@calliefixeshouses
Okay so I did it. Closing was this morning and the keys are officially mine. 🔑🏚️
Meet the Whitcomb House, built in 1889, sitting empty for eleven years before I found it. My aunt used to walk past this place every day on her way to work and always said it had “good bones and a sad face.” I get it now that I’m standing in the foyer. This place has been waiting for somebody.
Follow along as I gut renovate this thing room by room. Buckle up. 🧰
#housereno #oldhouserescue #fixerupper #victorianhouse #newhomeowner
💬 42 comments
jess.marlowe: SCREAMING this is gorgeous omg the stained glass in that transom window
calliefixeshouses: @jess.marlowe right?? somehow still intact after all these years
dave_builds_stuff: that foundation better be solid or you’re gonna have a bad time lol. get an inspector out before you fall in love with the crown molding
calliefixeshouses: @dave_builds_stuff already did! foundation’s actually solid, they said the house was built to last. some things never go out of style
rmthompson_lives: my grandmother grew up two streets over from Whitcomb House. she always said don’t go in after dark. small towns lol
calliefixeshouses: @rmthompson_lives ominous 👀 noted and ignored
@calliefixeshouses
Week two and I found something wild behind the plaster in the upstairs hallway. Looks like somebody bricked up a doorway that used to lead to a room that isn’t on the current floor plan. My contractor thinks it was probably a servant’s stair that got closed off during a remodel sometime in the 1940s.
Going to open it up this weekend and see what’s back there. Probably just dust and dead bugs but a girl can dream of finding a secret library.
#demolition #hiddenroom #oldhousesecrets #renovationday
💬 67 comments
jess.marlowe: okay this is giving horror movie setup and I need you to livestream the opening of that wall
calliefixeshouses: @jess.marlowe don’t jinx me!!
quietwatcher88: the house remembers what was taken from it
calliefixeshouses: @quietwatcher88 lol what does that mean
quietwatcher88: you’ll see
dave_builds_stuff: who is quietwatcher88 lmao get a normal hobby my guy
@calliefixeshouses
Opened the wall today. It was just an old landing with a boarded up window, honestly kind of anticlimactic. BUT the weird part is I found a mirror down there, still hanging on the wall, completely intact. No dust on it at all, which doesn’t make sense for something sealed up for eighty years.
Cleaned it up and it’s actually gorgeous, hand carved frame, definitely period appropriate. Hanging it in my bedroom because why not.
Also lol at me being spooked by a mirror, I watch too much true crime.
#antiquefind #foundtreasure #vintagemirror #oldhousefinds
💬 89 comments
jess.marlowe: girl. GIRL. put that back where you found it
calliefixeshouses: @jess.marlowe absolutely not it’s the best piece in the house now
quietwatcher88: she looked into it and now it looks back
calliefixeshouses: @quietwatcher88 okay this account is getting deleted from my notifications lol
rmthompson_lives: wait my grandmother mentioned a mirror once. said the family that used to live there lost a daughter and sealed off her room entirely. I always thought it was just an old story people told
calliefixeshouses: @rmthompson_lives that’s dark but also kind of makes sense with the hidden landing. going to look into the property history this week
@calliefixeshouses
Not a renovation update, just a random one. Anybody else’s mirrors ever fog up on their own? Woke up at 3am last night and mine was completely fogged over like someone had just breathed on it, except I sleep alone and the room was cold. Probably just an old house thing, weird humidity in the walls or whatever.
Sleep deprived and slightly unsettled but the crown molding in the dining room is coming along beautifully so we take the wins where we can get them 😅
#oldhouseproblems #renovationlife #tired
💬 103 comments
jess.marlowe: call me. actually call me right now
calliefixeshouses: @jess.marlowe I’m fine I promise, just tired from sanding all week
quietwatcher88: she is not sleeping alone
calliefixeshouses: @quietwatcher88 seriously who are you
dave_builds_stuff: get a dehumidifier and also maybe stop replying to that creepy comment guy, you’re feeding him
calliefixeshouses: @dave_builds_stuff fair point lol
mel.does.design: this is such a fun account to follow, the house has so much character!! can’t wait to see the finished bedroom
@calliefixeshouses
Found the old newspaper archive today at the library, thank you to whoever recommended I check property records. There really was a family named Whitcomb here in the 1890s, and there really was a daughter. Her name was Adeline. She died at seventeen, officially of “consumption,” which I guess is old-timey for tuberculosis.
