Meet Woodbridge: The Before Tour

CURRENTLY LOVING

Hi y’all. In mid-December 2021 I closed on a 1970s brick house we’ve always called Woodbridge. It had been sitting empty for a while. I honestly don’t know how long, but it was in definite need of some TLC when we found it.

I bought it on my own, and my partner Caleb helped me renovate it. We did all the work ourselves. Today this house is Gorge Getaway, our pet-friendly vacation rental near New River Gorge. It opened in spring 2023 as New River Gorge Retreat, and it took the Gorge Getaway name after I sold the first house that had it.

This is the house the way we found it. If you’re reading this from the couch at Gorge Getaway, look around. It’s the same room.

The kitchen

Woodbridge kitchen before the renovation, December 2021 — Before · The kitchenThe kitchen the way we found it. Every cabinet in here got painted, and the countertops were replaced.

The living room

Woodbridge living room before, with carpet and a wood stove — BeforeCarpet and a wood stove in the corner.

Woodbridge living room before, looking toward the kitchen — BeforeLooking back toward the kitchen.

The wood stove came out, the carpet came up, and new floors went in through the whole house.

The bathroom

Woodbridge bathroom before the remodel — BeforeThe bathroom before we started.

Woodbridge bathroom torn out during demo — DemoAnd once it was torn out.

The bathroom got a full remodel. It was one of the first rooms to come together, and I’m still a little in love with it.

The bedrooms

Woodbridge bedroom before, with purple and yellow striped walls — Before · A bedroomPurple and yellow stripes. Every room in the house got painted. This one needed it most.

Outside

Woodbridge exterior before it was painted — The front of the house before we painted the exterior.

The old back porch at Woodbridge before it was torn down — “This is coming down today!” The back porch, right before it came down.

Woodbridge before tour, February 2022 — From the before tour I posted in February 2022.

The plan

When I posted the before tour on Instagram, I wrote the plan right on the video: paint, floors, new doors, lights, hardware, the kitchen… everything. Here’s what that turned into:

The back porch came down
Painted the kitchen cabinets and put in new countertops
New floors throughout
Remodeled the bathroom
Took out the wood stove in the living room
Painted every room
Painted the exterior

Six weeks in

By the middle of February 2022 the painting was done, the floors were going in, and the new bathroom vanity was in. Here’s what I wrote on Instagram at the time:

For the past month and a half my partner and I have been behind the scenes working on a new house for you! I purchased this little baby in mid-December and as you can see, it needed some tender love and care. We finished up painting last week, and the magic is about to begin.

Woodbridge living room with new floors going in, February 2022 — New floors going in.

New white bathroom vanity going in at Woodbridge — The new vanity, still in the plastic.

Woodbridge living room and kitchen mid-renovation — Fresh paint, looking toward the kitchen.

Back then the plan was to rent it for longer stays, 30 days or more, and to make it pet friendly with a fenced backyard for the fur babies. The pet-friendly part stuck. You can follow the rest of the work in the Instagram diary, and see how it all turned out in the Before & After.

This post is part of the Woodbridge story, the house that became Gorge Getaway.
Next: The Woodbridge Renovation on Instagram, 2022–2023 →
Follow the whole Woodbridge renovation, start to finish