Do you have a fixer-upper or old home in Warsaw or surrounding areas? Is it for sale? We are always looking for our next restoration project. Contact us here.

From Jubilee Days to Heritage Days Historic Downtown Warsaw Missouri is a jewel worth visiting. Historic Warsaw, the county seat of Benton County, is surrounded by Truman Lake and Lake of the Ozarks. With a fishing dock just two blocks from the house, there is always time to catch a fish. Take the walking and driving tour. There is plenty of history in Warsaw Missouri

Join us in the restoration of 200 East Washington Street in Warsaw Missouri. Browse our photo gallery and interactive library as we take you on a trip back in time. Enjoy the transformation as Nancy and Tim rebuild and change years of neglect into a view of the past. Located across Washington Street from Warsaw's historic Christian Church, the house is in the original town of Warsaw, where the original 18 city blocks date back to 1837.

Some Warsaw residents say that our home was used by soldiers during the war and horses were kept in the basement. Pressed stone, a precursor to today's concrete block, was frequently manufactured on-site with portable molds. It is displayed in this picture and was popular in architecture of the 1880's to 1920's. The date of construction is still unknown.

If you lived in this unique home, have any history, or perhaps have memories to share, our mailing address is PO Box 642, Warsaw Missouri, 65355-0642.

Purchased in 2001, the home had 18 broken windows, many of which were boarded up with plywood. Virginia Creeper and Vinca covered the home completely, causing structural damage in places. The vines also covered the trees in front. The porch roofs were rotted and unsound. While the interior of the home was filled with trash and some personal possessions, insects and mud dobbers destroyed much of the original wallpaper and plaster.

After days of cleaning and inspection, everything seemed to work, including well balanced pocket doors, iron door hinges, and transom windows. The two chimneys had good draw, most of the floors were sound,and all hardware was in place. One room was full of old trim, tongue-and-groove board, glass knobs, and much more, all covered with dust and dirt. Two years later the pieces started to make sense as they went together. We had no idea that much of the original base boards, cabinets, and floor to ceiling cupboards were in this dusty pile of lumber.

Summer of 2003 brought Nancy's orchids and tropical plants to Warsaw as we prepared to live in the home for the first winter. To build a sun room we had to build a deck. July 4th 2003 weekend brought a 12 foot by 34 foot deck addition to the home. On top of that is a 12 by 28 sun room, completed just before the first frost. Painted in Victorian Rose, Geranium Red and trimmed with green, the colors were selected from the color pallet of the National Historic Trust provided by Lowes. See our section on preserving history for more

Before we decided on a contractor for our heating and air conditioning we shopped for bids and information as everyone does. Since the house is old, built of solid concrete block, and we have three levels of heated and cooled living space we noticed a few trends as we walked the contractors through the home:

• Quotes varied by as much as $2500
• Some contractors wanted modifications to the home
• Some did not want to heat and cool the downstairs apartment
• It took them a while to figure out how to run duct work
• Some wanted to bring in a subcontractor for duct work, thus increasing the cost even more.
• Some wanted to provide generic equipment

When John from Affordable Heating and Cooling came to see us, he walked through the home, formed a plan, talked about his experience with old homes in Chicago, and was comfortable with the job - all in about 15 minutes, and at the right price with a great warranty. We went with a 3 1/2 ton Heil split unit and propane heat. Affordable Heating and Cooling also offers the Aquila package for all electric homes, the Aquila financing package, and the Aquila required 5 year warranty. In our case the Aquila package was not required, since warm propane heat is required. Heat at the duct vents is just over 120 degrees.

The project was completed in about 3 days and looks super. With a 20 by 20 return at the highest part of the third floor and a smaller return on the main floor, we use the transom windows to regulate air flow. Since the warm air rises the transoms perform well. Pushing the cool air to the third floor was no problem, as we situated the main unit on the main floor as opposed to a basement location.

From concrete cutting to saw blades designed for lathe and plaster, John at Affordable Heating and Cooling did a wonderful installation and displayed a full knowledge of how the house was built, how to do the installation, and how to handle our new sun room requirements.