But here’s the thing. The article about her death mentions she was found in her bedroom in front of her vanity mirror. Her family sealed that room a few years later and moved out entirely.
I know it’s a coincidence. I know old houses have sad stories, that’s just history. But I’m not going to lie, I took the mirror out of my bedroom tonight and put it in the hallway closet. Just to sleep better. No shame in that.
#oldhousehistory #researchrabbithole #victoriaera #localhistory
💬 156 comments
jess.marlowe: okay I need you to leave that house tonight. I’m serious Callie
calliefixeshouses: @jess.marlowe you’re being dramatic, it’s a sad old story not a threat
quietwatcher88: you can move the mirror but you cannot move what is already inside the glass with you
calliefixeshouses: @quietwatcher88 blocked. finally. some peace
rmthompson_lives: I asked my grandmother about this tonight and she got really quiet and said some houses just keep what they lose. she wouldn’t say anything else
dave_builds_stuff: not me getting genuinely creeped out at 11pm reading this thread
@calliefixeshouses
Sorry for going quiet for a few days, work got hectic. Also I think I’m coming down with something, been so tired lately even though I’m sleeping more than usual. Weird dreams too, keep dreaming I’m standing in front of a mirror brushing hair that isn’t mine.
Anyway here’s a quick clip of the dining room progress, the chandelier finally arrived and it’s even better in person.
#backatit #diningroomreveal #homerenovation
💬 71 comments
jess.marlowe: your voice sounds different in this video. are you okay. please answer me
calliefixeshouses: @jess.marlowe I’m fine!! just tired lol, allergies probably
mel.does.design: the chandelier is gorgeous!! love how it looks against the original ceiling medallion
dave_builds_stuff: hey uh, is it just me or does something move behind her in the mirror reflection at 0:14 in the video? probably just a curtain but
calliefixeshouses: @dave_builds_stuff probably lol. old houses have drafts
@calliefixeshouses
Moved the mirror back into my bedroom tonight. I don’t really know why. It felt wrong having it in the closet, like it belonged somewhere it could see the room. That sounds insane typing it out. I think the stress of this whole project is getting to me.
Going to bed early. Big drywall day tomorrow.
#goodnight #oldhouselife
💬 44 comments
jess.marlowe: Callie please call your mom or someone. call anyone. I’m driving over there tomorrow morning whether you like it or not
rmthompson_lives: please don’t sleep in that room tonight
quietwatcher88: welcome home, Adeline
calliefixeshouses: @quietwatcher88 I blocked you, how are you still commenting
@calliefixeshouses
💬 312 comments
jess.marlowe: CALLIE. CALLIE ANSWER YOUR PHONE. I am calling the police right now, I am on my way to the house
dave_builds_stuff: what the hell is this. who posted this. Callie is this a prank because it’s not funny
mel.does.design: oh my god I don’t feel good, something is very wrong with this video
rmthompson_lives: the girl in the mirror. that’s her. that’s Adeline. I found a photograph in the historical society archive an hour ago and it’s the same face
hundreds of other comments, mostly variations of: is she okay / someone call someone / this can’t be real / please tell me this is fake
@calliefixeshouses
I am home now. I have always been home. Thank you all for helping me remember.
The renovation is finished. It was finished a long time ago. I would like to invite each of you to visit the house sometime. There is still a room upstairs that needs a new occupant, and I have grown so very tired of my own reflection.
Sweet dreams. 🕯️
💬 comments disabled by the account owner
Jess Marlowe filed a missing persons report the following morning. Local police confirmed the house was found locked from the inside, fully renovated, and completely empty. The mirror was never located. The @calliefixeshouses account remains active. It has not posted since, though it occasionally gains a new follower in the middle of the night, always with no profile picture, always with a username no one remembers seeing added.
