Stacie Grissom and Sean Wilson had been living in New York City for nearly a decade before the covid-19 pandemic hit.
In early 2020, Gleason was pregnant with their first child and working in marketing at BarkBox, while Wilson worked as an orthopedic surgeon at a hospital in New York City.
Seeing the state of the city during that time, Gleason realized she was ready to move back to Franklin, Indiana, their hometown, about 30 miles from downtown Indianapolis.
“We re-evaluated and people are the most important thing, so we wanted to move back to our hometown to be with our family,” Gleeson told CNBC Make It.
“We found the family of our choice in New York, which is the best city in the world, but we have to go where our family is.”
The couple will officially move into the school building in September 2024.
Kate Wilson
A few months after their son was born, Gleason contacted a real estate agent friend of Franklin’s and told him to start looking for “weird old houses.”
“I told him the weirder the better and sent us a set of shoes to be repaired,” Gleason said. “His dad saw a school for sale and immediately said, ‘Give it to Stacey.'”
Since Gleason and Wilson were still in New York City at the time, they asked her parents to view the property.
Gleeson said the building served as a school for local children from 1914 to 1934.
The school was originally named United Ninth School.
Johnson County Historical Museum
Because Gleason’s father had experience running a commercial real estate business, she knew he would give her an honest and professional opinion about the school’s condition.
After getting approval from their parents, Gleeson and Wilson made an offer to purchase the schoolhouse without seeing it in person, and it was accepted within 24 hours.
“If my parents didn’t agree, we wouldn’t buy it because we know it takes a village,” she said.
“It’s like a Midwestern castle in the middle of an Indiana cornfield”
A week after Gleeson and Wilson closed the former school building, they saw it in person for the first time.
“I think I was a lot more naive then than I am now, but I was excited to see it and its potential,” Gleason said. “You can see that there might be huge windows, high ceilings and open spaces for extended families to gather during the holidays.”
“It’s like a Midwestern castle in the middle of some cornfields in Indiana. It’s a beautiful little brick building that’s now a home,” she added.
After the school closed it was used as a barn for many years.
Stacey Gleason and Sean Wilson
When the couple closed on the former schoolhouse, the real work began. By the fall of 2021, the couple had the school in its rough shape, but the 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 going, but the new roof started being installed in February 2022 and things started to change, but it ended up taking us three years because we were basically building a new house within the shell of the old building,” Grissom said explain.
The schoolhouse is located in the middle of a cornfield in the couple’s hometown.
Stacey Gleason and Sean Wilson
Gleason declined to say how much the couple spent on the renovation, but said they were still working on it and weren’t quite finished yet.
While cleaning out the house, the couple and their contractor came across a few random items, including a wooden board with an old chalkboard that said “Chicken Coop.”
“It’s really cool to see because this is such a beautiful little school built by farmers for kids in this rural area. The community is very proud of this school,” Grissom said.
The total area of the school building is approximately 9,000 square feet.
Stacey Gleason and Sean Wilson
Although the couple had to build the schoolhouse almost from scratch, they retained one classroom floor, all the bricks, the original doors and a fountain they are working to restore.
“The time it took was definitely a huge challenge, and having to renovate it from a distance was also difficult. I don’t think we were naive in doing that, but now I know we won’t be renovating anything after this,” Gerry said. Sen said. “We did it and we’re glad we got through it, but there weren’t any old buildings for a while.”
Despite how difficult the renovation was for the couple, Gleason said her favorite part was working with her father.
“It was really cool to attend my dad’s renovation bootcamp, from how to work with other contractors to how to do the work yourself. We learned a lot of trade-like things in those three years,” she added.
The couple’s kitchen and living room were once two classrooms.
Stacey Gleason and Sean Wilson
In a nod to their former school, the couple used the colors originally painted on the walls when the school opened. Gleeson also created two mosaics for the entrance, bearing the school’s name and founding date.
When it comes to decorating, Gleason said they are “trying to get as much school furniture back into the school as possible.”
‘I never thought my house could be a job’
Gleeson admits that the renovation process wasn’t easy, but a highlight of the experience was being able to focus full-time on being a content creator and Share your campus tour on social media.
“It was fun documenting the process and finding this old house renovation community online. I never thought my house could become a job,” she said. “It’s great to be able to earn an income from telling stories while also getting advice and having a community of people who enjoy restoring old things.”
The couple had to install brand new windows and new flooring in most rooms.
Stacey Gleason and Sean Wilson
The couple and their now two children moved into the home in September this year amid ongoing renovations.
“Moving into the school building was easier than moving into any apartment we had in New York City,” Gleason said. “It’s so nice to wake up and see the sunrise over the cornfields. It’s going to be a tornado here for a while, but it’s crazy to finally build a place that we’ve been thinking about for three years and poured all our money, energy, Sweat and tears went into it.
The schoolhouse now has four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, all on the 4,000-square-foot upper level. The couple also has a 4,000-square-foot basement that they’re trying to figure out what to do with.
The building was used as a school from 1914 to 1934.
Stacey Gleason and Sean Wilson
Gleason said the best part about finally moving into a school building and returning to her hometown is that her children will grow up with family around them.
“After going through the pandemic and all the stress and anxiety, we’re all facing death earlier than most generations have, and it totally changed things in my brain. It’s great to see my parents healthy and our family All healthy.
Gleason said since moving in a few weeks ago, while she realizes it’s been a long road moving in, she’ll go through it again.
“I never want to lose that innocence that allowed us to say we wanted to buy a school and it would be our house,” she said.
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