Welcome to the Green House

TIFFIN --- Tiffin couple Rachel Crooks and Josh Conley purchased a historic Tiffin home in June 2021 and have spent nearly three years renovating. The pair have chronicled their renovation journey on Instagram through the point of view of their dog Carlow. "It (the home) was not on our radar at all," Crooks said. "We came and saw it with a friend of ours who was looking to buy it and we walked around and I loved the place. I saw a lot of potential. Our friend ended up not wanting it, so we pulled the trigger." Crooks and Conley were living separately, Crooks in Tiffin and Conley in Columbus. When they decided to move in together, they had to decide which city to move to together. "We were in between and trying to decide. Then we decided this was the place," Crooks said. The renovations The couple spent their time in the demolition phase in the first year after purchasing the home, located in the 400 block of S. Washington Street. During that time, the couple lived in Crooks's Tiffin home. Conley explained that they ended up doing most of the demolition themselves along with Crooks' parents and outsourced other jobs to contractors. "It's fun watching people's reactions (to the change in the home), especially when they come inside," Conley said. The home was gutted, with the couple trying to keep as many aspects that made it unique as they could; unfortunately, however, the home was in disrepair. Crooks said they worked to ensure that any replacements were mostly maintenance-free repairs that would last a long time. When it comes to sharing the renovations through Carlow's point of view, Crooks, who runs the social media page, said that she wasn't exactly sure how the idea started. "I thought he would be more interesting to tell the story," Crooks said. "It's funny to write from Carlow's perspective." The social media page is called Carlow's Green House, named after the main subjects of the page. The house has been dubbed the Green House because green is Crooks' favorite color and each room in the house features something green. Some of the green features include green countertops and cabinets in the kitchen, an original to the house tile ceiling in the dining room, green shower tiles in the master bath and green furniture placed throughout the home. "Whenever we hit a lull like when we're waiting on contractors, it feels like we're losing momentum (on the renovation)," Conley said. "But then we look back on it and realize how much we've done. "Every decision has been complicated," Conley said. "We're not going for historical preservation. We want the house to look how it's supposed to look but also pretty modern. I give Rachel full credit for everything you see color, design and things like that." The staircase leading to the upper level features the "people and places" gallery wall. One piece of art is a painting by Tiffin native Bernadine Stetzel. The late primitive artist's artwork, titled "Pioneer Mill in Spring," depicts the old Pioneer Mill before it became a restaurant. Crooks, who is an avid antique collector and thrifter, has decorated the Green House with ornate gold mirrors and other finds. Some of the features in the home, like chandeliers and a stained-glass window depicting a flower in a vase, were original to the residence. "The three chandeliers were not exactly complete; they were missing pieces and they were really dirty" she said. "Burn's Electric cleaned them and added crystals that were missing. It was nice to work with local people." Most of the interior work has been completed, leaving most of the focus on exterior work like replacing windows. Conley has been doing this since the couple had difficulty securing a contractor to handle this aspect of the renovation. Work is also being completed on the roof and gutters. "That's my biggest contribution to this place," Conley laughed. "The inside, other than that, are just some odds and ends. The last thing we did (inside) was some heating and HVAC work to get the house balanced out." The garage was also resided and many of the home's multiple porches have been torn down. The couple is in the process of planning a sunroom addition off the kitchen. "This is the year of the outside," he said. Crooks expressed frustration that she hasn't been able to do much landscaping work since other outdoor projects would be affected by landscaping efforts. She shared that the whole renovation process has been an exercise in patience. "We have so many 'thank you's for all the people who worked on the house," she added. Crooks shared a list of those the couple has worked with on the renovation. Bruce Waters' Construction - most of the exterior work; front porch, Hedges porch, siding, roof on back structure and new South porch Tiffin Deluxe - all plumbing and HVAC Steve Cholodewitsch - masonry Kessler Electric - all electrical work Zeis Construction - kitchen and bath; interior work Burn's Electric - cleaned and restored old chandeliers; purchased new light fixtures The Master's Craft - refinish hardwood flooring Fremont Floor Covering - new flooring purchased Rachel's parents and family - Demo, painting and countless small projects Don Nibblett - friend; window replacement supervisor Whirlpool brands for all new appliances Herman's Furniture (Sandusky) - for a lot of the new furniture, owned by Tiffin-native, Joe Dandurand Ace Hardware - purchased most of the new paint here Lowe's - countless purchases KGS - new doors Lucius Garage Doors - new garage door Kyle Daugherty and Shannon Conine - Kyle helped in the purchase of the home and Shannon helped us sell Crooks's old house Nate Lucius - excavation MW Construction (Fostoria) - drywall work Fiber Frame Windows (Toledo) Traditional Marble & Granite (Sandusky) - new hearth Sure Seal Epoxy - refinished front porch floor Smith & Young Roofing (Clyde) - roof, gutters and other parts of the main house Curt Inks (Green Springs) - small projects The history Crooks and Conley said they have gained a lot of notoriety around town for purchasing the home. "Everyone refers to the house as the Lange House," Crooks said. "The Lange family had 5-6 kids, a lot of them are still in the area. We run into people and they'll say 'oh yeah, I played there with the Langes'. A lot of people have memories of this house." According to Seneca County Auditor's Office records, the Lange family sold the home to the Vondrell family in 1997. Later, the home was passed on to another member of the Vondrell family and remained under Vondrell ownership until Crooks and Conley purchased it in 2021 for $122,000. "Our neighbor, Dottie Franks, has lived here for a long time and has memories of playing at our house as a little girl," Conley shared. "You find all these little tidbits and connections to the story; it's been really cool to hear that." Seneca County Historical Society provided the A-T with a document from 1979 when Heidelberg University conducted a historic inventory. According to this document, the home was approximately built in 1884. "The first known resident was Anna Floom a widow," the document reads. "The Floom family lived here until 1900. Samuel Tuttle then purchased the house. In 1927, Roman Burger, a salesman, purchased the house." Burger sold the home to Gilmore Lange, a former Tiffin mayor, in 1955. When the document was written, Michael Lange, a local attorney, owned the residence. During a trip to the county recorder's office, Conley said the couple asked when the home was built. "It's hard to pin exactly. The land was bought in 1860 for $500 and it sold five years later for $5,500, so that's when we think the house was built." The couple shared that they often have people drive by their home and shout encouraging messages out of their windows. Crooks said one time when they were out and about with Carlow, someone recognized him from the Instagram page and said they felt like they were meeting a celebrity. Conley said that throughout the exterior renovation, removing aspects from the home has revealed features it must have had in the past. "Even things like this little black strip by the porch, there must have been a small porch up there," he said. "When you tear something down, you find those little breadcrumbs that make you wonder what it was used for. You can kind of guess and put together what this house was." About the couple Crooks is a Green Springs native and Conley is a Springfield native. The couple met through a dating app. "The big question mark for both of us was if someone was passing through town because we weren't looking for someone so many miles away," Conley said. "We met at the end of 2019 and then COVID hit," Crooks explained. "We ended up spending a lot of time together than maybe we would have otherwise." During quarantine, they took turns staying at each other's places since they both lived alone. "It progressed in the time spent a little faster because during COVID we couldn't go anywhere or do anything," Conley added. "We spent a lot of time cooking, playing games." Crooks works from home for a technology firm, planning events and handling communications. Conley is a human resources business partner for an oil company. To follow the rest of the journey, follow @carlowsgreenhouse on Instagram.