Ok, I suppose it is bad to be in love with a house and land. Maybe it makes me seem materialistic, but...THE HOUSE IS PERFECT!
I swear this place was built in mind for me in 1911. Is that possible. It has everything that I had placed on The List for the next house: wood burning stove, front porch, pond, mature nut trees, mountain, flat area, old barns, had-cranked wells for animals, creeks, chicken coop, hardwood floors, beautiful views, and room! The house even has that great "old house" smell of wood and ashes and age. I love it all.
I could have built this house from my dreams.
While waiting on the realtor (who got herself lost and was over an hour late), I prayed that my path would be revealed to me. I don't want to sound overly religious (I'm not, believe me and my potty mouth), but I believe (or at least hope) we have some spiritual guidance in this life and I hope we are being guided now.
When the realtor showed up, I told her I planned to offer something soon. I wanted to check out a few things first. She says,"You are the only interested buyers for nearly a year; no one wants to live out here. The owners are retirees living in FL. They want it gone." (She was calling the listing agent while I was there to ask him questions). She says, "Let's start low...like..." and it was EXACTLY what we paid for our house up north for 4X the land and a bigger house. I had told my husband I really would like to buy it for what we paid for IN house and land. Is this a "sign"?
While I waited for her I saw a murder of crow sisters, heard the sweet chorus of peepers, and felt the spring warmth of a southwesterly wind. I felt like I was home.
5 comments:
Did you tell me where the property is? Is it in Shelbyville? It sounds lovely! I would love to live on a little land so I could raise chickens and llama/alpacas. Can't raise those out here in our prospect neighborhood. It's a trade off being in a neighborhood with people and swimming pool/playground. I go back and forth about it. Hope you figure it out. But, what I can tell you about myself is that when I go back and forth and can't decide, then it usually isn't right. when I saw this house, I knew. There was no back and forth. Didn't mean I wasn't scared, just not apprehensive about it.
Hey Gina always glad to meet another KY girl! The new place sounds beautiful! I am a farm girl now but growing up didn't live on a farm but we did have a big yard and a garden so I guess I "Upsized". Keep us posted on how the house hunting turns out and Good Luck!!
Thanks, Ladies!
The house is in Henry Co. (I actually work near Prospect).
I am fighting the same dilemma in my head right now: do I want to continue living the rural life (and seeing chicks at tractor supply yesterday did.not.help!) and raising chickens and being surrounded by nature (I have always been an outdoorsy sort) OR do I go back to the conveniences of more urban (suburban) life. It can be lonel living isolated and I wonder about the kids sometimes. I grew up in a city as well and I always had places to ride my bike to, friends to play with and I am sure my parents enjoyed short commutes to work, stores, and schools.
7 months of half city living (heart of Louisville) and half rural living (our IN property), I can say there are pros and cons to both. I am such an extremist (give me city excitement or the quiet sweetness of nature)!!!
I'll blame it on being a Libra! ;)
I love the house. No doubt this one is exactly what I want. I am just not sure about the remoteness of Henry Co.!!
Oh....Have you checked Shelbyville? It's closer to Frankfort and not terribly far from where you work.
But, I'll give you my two cents, for what it's worth. After reading about all the commuting problems you've had, and the worries of being remote w/out family close by, I'd go with convience and close to people at this point in your life. At least until your kids are older. You and your husband can always live the dream farm life after the kids are grown.
Of course, there is no guarantee that your kids are going to have friends in the neighborhood. My current neighborhood is not as easy to make friends, but it could be because it is so big and transient. But, our last neighborhood, was so fabulous as far as that goes. There were only 62 houses and everybody knew everybody and we had lots of get togethers. Two of our kids had best friends that lived next door and that was a dream come true. They played together all of the time. All of the kids were always out in the neighborhood riding bikes, playing, etc. We actually moved to the neighborhood right next door. In fact, we are right on the fence line. So, even though, I'm not as in love w/ this neighborhood, it doesn't matter because we are still so close to the other one. However, I am more excited about this neighborhood now, because a family with a three year old girl moved in next door. And, my youngest is a three year old girl. So, things are looking up here!
While I love the farm idea, I decided that it was more important for the kids to be in a neighborhood and save the living on some land idea as a goal for later on. The kids can bring their kids to our land w/ animals. And, my husband and I will have more time to devote to our hobbies at that point anyway.
I'd move somewhere that is between both of your commutes to make life as easy as possible. It is so stressful to have a lot of pressure and hardships on a marriage, so I'd make things as easy and even as you can.
Don't know if this helps and sorry if I'm way off base. I just thought I'd share my experience with you.
xo,
Sena
Oh, no...you are not off base at all and your argument for living in a neighborhood vs. farm is exactly the battle I have had in my head (and with my husband, LOL!)
Speaking of Shelby Co. we did look at a gorgeous house and a small property just minutes from Shelbyville. The house was old and needed a lot of work. I looked at it twice and in the end decided I don't have time for the refurbishing.
I like the idea of a retirement farm! We have lived in the country for several years now (since 2004) and I constantly tell hubby that we don't have the time to enjoy it. Plus, the isolation is hard at times (I am an introvert who likes her alone time, but I am also outgoing and enjoy hanging out with friends and family; taking courses and thrift shopping, of course. And now, the kids are getting involved with activities (I spent my whole weekend home shuttling the older one to soccer, friend's b'day party, and then another b'day party for us adults.
Oddly enough, when I first came down here, our plan was to definitely go back to the city and husband was happy about this prospect (shorter commute, less yard to keep mowed, more time to actually watch football!) Lately, however, he seems to be leaning towards another rural property. Ultimately, like 98% of house hunters, it will be me (i.e. the wife) that will make the decision.
We are looking at a few more houses this weekend. While I love the farm, I am actually feeling exactly as you wrote above...
I always welcome 2c and it really helps me organize my own thoughts on the topic!
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