Renovation
11 W 3rd Street
Frederick, MD
Scope of Work:
The subject property, 11 W 3rd Street, was purchased by Murphy Properties II, LLC on April 23, 2019.
The original structure was built in 1882. It had been made into offices, and it had been decades since any improvements had been made to the home.
The house was a 2-story brick structure with 2,262 square feet. The interior access to the basement had been closed off, and full bathrooms removed. There were 2 kitchenettes, and 5 or 6 offices in place of the standard residential rooms. After renovation, the first floor has a large living room with fireplace, kitchen, dining room, wet bar, half bath and mudroom/laundry. The upstairs has a master suite with walk-in closet, fireplace and large master bath. There are two other bedrooms which share a bath and access to an upstairs balcony which was renovated to be safe and secure.
The original slate roof was not salvageable and was replaced with an imitation slate that followed the original roof in design and color. Every original window was sanded, reglazed as needed, repaired and painted. All new heating and cooling, all new electric, and all new plumbing were installed. The outside was scraped and pointed, and the original shutters repaired and reinstalled.
Two fireplaces were built (one in living room and one in master bedroom) and vent free gas logs were installed.
Since the house had been compartmentalized for offices, there was a lot of floor patching necessary. So that the floors would look seamless after repairs, the floors in the mudroom and bathroom were pulled up and used in the patching. Vintage floors of the same era as the house were purchased and installed in the mudroom and bathroom. All floors were sanded and polyurethaned.
All of the original doors were saved and reinstalled for the new bedrooms and bathrooms.
During renovation, an old basement door opening was discovered under the plaster in the new dining room. We used reclaimed lumber from an old fence in the backyard to make a bookcase in the opening.
The backyard was nothing but ivy and weeds. A new privacy fence was installed, and 250 pounds of grass seed was sown and nurtured after the weeds were removed. A row of edibles was planted down the east side of the yard including apples, cherries, blueberries, grapes and herbs. Other garden beds were installed throughout the yard and an old brick shed was repointed and restored.
A custom wine cellar was built in the basement.
Physical work began in May, 2019, after all permits were granted. Settlement with the new owner occurred in December 2019.
