The schoolhouse first opened in 1914.
Stacie Grissom and Sean Wilson lived in New York City for almost a decade, and then the covid-19 pandemic hit.
In early 2020, Grissom was pregnant with their first child and working in marketing at BarkBox, while Wilson was working as an orthopedic surgeon in NYC hospitals.
Seeing the state of the city during that time made Grissom realize she was ready to move back to Franklin, Indiana, their hometown, which is about 30 miles from downtown Indianapolis.
"We had a reevaluation that it's the people who matter the most, so we wanted to move back to our hometown to be by our families," Grissom tells CNBC Make It.
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"We got our chosen family in New York, and it's the best city in the world, but we had to go where our family was."
A couple of months after their son was born, Grissom contacted a realtor friend in Franklin and told him to start looking at "weird old houses."
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"I told him the quirkier, the better, and to send us a fixer-upper," Grissom says. "His dad saw a school for sale and immediately said, 'Send it to Stacie.'"
Since Grissom and Wilson were still in New York City at the time, they asked her parents to check out the property instead.
Grissom says the building was a school for local children between 1914 and 1934. After the schoolhouse closed, it was used as a barn.
Since Grissom's dad had experience running a commercial real estate business, she knew he would give her an honest and expert opinion on the school's state.
After getting her parents' approval, Grissom and Wilson made an offer on the schoolhouse without ever seeing it in person themselves — and it was accepted within 24 hours.
"We wouldn't have bought it if my parents hadn't agreed because we knew with this kind of project we were going to need the entire village," she says.
'It's like a Midwestern castle in the middle of some cornfields of Indiana'
A week after Grissom and Wilson closed on the former schoolhouse, they saw it in person for the first time.
"I think back then I was a lot more naive than I am today, but I was so excited to see it and its potential," Grissom says. "You could see that there could be giant windows, tall ceilings, and open spaces for a big family to come together around the holidays."
"It's like a Midwestern castle in the middle of some cornfields of Indiana. It's a beautiful little brick building that is home now," she adds.
After the couple closed on the former schoolhouse, the real work began. By the fall of 2021, the couple got the school down to its bare bones, but a renovation they thought would take two years ended up taking three.
The couple was still living in New York City at the time.
"Things were a little slow to get going but then the new roof started going in February 2022 and things started to move but it ended up taking us three years because we were basically building a new house inside an old shell of a building," Grissom says.
Grissom declined to comment on how much the couple spent on the renovation but says they are still getting through it and not completely done yet.
While cleaning out the property, the couple and their contractors found random things, including a board that would hold old chalkboards with the words "Chicken coop" written on it.
"It was really cool to see because this is such a beautiful little school built by farmers for the kids in this rural area. The community was really proud of the school," Grissom says.
Though the couple had to almost start from scratch with the schoolhouse, they were able to keep the floors in one classroom, all of the brick, the original doors and a water fountain that they are trying to restore.
"The time it took was definitely a big challenge and having to renovate from afar was tough. I don't think we were naïve going into it, but now I know we're not renovating anything again after this," Grissom says. "We did it, and we're glad we've gone through, but no more old buildings for a while."
Despite how hard the renovation was for the couple, Grissom says her favorite part was getting to work alongside her dad.
"It's been really cool to go through my dad's renovation boot camp, from how to work with other contractors to how to do the work ourselves. We learned a lot of trade-like things over the three years," she adds.
To pay homage to the former school, the couple used the same colors that were originally painted on the walls back when the school was still open. Grissom also made two mosaics for the entrances with the name of the school and its date of creation.
Of the décor, Grissom says they're "trying to get as much school furniture as we can put back into the school."
'I never thought my house could be a job'
Grissom admits that nothing about the renovation has been easy, but a highlight of the experience has been being able to focus full-time on being a content creator and sharing the schoolhouse journey on social media.
"It has been fun to document this process and find this old home renovation community online. I never thought my house could be a job," she says. "It's nice to be able to make an income from some of the storytelling while also getting advice and having a community of people who like restoring old stuff."
Amid ongoing renovations, the couple and their now two kids moved into the home in September of this year.
"Moving into the schoolhouse was easier than moving into any New York City apartment we ever had," Grissom says. "It was nice to wake up and see the sunrise over the cornfields. It will be a tornado in here for a while, but it was really crazy to finally set up a place that we've been thinking about for three years and pouring all of our money, energy, sweat, and tears into."
The schoolhouse now has four bedrooms and two and a half baths, all on the 4,000-square-foot upper level. The couple still has a lower 4,000-square-foot sub-basement that they are trying to figure out what to do with.
The best part of finally moving into the schoolhouse and being back in their hometown, Grissom says is that her kids will grow up around their families.
"After living through the pandemic and all of the stress and anxiety, we all had a confrontation with our mortality at a much earlier age than most generations do and that totally shifted stuff in my brain. It's beautiful to see my parents are healthy, our kids are happy and just appreciate the small things," she adds.
Since moving in a few weeks ago, Grissom says that while she realizes it was a long road to move in, she would go through it again.
"I never want to lose the naivete of whatever made us say that we wanted to buy a school and it was going to be our house," she says.
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