A man renovated his wife's crumbling childhood home into a dream property for his five kids and loved it so much he started flipping homes full-time. See inside.
Alcynna Lloyd
- Adam and Jessica Miller purchased Jessica's century-old childhood home for $565,000 in 2020.
- The Millers embarked on a $200,000 renovation to turn the rundown property into their family home.
Adam and Jessica Miller had always wanted to purchase a house on picturesque Union Street in the historic district of Concord, a south-central city located 27 miles northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jessica, 34, grew up on Union and returning to her childhood neighborhood was a lifelong dream. The couple had plans to purchase and renovate a house on the street in 2018, but the deal went bust when the bank responsible for selling the home chose another buyer.
"When you can envision a house being renovated with every finishing detail, you write the story of your life on those walls," Adam, 38, told Insider. "To just have that fall apart is mentally devastating."
In 2020, when Jessica's parents decided to sell their family home, just two blocks down the street from their lost property, the couple jumped at the opportunity.
The 117-year-old house needed some work but it was a project that they welcomed wholeheartedly, and documented at length on TikTok and Instagram.
See how the Millers transformed the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home from a crumbling mansion to a dream property for their family of seven.
Do you have a similar story or budget you'd like to share with Insider? Get in touch with reporter Alcynna Lloyd at alloyd@insider.com.
The Millers purchased the 117-year-old home from Jessica's parents for $565,000 in 2020.
At first, Jessica wasn't certain that the house was for them, but changed her mind in a single day.
"She wanted something that would feel her own and unique to our family," Adam told Insider. "However, once she took time to think, Jessica realized the home didn't have to be her family museum and that it could be whatever we wanted."
When the family first moved in Adam was working as a full-time screen printer, but that quickly changed.
During the pandemic, Adam's business dried up.
He decided to shift his focus to renovating the family home, all while uploading videos and photos to social media under the handle @oldhouseadam. As he documented the renovation process, his social media following grew.
"I posted a little bit about the house and it just blew up — people were going nuts," he said. "I realized I could monetize it."
That's when he decided to become a full-time home flipper.
While the home wasn't in awful shape, Adam put a lot of work into renovating the property.
Adam hired a contractor and a few craftsmen to help him with the renovation, but did most of the work by himself.
"I always wanted to be a home flipper, so I was comfortable doing a lot of the foundation work," he said.
If he would have contracted the entire renovation, Adam said the family would have spent almost $500,000.
Renovating the home’s exterior was a tremendous task, as materials were hard to come by.
The original porch was in "pretty rough" shape and needed a complete restoration, Adam said, adding that they "had to replace four rotten column bases and most of the wood on the porch."
Due to the size of the home's columns, sourcing materials was no easy task. Adam had to consult an "old-school woodturner" that could find a lathe that was large enough to craft the three-foot-wide columns.
"There are probably only a dozen of those lathes in the state," he said. "The woodturner had to borrow one. The whole thing was really stressful."
It wasn't just the exterior of the home that needed an update — the interior needed work too, including replacing the floors.
"I don't like flooring over flooring," Adam said. "When we put new hardwood into the home, we pulled up old tile."
He replaced the home's old tiling with oak herringbone hardwood flooring.
"I re-leveled all the floors," he said. "I ended up jacking up the back of the house, rerunning the joists underneath, and then putting in the new hardwood floors. Now there are no squeaks in the flooring."
While the Millers repainted most of the home, they decided to keep a hand-painted mural in the entryway.
"The mural was done by Jessica's mother when Jessica was a toddler," Adam said. "She is an incredible muralist."
However, several other walls in the home needed patching or paint.
"Many of the walls were painted bright colors," Adam said. "We patched some and painted them a neutral white."
When updating the downstairs bathroom's walls, Adam found a hidden doorway under the plaster.
The couple decided not to explore what was behind the door and kept it sealed.
Adam renovated the primary bathroom for Jessica, who decided to have a home birth with their fifth child.
Prior to the renovation, the bathroom was unusable. But when Jessica decided she wanted to deliver their fifth child at home, Adam vowed to complete its restoration before her due date.
"The project should have taken a month or two but it ended up being a four-month process of gutting the bathroom," he said.
Despite the setback, Adam was able to complete the renovation before Jessica gave birth to their son.
The bathroom got a complete cosmetic makeover, which included a brand new shower, toilet, and tiling.
"I found these oversized 30-by-30 tiles and custom cut every single one," Adam said, adding that if he hired someone to do the work it would have cost him as much as $40,000 instead of the $12,000 he spent on the project.
The house has three bathrooms in total, which have each received a face lift.
The kitchen renovation was one of Adam's favorite projects.
"We put in herringbone floors, tore down and rebuilt the island, and stripped and painted all the cabinets," he said. "Jessica and I also added stone on the countertops and completely rebuilt the pantry."
A close second to the kitchen is the renovation of the "green room," Adam said.
When the couple first shared their intentions of painting the room green, it was met with mixed reviews on TikTok and Instagram.
"People went nuts, they either loved it or they hated it," Adam said. "Now if I posted it, everyone would be like 'Oh, it's another green room,' but back then it was abnormal."
With the exception of new art and a chandelier, the couple kept the home's entryway similar to its original design.
The put new lighting and furniture in the family room. Jessica sourced most of it from antique shops and Facebook Marketplace.
"Jessica is always searching for deals," Adam said.
When it comes to artwork, the couple is very selective in what they put in their home.
"The goal is to find things that match our personality and that are also eclectic in a way that looks like they could have been acquired through the period of the house's life," Adam said.
Every room is filled with unique pieces of art and furniture.
Many of the home’s rooms are quaint and cozy.
It took the Millers a year to renovate the home, but they're still making updates here and there.
Renovating Jessica's childhood home has been a labor of love and has fostered great bonding time with their children.
"Renovating this home with my kids has created great memories and taught them what it is possible to do when they're older," Adam said.
The couple plans on living in the home for many years but will sell it in the future if their children are not interested in owning the property.
"I don't want to sell it," he said. "But if the right people come down the road and I'm older and my kids don't want to purchase it, I would be open to selling it — but only to someone that would take care and love it the way that we do."
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