The John H Wallace House

The John H Wallace House is one of the oldest structures in Milford, PA - and one of the newest! The original structure was built in the early 1800s and expanded multiple times over the next century. John H Wallace was not the first owner of the house, but he and his family called it home for many years in the mid 1800s. He was a business partner of the Pinchot family, a successful merchant, a leading member of the Presbyterian church, an active participant in town government and the founder of the Milford Water Company.. The first meeting of the borough council was held in the House.

The house has been a residence for most of its 200+ year history. It briefly became a commercial building in the 1990s and more recently a gift shop from the late 1990s until 2021.

This is where one of the oldest houses in town becomes one of the newest. We, Linda and John Messer, purchased the house in the summer of 2022 and got to work converting this historic residence in the Poconos into a modern 4-guest room bed and breakfast. To say the renovations were extensive would be an understatement. Years of neglect and “deferred maintenance” had taken its toll on the structure. There was no running water, no septic system (no toilets!), no functioning heating system and an electrical system that was a museum of electrical fixtures. In addition, our structural engineer identified multiple deficiencies that required extensive repair. The windows were shabby, the plaster was in poor condition and there was only a small amount of insulation in the roof joists. To add insult to injury, the exterior of the house had aging aluminum siding, mismatched shutters and a side porch that was draped in a tarp due to a failed roof. In short, this was a first class fixer-upper.

We were able to get internet service and one night, for fun, we watched the Tom Hanks movie, The Money Pit. As water dripped into the pot strategically placed behind the sofa, we laughed until we cried.

The renovations came fast. First on our list was the installation of a flush toilet. We did a “happy dance” the day it was installed. Shortly thereafter we retired the camp toilet. We installed a second small electric hot water heater for that powder room sink. We were making progress. We rigged a temporary shower by mid-November and got really good at taking 2-minute showers - the hot water ran out quickly. By April 2023, we completed work on our apartment, and we upgraded the electric and hot water so we could have a real bathroom (with soaking tub), fully functioning kitchen and bedroom. At the same time, we connected the washer and dryer so we no longer had to schlep our clothes to the laundromat.

The easy work was over. It became very apparent that the scope of the renovations would require significantly more money that we had allocated. Between the spring of 2022 and the spring of 2024, inflation and interest rates had conspired to make the project much more expensive than budgeted. After several months of “false starts” with a succession of contractors, we finally arrived at a package that we could afford and that the bank was willing to underwrite.

Papers were signed in February 2024, and work began shortly afterward. There were a few hiccups along the way, but by late September we passed final inspection and received our Certificate Of Occupancy. Two years after we moved into the John H Wallace House, we were finally allowed to live there legally. While punch list items remain, the scope of the renovation is staggering.