Stacie Grissom and Sean Wilson lived in New York City for almost a decade before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. Grissom was pregnant with their first child and working in marketing at BarkBox, while Wilson was working as an orthopedic surgeon in NYC hospitals. Seeing the state of the city during that time made Grissom realize she was ready to move back to Franklin, Indiana, their hometown. The couple officially moved into a schoolhouse in September 2024, wanting to be closer to their families.
A couple of months after their son was born, Grissom contacted a realtor friend in Franklin and asked for a fixer-upper. Her parents checked out an old schoolhouse that was for sale, and after receiving their approval, Grissom and Wilson made an offer on the property without ever seeing it in person. The schoolhouse had served as a school for local children between 1914 and 1934 before being used as a barn. Despite the challenges of renovating from afar, the couple closed on the property and began the painstaking process of turning it into their family home.
After closing on the schoolhouse, Grissom and Wilson embarked on a lengthy renovation process that took longer than expected, as they were essentially building a new home within the old building’s shell. The couple had to almost start from scratch with the schoolhouse but were able to retain some original elements like the floors, brick, doors, and a water fountain. Grissom’s favorite part of the renovation was getting to work alongside her dad and learning trade-like skills over the course of three years.
During the renovation, the couple found random artifacts left behind, indicating the building’s history. They decided to pay homage to the former school by using original paint colors and creating mosaics with the school’s name and date of creation. Grissom documented the renovation process on social media, enjoying the content creation aspect and the sense of community among fellow home renovation enthusiasts.
In September of this year, the couple and their two kids finally moved into the schoolhouse, which features four bedrooms, two and a half baths on the upper level, and a 4,000-square-foot lower sub-basement that they are still figuring out how to utilize. Grissom appreciates the small things more after living through the pandemic and is grateful to be back in her hometown, surrounded by family. Despite the challenges of the renovation, Grissom says she would go through it again, valuing the naivete that led them to buy a school and turn it into their home.
