A 1914 schoolhouse in Franklin, Indiana, has a new chapter after a full structural restoration transformed the longtime community landmark into a family home. Homeowner Stacie Grissom and her husband, Sean Wilson, bought the 9,000-square-foot building for $175,000 in August 2021 and finished moving in by late 2024, according to CNBC.
The building started as Union Joint Graded School No. 9, serving students who lived outside the boundaries of two nearby school districts. It operated as a school until 1934, then spent years as a barn housing livestock through the mid-1950s. A former student later converted it into a private residence and owned it until Grissom purchased the property.
Restoring the structure brought real-world construction problems. Grissom said dense paver bricks, the kind used in road construction, made wall removal a grind. Even with intact masonry, decades of roof neglect led to extensive water damage. The team also removed interior walls and built-outs left by a previous owner, clearing the way for a new layout while keeping the historic shell.
The sheer scale of the building created another hurdle. With 13-foot ceilings and 96-inch-tall windows, contractors arrived, saw the scope, and declined the job. Grissom’s father, a longtime construction professional, helped bring in a commercial construction crew to take on the work.
The finished plan includes four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a kitchen on the upper level in what used to be a classroom. Work continues in the lower sub-basement, where the family is building guest quarters, a custom workshop, and a kids playroom nicknamed “the dungeon.” Along the way, the restoration uncovered pieces of the building’s past, including a 1917 teacher’s guide, and the family kept the school’s original color schemes while adding hand-built mosaic entryways and vintage schoolhouse furniture.
For mason contractors, projects like this put a spotlight on adaptive reuse work where brick stays sound, but water intrusion and selective demolition drive the schedule and staffing plan. This renovation has also built a big online following for Grissom, proof that preservation and solid masonry still capture attention far beyond the jobsite.
Read the full, original article from inkl.com here.