Last time we talked I showed you this…
And from where we left off in our story {The Prologue}, we have experienced our world turning into it a whirlwind. At times it has felt like a death defying rollercoaster, or a mystery novel or a bad dream. (Wait for future chapters guys, you wont believe what effort it took to see a sold sign on this lawn!) But before it was happy smiles and sold signs, if I am being honest and real, it was a crazy emotionally taxing five months.
Funny to think that it simply started with an unexpected call from our realtor.
What a difference a day can make, dont you think?
That call was then quickly followed by a little trip down the road to see a house, which then led us into the biggest and craziest times of our lives. Except way back in April of this year, we had no idea what kind of seven month long adventure we were getting ourselves into.
So lets start at the beginning when we were bright eyed and bushy tailed and driving down our favorite little street in town, shall we?
The beginning is always the best place to start. 🙂
As soon as I caught sight of the yellow brick bungalow on the corner I had a tiny smidgen of hope.
Not much, but I had some.
It was a warm April evening and the spring air seemed to hold possibility and the sunset in the sky set the scene for falling fast into love.
I took one look at the house we were viewing and immediately its mid century modern design peeked my interest.
Hope grew.
You see, I really do believe that out past sets up our future and for my whole life I have always adored all things 50’s. It was clear that this house screamed 50s architecture with it’s
straight lines and asymmetrical design. As much as I adore all things vintage I also live for all things nature and this house sat on a beautiful corner lot that was literally untouched.
There was a giant pine tree in one corner of the lot and a beautiful bare maple in the other corner and a drive way the length of the lot that could park a dozen cars.
Immediately I thought of our mental list for things we wanted in a home. Large drive way? CHECK.
We didn’t park in the long driveway however because to the left of the house was a big parking lot that was attached to the cutest little diner. We knew the little café well and were known t come visit every month or so to order up pancakes for breakfast or a soup and sandwich for lunch. The kids of course were obsessed with this café in particular because it was beside an amazing little air strip. Not a big one by any means, but a landmark for all of our hometown people. We visited this parking lot many a times and sat quietly as we anticipated the swooping in of the small air crafts. Today though we weren’t looking to the sky, we were looking straight ahead at the home on the corner.
We hesitantly parked in the little parking lot where we were comfortable, the one that held so many of our fond memories with the kids, and walked across the giant front yard to get to the little yellow brick bungalow.
We were timid on the outside but inside my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. This was our chance to get on to the street that we had wanted to live on for so long. With twenty houses being a possibility and losing out on one last year. (READ THIS POST TO GET CAUGHT UP)
We knew not many houses around here could meet all of our needs, and we knew that not many residents wanted to move off of this street. As we took in the house and surveyed the property, the house looked like it could actually work for us.
Could it actually though??
There were two front doors. Two. Two?? One that we walked up to past the double car garage and one past that door almost situated in the middle of the house.
Two entrances at the front of a home aren’t for everyone, but immediately my mind started getting creative with each step closer to the house.
I had always wanted a separate space for my home business. I mean, wasn’t that even on our list for things we wanted in a new home? Yes. YES! So I did another mental check mark.
There were also two entrances on the back of the house, which meant POSSIBILITIES!
However, as much as we were thrilled with the large lot that backed on to a farmer,s field and the space this house had, as we got closer to the first door at the front of the house we immediately saw that the home needed some MAJOR TLC.
Good thing we like to DIY and work on home improvement projects, right?
I held on to hope and ignored the peeling and stripping paint on the doors and window and the overgrown gardens and stepped in the front door.
Inside that doorway there was an open room with oversized sliding doors opening up to the back yard. The view was absolutely stunning, no doubt about it! But the room, however, needed updating.
As a visual person I am grateful that I never see what is in front of me but I see what can become of a space. Maybe it is the visual part of me that allows that or the optimistic side of me, or something else entirely, but whatever it is, I am glad Im one of the many that have that ability. Our realtor walked around the house and momentarily didn’t quite see what we saw.
