MOHAWK HAUS
Major Fixer-Upper
Mohawk Haus is a labor of love. Owned by Geena & her husband Erick, Mohawk Haus came to them by fate. For 10 years, they would occasionally peruse realty websites, seeing what was available and how much homes were. As she looked, however, nothing ever caught Geena’s eye. Being a designer, every home was either flipped poorly (a nice way of saying BORING and cheap) or done in the last decade or two that either way she would have felt guilty or felt it unnecessary to redo anything right away. Albeit, financially, not having to renovate for while was a good thing, the main problem was that none of the houses had the “it” factor. She wanted something with soul, a little unique and different. Basically, something old and needed some love, and that’s what they got! It was love at first sight looking at those dark, scary photos online, but her heart fluttered and she had to show Erick. Surprisingly, when describing the house as she walked to where he was to show him the pictures, he said, “does it have a pool?” She said, “yes, it says it does,” in which he responded, “I saw that one, let’s go look at it!” The pool is another (hilarious) story for another day.
Long story short, they called up their realtor friend, saw the house that weekend, showed family & a couple friends, got approved for a loan, and put in an offer 2 weeks later. It was a whirlwind, but after several negotiations they had keys in their hands a few weeks later. During these frantic weeks, even though it wasn’t a done deal, Geena still took the liberty of designing the kitchen, picking out some materials, and tentatively booking contractors knowing the house was practically unlivable until some of the basic needs were redone. Renovations had to start right away since paying a mortgage AND rent was not going to be viable for too long. With the keys in hand in early November of 2018, renovations started the very next day and they were able to get the house habitable by early February 2019. Now a full kitchen was not installed upon move in, but electrical was redone, the floors were refinished, windows fixed, some arches made, the kitchen & laundry room were gutted and their floors replaced. It was still a dreadful mess and no where near ready, but they got it as clean as it could get and moved in!
Mohawk Haus continues to get updated, slowly but surely. It will never be done, but is a home ever really done?