Betsy Sweeney is living the best of both worlds, bringing people to Wheeling, West Virginia.
View this post on Instagram
Her credentials would explain her passion for cultural heritage and preservation as she holds degrees in Anthropology, Art History, and Historic Preservation.
Her past work as an architectural historian led her to her current role as Director of Heritage at the Wheeling National Heritage Area.
Her most famous work was buying this $18,000 Victorian house and preserving it to the beauty that it is now.
The home is 4,000 square feet, has four bedrooms, and there’s even a ‘tiny house’ on the property too.
People who followed her progress since 2020 visited Wheeling, some even looking for properties to buy and restore in the area.
Betsy chronicled her journey to rehabilitating and restoring this old house, and you can’t believe the progress she made 700 days later.
She took real estate agent and filmmaker Monica Church through her home for an incredible tour.
You would instantly recognize the stark difference when you step inside the house.
What was once a dull and worn entrance has turned vibrant with the yellow paint she used.
She also restored the fireplace under the stairs and created a cozy nook.
Betsy said she had not refinished the stairs yet, but it was one important detail she restored from the original structure.
The living room was far from its sorry state when Betsy bought the house.
Gone are the rotten walls and ceilings, and she turned it into a comfortable place to sit in front of the fireplace.
It was a mix of antique and modern looks. The restored fireplace, the thrifted table, and that big sofa matched perfectly.
Her dining room and kitchen are still in progress, but you can already see their potential.
One of her restoration goals was to put things back the way they were, and this fireplace mantel in the dining room was one of them.
After seeing the writings behind the mantel, they switched the old one (meant for the bedroom) with the current one in the dining area.
She cleaned up the stained-glass windows and refurbished an old wood slab to end up with this perfect look, albeit not done.
The kitchen is halfway done, but it already looks beautiful.
Since this was also one of the most worn rooms in the house, Betsy only planned to restore one of the original cabinetries from the butler’s pantry.
She also created a resin-based replacement of the ceiling to match the original pattern. Her handiwork on this one is so beautiful!
Upstairs is the bedroom, and Betsy changed her original plan on this one.
Instead of using the inner space as a home office, she placed a king-sized bed (because she always wanted one!) and used the bigger outer space to lounge and watch TV.
The bathroom looks antiquated yet chic and has the perfect color combination.
She restored most of it – from the sink to the tub – and added her touch. The panels’ green paint and the wallpaper looked stunning in there.
She added a toilet across it and a shower where there used to be a tiny compartment.
There were still many things to do for this old McLain House, but Betsy was not rushing.
If you want to see the old house’s appearance before the restoration, you can check out the initial tour with Monica Church here.
Take a tour of Betsy’s beautiful old house in the video below!
