March 23, 2014.  The night before, was browsing a realty site on the web and came across a property that seemed like a good fixer-upper out in Wisconsin.  So on Sunday Kevin and I decided to drive out there and check it out.  While we weren’t all that impressed with the house we came to see, just down the road was an old school house.  We drove up and got out to take a look.  It looked abandoned, and a quick peek inside confirmed that no one was permanently living there.  It was full of old furniture and junk.  The lock was broken off and the windows boarded up.  We drove home talking about how neat it would be to renovate it back to like as a primary dwelling.   At home, we looked up tax records and found the owner, Sandra, living in St. Paul.  We couldn’t find a phone number though, so we wrote her a letter explaining what we had done and asking if we could take a closer look.

March 24, 2014.  We drove to Sandra’s house, but she wasn’t home, so left the letter in her mailbox.

March 28, 2014.  Sandra called while I was at work.  She confirmed that she had gotten the house from her mother, who had gotten it from her Grandfather.  She told me that they had spent lots of summers up there but hadn’t been back in many years now that her mother had passed on.  She said her Grandfather originally owned both the school and the house property we had originally come to look at.  She agreed to let us go look at it.  I could not have been more excited.

March 30, 2014.  We packed a lunch and Lucky Dog and headed to Cushing.  On the way up we toured through the town of Cushing.  On getting to the school, we took lots of pictures inside and out.  The railing on the cupola was broken and the chimney top was too, but the rest looked in pretty good shape.  Inside it was very full of old furniture and furnishings.    We called Sandra that evening.  She said she has had offers before, but didn’t like what they wanted to do with the place.  She wanted someone to buy it who would love it. That was us.

March 31 – April 25, 2014.  I started calling banks.  I began with the bank that holds my mortgage.  They weren’t interested in offering me a loan, as they didn’t see it as a habitable property.  He checked with the Remodeling Program officer, but he also wasn’t interested, mainly because to do an appraisal they would have to compare it to other similar (ie schools converted to homes) properties and didn’t feel they would be able to do that.  The loan officer did suggest some options, but I was on my own.  Contacted Stephanie Gruver of ReMax Real Estate for ideas, and she not only had some great ones, but has also become a good friend who also happens to have a history of schoolhouse living.

I called some banks local to the school, they did not offer primary mortgages but referred me to another branch.  This officer there gave me some hope.  He said if we could come up with a seller agreement, turn on the electric and show that there was plumbing and sewer, they might be able to classify it as habitable and then do an appraisal and a loan.  Went up to the schoolhouse and in an amazing 30 min, the septic, the well and the dumpster service guys all showed up.  What service!

Did all that, went through the paperwork, then they also said no.

April 21, 2014.  Decided we couldn’t wait anymore and started work on the school, even without a closing.  Started with the storage shed.  Lots and lots of old clothes, dishes and furniture – a foretaste of our work ahead of us.  Put on new locks and No Trespassing Signs.  Started the BassLakeSchool page. Sat on the front step, had a beer and watched the last of the snow melt.

May 13^, 2014.  With the help of family and friends, came up with enough money to buy the house outright.  Finally some progress!  Called Land Title of Stillwater, who was a great help in getting the paperwork done.  Finally we had a closing date.

May 23, 2014.  Closing Date!  Sandra and I rode together to the title company and had a great discussion about the school, its history, and her life growing up there.  I will include some of that (with her permission) and any other stories her family and others who have a shared history with the school here on these pages as I hear them.