The Grandview Project
The Grandview Project documents the restoration of a unique home, and the deeper work it inspires — to understand, build, and restore systems, skills, and self.
Part blog, part maintenance log, and part blueprint for a more hands-on life. Real challenges, real progress, probably some real failures, and the tools we use to make our way through it all.
The Logbook
This is where the story lives. The Logbook follows the day-to-day work of rebuilding Grandview. Not just the physical repairs, but everything else stirred up along the way. Some entries are about projects and systems. Others are about work, or raising a family in the middle of a project that is never going to end.
The Logbook isn’t just a renovation diary; it’s a record of what this life feels like in real time; the fatigue, the wins, the second thoughts, and the moments of gratitude. It’s about learning to balance ambition with patience, and progress with presence. Every post adds another small layer to the larger story of this place and the people growing alongside it.
Projects
Every corner of Grandview needs something — drainage, plaster, wiring, paint — and each project tells its own story. Some are big, structural undertakings that reshape how the house functions. Others are small, like a door that finally latches. Together they form a record of what it means to call a place like this home. Not just to live in it, but to show it genuine care.
Every task here is documented with the same intent: to build a lasting record for ourselves and for whoever calls this place home next. Over time, these pages will serve as both a guide and a memory; a map of the house as it changes, proof that progress doesn’t happen all at once but that over time, with perseverance, it is surprising what is possible.
The Toolshed
The Toolshed is where the practical side of the work lives; a growing catalog of the tools, materials, and methods that make Grandview’s restoration possible. Every review here is written from use, not theory. These aren’t unboxings or affiliate blurbs; they’re field notes gathered from real work in real conditions. We talk about what holds up, what fails, and what’s worth bringing into your own shop.
You’ll find write-ups on everything from heavy equipment to brushes and primers, each one framed by the same question: what’s actually good? Beyond the specs, it’s about fit; the relationship between a person, a task, and the tool. The Toolshed exists to record those lessons and share them, so the next time someone stands in the same aisle or faces the same repair, they’ll have more than marketing to go on — they’ll have experience.
“Dad this is not your house.”
— Henry, 3