Schoolhouse Homestead

07/31/2025

Thrilled to finally have this dangerous hole closed up! It’s the first thing we’ve built in the school that feels more like *finish carpentry*, which makes me so excited (and braver) for future projects. It took about a month, and I love that it includes salvaged pieces from .

Fun twist: I just got an email from Dennis, a local furniture builder, who said he donated those windows to Madison Street—windows he salvaged from two buildings being demolished in Rushville, IN. Such a small-world moment!

Next up: finishing out our bedroom and building out this book nook with . I loved your ideas from my last video about adding quirky natural history touches to this corner too… more to come!!

07/04/2025

This is the evolution so far of our kitchen! It’s been a long journey but have enjoyed (most) of the process. Exciting now to brainstorm “finishing” touches using as many salvaged items as possible like old chalkboards, leftover tile, and salvaged lumber.

What do you think? What else should we add! 🙂

Kitchen stuff:

Library dining table:
Dining Chairs:
Counter tops: ❤️
Paint: “Dried Alfalfa” from the schoolhouse collection with !
Design help in the beginning:
Brick: Brad the amazing mason (DM me for his contact if you need someone good!)

Cabinets: IKEA +
Hardware:
Floors:
Electrician magicians:
Insulation: Affordable Spray Foam
Drywall and reinforcements: RDY Construction
Sweat, blood, some tears: our own 🥵😅

02/02/2025

The biggest thank you to CNBC Make It for sharing the schoolhouse’s story and for taking the time to walk through this old building we’ve poured so much of ourselves into. This journey has been overwhelming in every way—challenging, chaotic, stressful, and deeply rewarding. Seeing it shared like this is SO surreal, and it makes me pause to appreciate all the unexpected, little things that led us back to the best small town in the Midwest… and all the big, not-so-random things, like an army of family and the joy of watching a little cousin gang grow. 🙂

Stacie Grissom, 36, and her husband Sean, 35, bought an 111-year-old schoolhouse in Franklin, Indiana and converted it into their home. They purchased it in ...

12/31/2024

It is such an honor for the schoolhouse to be included in the IndyStar, there are tons of photos in there as well! (Thank you Domenica and Michelle!!)

A Franklin couple has amassed more than a million followers online as they've leaned on the many lives of an old school to create their dream home.

12/12/2024

Our first Christmas in the schoolhouse! 🎄✨ Just shared a big YTube update featuring everything we’ve been up to—new chalkboards, a whimsical fairy nook (with turkeys instead of fairies!), and a major update for The Dungeon in the basement.

I’ve got it in my bio if you want to see more of the schoolhouse! :)

11/12/2024

Next up- working on a much longer start-to-finish video of our garage construction that will be coming soon!

11/08/2024

A couple weeks ago, the schoolhouse was featured on the Tamron Hall Show! The episode of Tamron’s show was called “You Won’t Believe Where I Live,” where the show profiled unusual homes. Apparently ours qualified. 😅

Was such a surreal experience and was such an honor to be on there, and I've just edited a YT video about the experience! (Find it down in the comments. :))

09/09/2024

When we bought our school, this little room was roughhhhh. It's been really exciting to see one of the worst rooms in the schoolhouse start turning into one of the best rooms! Very excited to turn this into our little cocktail cellar over time with weird spirits, liqueurs, and botanical things.

I also want to thank the folks at Manhattan Neons for gifting me this amazing sign that will be the centerpiece of our cocktail cellar! If you want to order a neon sign for yourself, use the code SCHOOLHOUSE20 and you'll get 20% off! They have tons of colors and fonts as well. :)

09/07/2024

Things I wish I knew before searching for counter tops for our schoolhouse: ALWAYS ask for remnants!! We found some gorgeous pieces in a hidden gem of a location south of Indy.

If you are in the Indianapolis area and want to check out the counter top remnant boneyard with decades of unique remnants, check out Saul + Fernando's place S & F Marble and Granite LLC ! So glad we are working with them for all the counters in the schoolhouse. :)

09/06/2024

Over the past year, turning our journey of renovating an old schoolhouse into a home has become a full-time gig, both in sucking all my time and then also helping to support paying for this project.

It's been nothing short of bizarre—in the best way. I'm so, SO incredibly grateful to everyone who’s been following along. The flexibility this job has given me, especially through the chaos of construction and toddler life, is something I’ll never, *ever* take for granted.

Today marks another milestone: I'm teaming up with
Paint to launch a custom palette of schoolhouse colors that anyone can buy!

Up Paint isn’t your average paint company. They upcycle paint using recycled materials—everything from unused paint to resins extracted from car windshields. They collect used paint from drop-off points nationwide, purify it, and add pigments to create high-quality, premium paints… but because they use recycled ingredients the paint doesn’t have a premium price.

With over 850 million gallons of paint produced each year (and 10% going unused), paint is a major contributor to microplastics in our oceans. I'm just so excited to partner with a company that is taking a swing at such a big issue.

If you need paint (or an amazing primer!), check out Up Paint! https://uppaint.com/pages/schoolhouse-homestead?sscid=91k8_65t90&

09/23/2023

Working on a bigger video but wanted to share some of the progress that our amazing electricians are making inside the schoolhouse!

It’s a detailed job and I’m so thankful we have Shawn Breeden and his crew of weekend warriors to take on all the complexity. Shawn worked on huge projects in downtown Indy for many years and just started Breeden Electric on his own!

Also we were at the school the other day when we heard a scream and then some very loud laughs… apparently we are going to have to evict a 70” current tenant from the school sometime in the near future. 😂🐍🐍🐍 At least it helps with the mice?

09/05/2023

Thank you so much to Sierra Hignite and FOX59 News for sharing the schoolhouse's story!

FRANKLIN, In. — Turning a piece of history into a place to call home. That is the mission of one family in Franklin. Their efforts to turn a 100-year-old schoolhouse into their family home ha…