With an older home, everything comes in multiples, and Karen and Pete Staples’ antique Auburn farmhouse is no exception. Based on the red brick foundation and the attached barn or carriage house, Pete estimated that the Turner Street house was likely built around 1915.

Said Pete, “All the rooms have two or three doors and multiple radiators.”

According to Pete, “There are plenty of spots that show the wear and tear of the many years of lived in.”

Their biggest challenge, said Karen, has been “completing one project before we start another.”

Pete added, “We’ve got about six projects going all the time, so progress is limited.”

High school sweethearts from the Skowhegan area, Karen and Pete purchased the old farmhouse in November of 2006, and began renovating it right away. The couple does most of the labor themselves, but occasionally friends and family will pitch in.

“We have friends who are also doing projects,” said Karen, so projects often become a group effort.

Having foster kids in the house, rewarding on many levels, has also slowed their progress.

“Everything stops when we have foster kids,” said Karen. But now with a baby of their own on the way, the renovation work is reaching a fever pitch.

One of the first things they did after moving in was renovate the first floor of the home to create a rental unit. In between tenants they gutted the rooms and sheet rocked the apartment, creating a lovely space that took advantage of the original French doors that now lead to a large, softly colored master bedroom at the front of the house.

Perhaps the most satisfying renovation to date has been completing the living room in the downstairs apartment, with its unique, curved wall.

“The living room walls took us the longest,” said Karen.

Pete explained, “The living room walls had at least four partial layers of wall paper. As we peeled, we found layers of spackle and wood in between the multiple layers of paper,” where the previous owners had tried to make the walls flat or even, he speculatee. “It was a mess. We just kept peeling.”

Sections of the home, including the barn/carriage house, had been refurbished and made into a living space in about the mid 1990s, “before us,” said Karen. “It had some remodeling, but we’re bringing it up to date,” a process which included transitioning to natural gas for heat and hot water several years ago.

Living in and around the construction creates its own set of problems. Because the home has roughly 3,500 square feet of living space, the projects are spread throughout the house, each area dependent upon the completion of another.

With the baby due very soon, the master bedroom has become the priority. The walls are finished and all it needs is a coat of paint.

“It’s getting there,” said Karen. “Once we’re done with one room, we shift.”

“It’s like that game with the nine squares,” added Pete. Items and furnishings are moved from one room to the next and rooms are fixed as they are cleared.

When asked about what aspect of this long process had been the most fun, Karen answered enthusiastically, “Redecorating for me! He pretty much does all the hard work, and then I paint and redecorate!”

For Pete, he likes the demolition. “Wrecking the walls in a room, that’s kind of neat.” He also enjoys it when friends come by to help with a project.

Having purchased most of their supplies from Hammond Lumber in Auburn, the couple is happy to have kept many of their purchases local. “Plus, they deliver,” added Karen.

They purchased their flooring at Pineland Lumber in Lewiston, and “for the quick stuff,” added Pete, “Home Depot is right around the corner.”

The last planned project is a big one.

“The kitchen [in the upstairs living space] will be the last project,” said Pete. “It’s a big project.”

“We’ve got everything in the garage … just about,” said Karen, who also added that although the adjacent dining room really just needs a coat of fresh paint to make it light and pretty, “What I’d really like to do is tear out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, making it one big space.”

Perhaps Pete, who likes the destruction part of construction, will oblige her … someday.

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