Prairie Renovation: Cement Shed to Guesthouse

It was a lifelong dream for my husband to build a home with his father. Prior to us marrying, Nathan had gutted and remodeled a house over four years with his dad. Then we married. He sold that house, moved 200 miles into the house Hunter and I lived in and he remodeled that home for us. A major upheaval and life changing move to the prairie led us to live in a tiny, old house. While I had always loved old farm houses with character, we agreed that there would be no more moving and no more remodeling. We were ready to build our home and Nathan wanted nothing old and everything new.

The home we built is our modern twist on a farm house that appropriately fits into the prairie landscape.

 Two years since building our home, I still love old things and Nathan still loves new things.

He built the new house.

And I get…the old cement shed.

It was a gift from Nathan. 

The cement shed is original to our family owned lumber yard. It is around 100 years old and has the original barn siding on it. It is has old flooring on the inside walls and ceiling, all covered in cement dust from storing the cement bags for decades. Rather than have it torn down at the lumberyard, Nathan had it moved to our corner of the prairie when I was traveling on business this summer and took the above picture. 

I came home to it sitting across the way from the front porch and instantly fell in love with it.

Nathan started making plans for new doors, windows, shingles, siding and any thing else new he could think of that my old cement shed needed.

He has the new house. I really wanted to keep the old shed, authentic. We had some discussions and like all strong marriages should do, we agreed to disagree and compromise.

Despite the bottom of the door rotting, the door was salvaged. I absolutely love it. Nathan has since admitted that he does think the door looks better than a new one would have looked. Yes, compromise sometimes leads to a changing of opinion.

Nathan and his dad shingled and put on a new cupola on the shed. It is new but it adds character.

This is where it is today. New windows, new roof and it is getting siding due to a lot of rotting wood. 

It is not insulated and for the time being is going to serve as a garden shed. But I already starting calling it, the guesthouse. Did I mention that I love it? I go and stand in it every day, plotting and planning its future.

When the money tree grows next to it, my husband told me we can turn it into the guesthouse. I will plant that money tree seed and see if I can get that tree to grow. We will keep you posted on the continued renovation of the old cement shed to guesthouse project because don’t you want to come stay in it? It is 600 square feet of quaintness on the vast prairie with a kitchen that delivers just across the way. 

Someone has already asked if he can live in the guesthouse when he is older. I assured him if he comes home in the summertime from college in…gulp…seven or eight years that he could stay in the guesthouse.

Hunter practiced piano this morning as he starts lessons again in early September.

He is training in two young pianists who seem to have their Auntie Lori’s love of the keys.

We all are smiling as big as Miss E today for Friday and for our old cement shed turned guesthouse on the prairie.