The House ~ Part 2

Over the years that we have been renting our current house, there have been a number of houses that have come and gone.  Even one that we put in an offer on.  That was a slightly odd, or even shady deal, in that our offer was never even submitted to the bank selling it.  But, well, it wasn't supposed to be ours, so I guess it was just as well.

With each house that didn't work out, I've learned to get less and less attached to the idea of owning the house when I see one. And, with this house, I knew very well it needed a lot of work.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to tackle such a project, and had no idea if it would even be worth the effort of being interested in it.

The day before the open house was Easter.  It was a beautiful Easter, not too hot and not too cold, with the sun shining bright. My brother in law and sister in law were in town for the holiday, and they were very interested in seeing the house, as was my mother in law.  My husband wasn't too interested, which was typical.  My brother in law and sister in law bought a foreclosure about 15 years ago and have been working hard to remodel it ever since.  My brother in law likes to work on houses.  My husband does not like to work on houses.

After dinner that day, my brother in law said, "Let's go look around the outside of the house." I couldn't interest my husband, but my brother in law, sister in law, and father in law, and I all loaded up and drove to the house.

I hadn't braved the idea of really looking around until that day.  So, that was the first I took a look at the true condition of the house. Because it had so much damage to the roof, I sincerely thought there was a 75% or better chance that it was too far gone to be repaired.  I expected there to be rotten floors and mold everywhere.  So, I was still quite hesitant, but got excited when I noticed the house had nice looking storm windows, and a very nice looking air unit.

While I, normally, wouldn't have noticed these things, I knew these would be important to my husband. I also knew that, since it is a big old house, these were very important features!

We looked around a little further.  We admired the large (one acre) yard.

Noticed a rustic barn that turned out to have steel I-beams to hold it up.  Very sturdy.

And, one of the favorite features, a giant old Sycamore complete with a swing.

We were about to leave, when we found out that we were able to see INSIDE the house!  Completely surprised and excited, we went in for a quick tour.  Again, totally expecting a hazard filled, totally decayed house.  But, that was not what we found.

Instead, we found a huge, sturdy, diamond in the rough.  It needed TONS of work.  A new roof and windows were needed.  There was a question about the water.  No one knew if the air conditioner would work, or if the electricity would turn on.  BUT, it was SOLID.  There was a leak in the roof-caused by a chimney, and places throughout the house that looked as though they had previously had water, but overall it was GOOD!! 

This is the dining room.  Its high ceilings, along with my favorite paint color, pushed me over the edge to want this house. Of course, it needed a ton of work.  But, the bones were there, and it was totally salvageable.

I left there knowing that I really wanted to live in this house.  But, I'd wanted to live in other houses, and I do not live in them.  I'd been down this road a number of times before.  And so, I knew that a LOT of prayer would have to go into this process.

But, my first prayer had been answered-the house was salvageable. And, I certainly wanted to salvage it.

Continuing the story:

Part One