” said Bennett. “It’s a renovation, which is another level of expertise.”

Bennett says she trusted Wiley’s Construction, a three-generation family business now headed up by Ted Wiley. Ted’s father Don Wiley, who Ted calls ‘very active’ in retirement, had done work for the Bennett’s when they moved into the home in 1990, and even came out of retirement to help out on what was a tough, yet unique project.

“Of all the work that we do, historical work is by far the most interesting,” Ted Wiley said. “You really have to have a keen eye to work with the old trim.”

The millwork was from locally-sourced trees by Leedham and Baugh, a company operating in Mt. Pleasant from approximately 1870-1901. The Bennett’s had possessed the millwork since the early 1990s and kept it stored until last year.

The two biggest projects were creating a bay window with original dimensions so millwork would fit in, and putting in a new stairwell.

Bennett called the project ‘Faze 2,’ due to the amount of work Wiley’s Construction had put into the house in the early 1990s. Due to well-kept records over 30 years old, the company still had all the proper measurements, saving a little time in a very time-consuming project.

“When we started talking about this project, Don and Ted Wiley produced blueprints of the house that were made back then, and showed me our correspondence,” Bennett said. “We knew we were in good hands.”

The bathroom and kitchen were completely redone. The Bennett’s yellow pine millwork that was still in the house was used in the kitchen and the dining rooms. Cabinets were made from locally sourced walnut and cherry. The porch was also completely rebuilt, and the porch ceiling was painted haint blue, a traditional color believed to keep bad spirits away, who preferred not to cross water.

Bennett says the remodel allowed for some fixing of a few problems often found in a 100-year old house. The overhead electrical got buried so storms wouldn’t take it down. The gray water was put through a septic tank, and Graber Electric put in new wiring, because old wiring was cut off in the walls, making it a fire hazard.

“We fixed a lot of sins of an old house,” Bennett said.

Along with Wiley’s Construction and Graber Electric, many other local companies were involved in the renovation. Neil Reichenbach and associates did all of the painting. The bay window was made by Wesley Barton Construction. The gutters were installed by Krebill Enterprises, and all the plumbing work was done by Taft Plumbing.

Boecker Masonry chipped in with some limestone basement repair and indoor brickwork restoration. The flooring and counter top was purchased from Wiley Interiors, and Ron Kruse laid out the hickory wood and vinyl floors.

The house just needs a few finishing touches, mostly light work in the kitchen, such as new counter drawers. That will all be finished by John Bennett.

“It’s in John’s court now,” Ann joked.

The Bennetts hope to live in the house for another 20 years, and maybe with the new major touch-ups, the home on Franklin Avenue will survive for another 100 down the road.