‘I Turned a 112-Year-Old Indiana Schoolhouse into the Mansion of My Dreams’

An Indiana mother who has spent the last five years transforming a 112-year-old schoolhouse into a dream home for her family is opening up about the highs and lows of that very lengthy renovation process—while detailing her ambitious plans for the future of the historic structure.Before the massive renovation, 38-year-old Stacie Grissom lived in New York City for 11 years, working in content and marketing for pet product company BarkBox.But when Grissom and her husband, Sean, welcomed their first son, they decided to move back to their hometown in Franklin, IN, to be closer to family. And when it came to finding the perfect family home, they had just one non-negotiable requirement: it had to be old. “I always loved old homes,” Grissom shares. “It was a natural thing, and then my husband grew up in a 100-year-old farmhouse here in Franklin, so it was just a thing that was part of us.”However, neither of them could have foreseen just how unique their chosen abode would be. “It just always was non-negotiable for both of us that we would get an old house,” Grissom adds. “We just didn't know it would be such a weird, quirky place.”In August 2021, while still living in New York, the coup...