Lilly from the Elm Street House

Bucket Talk

On this week’s episode of Bucket Talk, we chat with Lilly, the woman behind the renovation at the Elm Street House in Lewiston, Maine. After spending her college years in Florida, she grew tired of life at marketing agencies and returned home to Maine, where she was born and raised, to put down some roots. She purchased a fixer upper and is now on the journey of returning it to its former glory. Listen in as she talks with Eric and Jeremy about starting out in marketing, finding old treasures in her home, what it’s like to put blood, sweat, and tears into a renovation and more.

Originally hailing from Maine, Lilly decided to spend her college years in Florida, just to get out of town for a while and experience something new. There she got a degree in marketing, an industry where she imagined she’d be able to combine all of her skills to really thrive. While she was successful there and continues to love her work, she was looking for something more, so she decided to make the move back home when the pandemic started.

“I'm from Maine, born and raised Mainer over here. I went away for college just to experience a new place, [to] rebel a little bit [and] be in a bigger city. But I was ready to come home.”

As a self-proclaimed personal finance geek, Lilly knew she wanted to capitalize on the benefits of owning a multi-family home. While the process of buying was tedious, she managed to get her hands on a fixer upper that ended up being a much larger undertaking than she expected. She took the challenges in stride, knowing it was what she really wanted.

“It was a daunting thing and an intimidating thing. But I couldn't shake the feeling that, like, this is my house. I just, I loved it too much. And before I could talk myself out of it, I went right home and called the realtor and got to work on buying it.”

While there are a number of challenges she’s facing, such as delayed plumbing and electrical support along with the frustrations of getting through a successful demo, she’s pushing forward, learning a ton on the way. She’s taking on this endeavor single handedly, albeit with some support from family and friends — but not too much support. At some point, she knows she has to be tactical in her requests to loved ones for help.

“There were like nine people at my house who came to help. And so from that point, I got a little more comfortable asking for help. But to your point, I don't want to overdo it. I have not found that line yet. And I'm happy about that. But I know it exists.”

Renovating this house is a huge task — she’s taking it from borderline haunted back to its former glory — but when things get tough, she just looks at adversity as a positive thing. One day, the home will be finished, she’ll have a little reading nook for herself and things will be just fine.