Shortly after closing on their historic home, Levi and Amanda Burke Williams found out they were expecting their first daughter.
Now, about a year and a half later, their second child is on the way.
The two had hoped to be settled into their home before Vivian's birth, but renovations to their Queen Anne-style home took longer than expected.
They moved in last August. There's still work on the outside of the house, but they'll be able to bring their second child home to it.
The Jackson Street property is one of nine the Jefferson City Housing Authority has acquired to sell to people who will fix them as part of an effort to address blight in the East Capitol Avenue Urban Renewal Area.
The home was vacant for several years and rundown and neglected when the Williams family purchased it.
"Part of it was that it was the right level of the amount of work," Amanda said.
"It had good bones on it," Levi agreed. "It was still in decent shape. It hadn't deteriorated past the point of where we could work on it."
People had broken in, stolen copper pipes and fixtures out of the walls.
However, unlike other properties in the area, the roof and floors weren't caving in. Some fixtures, like the clawfoot bathtub, were still in place.
Neither one of them work in construction.
Amanda works in historic preservation - but not hands-on fixing properties.
Levi is a graphic designer.
To complicate matters, the couple closed on the home shortly before the May 2019 tornado, which went through the East Capitol Avenue area.
"Contractors were already busy, but then they were extra busy with projects after the tornado," Amanda said. "Finding a contractor that's reliable and will do a good job has been the major hurdle for this project. Luckily, we have very kind, talented family members who assisted us."
The two still have work to do, mainly the brickwork on the outside of the first floor.
Over the years, previous owners painted the bricks white, but they were originally exposed.
Amanda said they're finding somebody who will remove the paint the proper way.
"We've been having some trouble finding somebody who is interested in removing the paint the right way," she said. "A lot of people are more than willing to remove it but maybe not in the way that would be recommended for a house of this age."
The original staircase was also painted over, and the couple had that removed as well.
In that process, she said, they realized there had been a fire in the home's history, pointing out dark spots in the wood because of the fire.
Upstairs, the original hardwood floors were carpeted over, but that's now removed.
The two left much of the downstairs how it was, but they reorganized the upstairs some.
For instance, there was originally a walkway between two bedrooms, which is now a closet. They've turned another walkway into a small office for Levi and extended the bathroom to install a shower.
The upstairs also now has a full deck where the outside back stairway originally was with a view of the Missouri State Penitentiary.
The Standish House is a landmark in Jefferson City, officially recognized in 2020, and resides in one of the city's historic districts, which added a few extra steps to the renovation process. However, overall, both said it wasn't hard to work within the parameters.
"Some people are discouraged just by having like the oversight by the city and all when you're doing it and renovating it, but they really didn't have anything to say while we are working on it," Levi said. "It wasn't like they were looking over our shoulders the whole time saying 'No, you can't do this and you can't do that.'"
"They came in for the plumbing and the electrical inspections and all that," Amanda added, "but nothing extra. I know there are a lot of things out there like 'Oh, they're going to say you can't paint your house or you can't do this.' We don't have to let them know about our paint colors. They just wanted us to paint the house."
In some ways, the historic recognition helps with rehabilitation projects, the two said, through extra state and federal tax breaks.
Levi said the city was helpful when they needed assistance. For instance, as far as they can tell, the house was never set up with an internet connection, which made working from home an issue when they did move in.
"We couldn't get internet," Amanda said. "We couldn't get anybody out here. We actually had to get the city manager to reach out to the cable company to come out here and hook up our internet. It was like, we've done all this work to rehab this building, and we can't even live in it."
So far, the family loves living in downtown Jefferson City. They're within walking distance from downtown restaurants and businesses and go for nightly walks after getting off work.
"We don't go anywhere as much right now (with the pandemic and Amanda's pregnancy)," she said. "But we're looking forward to being able to walk downtown and have dinner, get ice cream or something like that. I love it."
Despite the work done, Amanda said, the home doesn't look that much different to her with the exposed wooden floors, green wall paint and dark blue trim.
"It's always looked like this to me," she said. "I could just see it finished. I could see what needed to be done to get here."