if you have been reading my blog for a while, you might remember that this past christmas i mentioned that christmas on my mother's side of the family was extra special because it would be the last christmas at my grandfather's house since we would be putting it on the market. you can read that post here.
i've always loved my grandparents house. it has such charm. it is also the location of countless memories. until i was old enough to stay at home alone, my summers were spent here at this house. and every day after school this is the house i walked home to.
that's the porch my family uses for extra seating for family dinners, where we do the "lotto" on easter, and where i've sat many times with my grandpa on the porch swing having long talks. i can remember playing on that flat roof (and jumping off) with my cousins and also helping my grandpa put up tarps around the perimeter to serve as a wind block during the colder months. and because multi-colored tarps hanging on a porch might not look that great, we would hang christmas lights out there too to glam it up some.
that is the basketball hoop my uncles have played with for many years. as a child, christmas at my grandparents always involved a game of hoops between the uncles and older cousins.
see that tree on the left side of the house? and see that window to the attic? my cousin tim and i were pros at climbing the tree and hiding out in the attic. we thought we were pretty cool.
i can't tell you how many times i baked cookies in that kitchen with my grandma. and how many times i got paid a quarter to sweep and mop it!
i told my grandparents at a very young age that i wanted their house when they died. looking back, i can only imagine what they thought of me talking about their death like that. but in my head, it made since. i couldn't move in until they moved out. and since i knew my grandparents would never move, they had to die. well that is half-way accurate. my grandma passed away in 1999, but my grandpa is still living in a local nursing home. he is 95!
so when it came time to move forward with this house, i had to do some serious soul searching.
it was in desperate need of some repairs. and in my small town, older homes usually turn into low income housing. who would be my neighbors in those older homes?
my family let everyone know that it was about to be put on the market and that family and friends would have first dibs. i lost a lot of sleep thinking about what to do. i have a perfectly good house and acreage to build a house. did i really want to take the risk? i held back and let my family put it on the market.
this house really needs a lot of work. would the new owner give it the tlc that it deserves?
more importantly, would i be able to handle this house having a new owner? i came by once to return some tables and the realtor was showing it to a couple. i'm sure the couple was lovely, but i couldn't help but have horrible thoughts towards them. they were trying to buy my house.
i still did not have the courage. it is such a risk.
and then it happened. i was helping my family with an estate sale and a man walked up and started taking pictures of the house. he asked me if he could see inside and i said that although he would have to go through the realtor, i would take him inside. i tried my best to "sell it" but it wasn't coming naturally. he could tell that i was less than eager to show it to him. i confessed that i wanted the house too. after painfully listening to him ooh and awe at all the little house features, he informed me that if i wanted it, i better put an offer in soon because he was going to as well. i immediately sent my husband a text to call the realtor.
my uncle informed me at our easter gathering that they had accepted my offer. i was thrilled! and a little nervous.
this past tuesday we closed on the house. we had our first dinner there that night (eating fast food on the porch swing). i am so thankful that i have a husband that is fully supportive of all my crazy ideas - especially this one. and i'm proud of myself for getting the guts to take on this project.
the demo has already begun and i hope to keep my blog updated with pictures of the entire renovation process :)
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