The Homefront

The Brighams' home before the remodel

Breaking New Ground: The Brighams bring their love of old central Florida into a new home.

Winter Garden has always been a special place for my family. My husband’s dad is Earl Brigham, the deaf local barber on Plant Street. I grew up just 10 minutes away. We’ve moved over 40 times and have lived all over the world, but Winter Garden is where we’ve chosen to raise our family.

We purchased our 1952 ranchstyle home in January 2019 and immediately started planning its transformation. Since we’d already renovated our previous house, three doors down from this one, the support from the neighbors was amazing! They were so excited we were the ones doing it and they put up with all the noise for round two— though they were a little shocked when we ripped out the middle of the home.

We demolished the entire main house, down to the foundation, and built it back up with an addition as well. We kept the original floor plan, but reworked the main living space to add a couple beds and baths. Our biggest transformation was raising the ceilings and adding dormers to give us 10 feet of space. That took 10 months to complete.

We started demo in mid-2020— three days before I was due with our third child. I like a challenge and wanted to be part of every detail in our home. So the day I left the hospital, I had my mom bring me to the house to meet with a few subcontractors. I remember our first inspector told me I was in over my head. I took that as a compliment. (We were best friends by the end of it all.)

We’ve poured so much of our heart and soul into this home. We hope it will always be filled with love and laughter.

About the Author: Taylor Brigham and her husband Jake are Winter Garden natives with deep roots. In the last 16 years, she and her husband have traveled the world pursuing his baseball career; they’ve played three countries with kids in tow. Taylor has recently given birth to their fourth child.