Our story so far: We were in the midst of demolishing the interior of our 126-year-old Methodist church with grand plans to turn it into our home.

# # #

Even though we could have waited, one major purchase we sprung for during demolition was a set of new doors for the entryway to the church. Tyler found a deal on Craig’s List we just couldn’t pass up.

Earlier, while we waited to close on the church, we admired an exterior door on display at Home Depot. As soon as I saw it, I knew Tyler would love it, and when I led him away from the plumbing fixtures to the front door display, I knew I was right.

We exchanged one of those looks like a couple does when they happen upon the perfect name for their first-born and they both know it.

This was it.

It was a rustic knotty pine with an operable speakeasy door behind a grille. It looked like it belonged on a castle, which was perfect, since a man’s home is his castle. And it could be special ordered as a 96-inch-tall pair. The existing entry to the church included two 80-inch-tall doors, and we knew we wanted a footprint at least as large.

Naturally, a special-order set of front doors from a big-box store exacts a king’s ransom. We’d allotted something for the front entryway in the Tequila Budget, but not that much.

But Tyler being Tyler took that as a cue to snoop around architectural salvage joints and online, and wouldn’t you know it, in a couple of weeks, someone in a nearby kingdom placed a listing on Craig’s List for just such a set of doors with the title: “Remodel reject.” Asking price: $1,000 less than new.

“Whaddya think?” Tyler asked.

“They’re perfect,” I said. The Craig’s List doors even had the speakeasy portal, and they were arched. “We should at least go and look.”

# # #

Tomorrow: Chapter 9’s revelations conclude with a description of how we got our doors home again, home again, jiggity jog. Click here to read it.