This 140-year-old NY mansion needs $3 million in work. Why a mother and daughter bought it

April and Katie Grossman had never set foot in Elmira before the mother and daughter’s “love language” — a shared passion for historic homes — led them to 456 W. Water St.

They were scheduled to tour a handful of “cheap old houses” up for sale around the city, but the house hunting trip was all but over when they laid their eyes on the property known locally as the Samson J. Friendly House.

“As soon as we saw it, we said ’Wow, it’s amazing,’” Katie recalled. “By the end of trip we put an offer on the house. Since then we’re both obsessed with Elmira and the area. We love it so much.”

Next month will mark two years since the mother-daughter team closed on the property. Those months have been filled with cleanup efforts, renovations and a few unexpected discoveries as they work to bring one of Elmira’s signature Victorian-style homes back to its former glory.

Katie is documenting the journey on a Samson J. Friendly House Instagram page, allowing people all over the world to track their progress. The account has attracted close to 21,000 followers. An Instagram reel they posted generated over 3 million views.

“The cheap old house community has been our cheerleaders from the very beginning when most of the world was saying ‘Why are a 73-year-old mother and her 35-year-old daughter, who have no experience with power tools or anything, buying this old house?’” said Katie.

“Even some of our family and friends thought we were insane, but then online you have all these people who have done exactly that and are so much further in the process. It’s really inspiring.”

Here’s how the mother and daughter are turning their dream home into a reality.

What’s special about the Samson J. Friendly House

April has spent much of her life around old homes. Her grandparents owned a rambling old Victorian, and in adulthood she spent decades in the real estate business before retiring in Florida. Over the years April renovated several of her own homes, but nothing quite like the challenge presented by the Samson J. Friendly House.

Decades of neglect had left the large three-story home a shell of its former self. Plumbing had been stripped away, most rooms lacked electric, wallpaper was peeling, the plaster walls crumbling.

All Katie and April could see, though, was potential.

They were struck by all the original touches that had withstood the test of time — the four fireplaces and mantles scattered throughout the house with handmade tiles, the custom woodwork and hardwood floors, the way every hinge and doorknob was decorated with a unique design. Perhaps most impactful was a large stained glass window depicting a woman they surmised is Miriam the Prophetess.

“Something sparked in both of us, and I think that might be what clinched it for us,” said April. “The house was in a very decrepit state, but you could tell at one point it was absolutely magnificent.”

They were also taken by the home’s exterior, which includes a large carriage house and a front porch that Katie estimates is bigger than her Brooklyn apartment. The house also features a full basement.

“At one point it had finished rooms,” Katie said. “It still has gorgeous door knobs. You can kind of see mud on the walls from the Flood of 1972.”

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How renovations are progressing at Samson J. Friendly House

Samson Friendly was a German immigrant who came to Elmira in 1857 and made a fortune selling bonds and real estate, according to Elmira City Historian Diane Janowski. Friendly hired famed architect Joseph H. Pierce to design the home where he and his wife, Sarah, would live out their days. The brick house was built in 1883 in the Queen Anne style. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Elmira residents of a certain age may recall that the first floor housed a dentist’s office for much of the 20th century. Aided by Pierce’s original blueprints, Katie and April have started restoring the home to its 1883 layout with a few modern twists.

The house’s footprint of over 5,000 square feet provides a large canvas.

They envision turning empty spaces into a library, a music room, a game room and a movie room. Katie and April also share a love of the Paramount+ series "1883," and they intend to dedicate one room to an 1883-style western theme in a dual tribute to the year the house was constructed.

“We’re not changing any of the bones of the house,” said Katie. “We’re not moving any walls, we’re restoring it to its exact blueprint except for turning a second kitchen upstairs into a bathroom.”

Lacking an unlimited budget — one contractor told April it would cost $3 million to duplicate the house with modern construction — they are ticking off one project at a time, focusing first on the basics like heat and electric. April said the only disagreements arise when she sometimes brings home old furniture.

“We’re from different generations and we have different tastes in things,” said April.

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Restoration journey shared with the world via Instagram

Each room in the sprawling home has required extensive cleanup ahead of renovations, and some of those efforts have produced some interesting finds. Tucked away under the stairs was a classic 1946 Stromberg-Carlson record player manufactured in Rochester. It still held the price tag — $340.85.

A discovery on the third floor made the most noise, though. Katie and April recorded a video as they pried open a trap door built into the floor of the home’s topmost room. They lifted the door to find a piece of metal with a handle nestled below the floor. A box of hidden treasure, perhaps? Alas, the compartment merely opened into the bedroom below, possibly serving as a fire escape.

The curious video was a hit on Instagram with nearly 35,000 likes and 3 million views.

Sharing the house with the world has been a give-and-take experience, with Katie picking up tips from experienced preservationists across the country.

“You can’t predict it. You can blow up out of nowhere and then you want to keep your followers happy with videos showing progress,” Katie said. “The old house community has been so helpful with tips. It’s a really cool community to be a part of. All you have to do is post a picture and people comment with how to do things. There’s amazing info out there.”

Katie and April are hoping the exposure on Instagram helps them land sponsors to defray some of the renovation costs. They were inspired by the Cheap Old Houses Instagram account and HGTV television show, which highlights efforts to save historic homes.

The couple behind the account even visited the house not long after Katie and April got started on their labor of love, one they hope contributes to a renaissance among Elmira’s oldest, grandest homes.

“I hope people are inspired to buy these old houses and fix them up,” said Katie. “I’m really hopeful more young people will come into Elmira and open stores and bring back its sparkle.

“Seeing it from an outsider’s perspective and going to the farmer’s market, the waterfalls, the drive-in movies and seeing all this cool stuff is really amazing. We love the town and its history. We hope more people come to the area.”

This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Inspired by Cheap Old Houses, mother, daughter take on Elmira mansion