The home had 4 main rooms on the main floor. Each room was the same size, had 10 foot ceilings, and one central heater. Originally, the room on the back right was the kitchen, with stairs from the back door down to the well and out house.

The room on the back left was modified and made into the indoor bathroom as amenities became available years ago. The room on the front left was the original parlor, with pocket doors on the right side of the room as one looks at it from the front door on the left.

The home actually has two front doors, one of which yields entry to the parlor (left front door), and the other enters into a hall (right front door.) Our modifications on the right side of the main floor include an upgrade to central heat and air, and a main floor modern bathroom. The old kitchen on the back right is now a bedroom. The old bathroom on the back left is now a new modern kitchen.

Although 200 East Washington Street appears small from the front, it has approximately 1800 square feet. The top floor (or third floor if viewed from the rear of the property) once had a flat roof, but is now a unique and functional bedroom.

The original builders constructed the four corners of the top floor to sit directly in the middle of the four rooms on the main floor. Therefore, when we tore out the original walls on the top floor we discovered the electrical wiring of bulb and tube composition, and each ceiling light for the main floor came down from each corner of the original attic. Not counting the dormers, there is approximately 8 feet of attic space on either side of the living space on the top floor. We added a small half bath to the top floor for convenience.

Downstairs features a fully functional suite, or apartment. Once a dirt floor basement, it now has a concrete slab floor, new tile, a nice bathroom, living area, kitchen, and bedroom area. A glass-front bookcase, the original trim, and the staircase were restored with a beautiful mohogany finish.

The sunroom is a new addition, measures 12 by 28, and is heated and cooled. 40 percent of system capacity can be routed to the heating and cooling needs of the sunroom, and is controlled by dampers. It features 11 windows and a clear roof. Double doors are on the front and a single door accesses the rear of the sunroom from the rear porch.

It is interesting to note that when the front porch is extended to the sunroom, one may enter on the main floor and actually appear to be on the second floor because of slope of the property. There are two steps up to the main front doors, it is 30 inches up to the sunroom front door, and 15 feet down from the rear of the sunroom deck.

The front half of the original basement is still rough, with only two concrete pads inside. The original door is still in place, with a small window in the door. All of the original window scrrens were rebuilt, and we were able to rebuild 4 of the 5 original screen doors thus far.

The well is a point of interest, and at one time we were able to get it working. We pumped out approximately 5 gallons of dirty water and 3 hickory nuts. The well needs some attention but perhaps we can restore it.

The restoration is slow and tedious, but we want to save as much as we can. We want to renovate and restore, but we don't want to live in a museum, thus some changes are made. When finished this will truly be a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom home on three levels.

Do you have a fixer-upper or old home in Warsaw or surrounding areas? Is it for sale? We are always looking for our next restoration project. Contact us here at the site. Throughout this web site you see the interactive logo. Click it to go interactive.

We are digitizing our photos. It will take some time to transfer all of them. Here we are getting some help as we hang wallpaper on the ceilings. As we upload to the web site we will program the slide shows and descriptions. For now, we just present the raw directory so you may click through the images.

We also link you to other sites that pertain to the area
Links to Warsaw Missouri and Associated items:

• Warsaw, Mo. - City of Warsaw [new window] or [this window] If you haven't seen scenic Warsaw, Missouri lately, we'd like to show you what you've been missing. Rich cultural heritage of Warsaw and the surrounding area.
• Truman Lake Official Headquarters Warsaw, Missouri [new window] or [this window] Truman Lake home for tourist information and area activities is TrumanInfoGuide. Warsaw Missouri , Truman Reservoir and surrounding communities have plenty of activities to occupy your time...
• Downtown Warsaw - Warsaw Missouri's Official Downtown Website [new window] or [this window] … Riverfront Organization (WDRO). Warsaw Missouri is proud of its heritage and we want to tell others about Warsaw, Missouri. Downtown Warsaw is revitalizing... Tim's Note: Their site is sometimes down.
• Wet,Wild,Wonderful [new window] or [this window] Heritage Days - October 18th & 19th. Truman Lake & Lake of the Ozarks Warsaw, Missouri is a quaint yet progressive river town with a rich history and heritage...