To any average person they first saw the outdated wallpaper and the original yellow stove top, the dark front room and the dark wood panneling. But to me, I saw that the house was lovingly cared for through it,s life time and above that I saw possibility. I saw that the first dark room had wood panneling on every wall but immediately knew it would make a perfect salon with some changes. The size was perfect, the location off the front door was perfect and it even had a back patio area that I pictured as a relaxing retreat with gauzy drapes and beautiful seating.
We took the rest of the tour of the house and quickly realized that the whole house would need some cosmetic changes. But that didn’t deter us.
I felt something as I walked through those rooms, something that felt like how home is suppose to feel.
The house had beautiful sunlight pouring in through the windows that made us want to linger, but at the same time, we wanted to move fast. I knew by only seeing the first floor that this could definitely be the home for us. I looked at my husband and knew he felt the same way, we didn’t want to waste a second and potentially lose this house before we even knew if it was the one for us.
The second entrance door at the front of the house opened on to a giant room that felt homey. I looked around the space and felt something that seemed sentimental for the old wallpapered walls and the pink painted living room.
Truth be told, the space felt like a grandmas house and it felt loved. I immediately imagined what the space could look like, and I loved what my mind conjured up.
Off of the kitchen area there was a small set of stairs that led to a second level. From the front of the home you cant really see the elevation of the home or notice the second storey, but it is there.
We discovered that upstairs there were four bedrooms (CHECK!) and one small bathroom. I didn’t even notice the details of the small original bathroom because I was too busy internally freaking out that this house had FOUR bedrooms and checked off another element off of our house list.
CHECK CHECK CHECK CHECK CHECK. I was losing count of all of the checks.
We toured the rest of the home which included a basement with two rooms and a storage room and a back entrance to the home that opened into something we assumed was meant to be a laundry room.
There were so many mental check marks made on our mental list that it was about this time that my head started spinning with overwhelming happiness and fear. Has that ever happened to you?? You know the feeling? It is the one you get before you are about to be overjoyed, but you are also scared to death.
We were smitten.
The best part of all was that the home had an indoor outdoor feeling that was very popular in mid-century design. Modern homes that were built in 1955 were being built with a different mind set, one that a nature lover like me can appreciate. The homes built in that era, in a modern design, typically incorporated straight lines and large windows into their design. These features gave the indoor space the illusion of being incorporated with the out door spaces. Decks and porches were popular at the time to encourage free thinkers outside and into the outdoors. Goodness knows that I was immediately obsessed with the three porches the house had! Although I can appreciate 50s design with all of its straight line, glass and metal loving glory, I was a bit weary about a flat roof mixed with Canadian winters. Shoveling a roof doesn’t seem like fun, right?
There were many more good flags then red flags with this house though which was a refreshing discovery! I looked at my husband and he looked at me and we knew this house was the one we were waiting for.
It didn’t take long for the tour to be over and for our minds to be made up. We started talking potential offers and numbers in the kitchen of the house before even leaving the property. My husband and I knew we could turn this house into our dream home with some tweaking and planning.
As stoked as we were, we decided to go home to mull it all over, to be certain, to pray about it and to really weigh out the pros and the cons of the little yellow brink back split bungalow.
But with all good things that are meant to be, It didn’t even take us the ride home, two minutes down the road, to KNOW that that was the house for us. We missed the wide open space and the yellow brick house already. Oh yes, and the sunset.
We both just had the feeling that you get when you know something is meant for you.
We had it hard.
It was the same feeling I got 12 years ago when I saw my husband for the first time and felt like I had known him forever. It is a type of feeling that is immediate, where you feel like you have already lived through the introduction before and because of that there is just big strong positive feelings present. It is the same feeling I got every time my babies looked up at me for the first time on their birth days. It is a feeling that combines happiness, fear, peace and joy and rolls it all into one… and then that feeling bulldozes you over with it.
It was love at first sight.
