159 N 400 East in October 2000, Before exterior work began


The story is long, but I'll try to make it short. I first saw this house in the fall of 1992, when I was a student at Brigham Young University. I was out walking for exercise, and had noticed this old tired bungalow many times. Eight years later, my wife and I were house hunting, and wanted 2 things, something with character, and something we could afford. She was expecting our first child, and we were sick of renting. I decided to go back to my old neighborhood one day, and saw the house for sale. We called the realtor, who knew nothing, and he showed us the house. I can't believe I could see through the mess. The home had been owned for 47 years by the same woman, and she had been in a nursing home for some time. Her grandson now had title, and wanted the money. Nasty upholstered furniture, pinkish grey 50's carpet, carpeted kitchen and bath, and mud--2 inches of it in two rooms in the basement. Those were the highlights. We made an offer--very low, and after a bit of negotiating, it was ours. I made them take all the junk, and leave the wood furniture. A few days after closing I found a sort of hidden closet filled with 30 year old "food storage." Yuck. Thus began our journey in our Provo Bungalow