Coming up for air on the other side of a whirlwind month. Moves are intense! As soon as we got into our new home it felt like an immediate sigh of relief. We made it. I snapped some iphone photos before we hauled all of the boxes in, so sharing a tour of our new old home! As well as how we found it.
(Entry view)
(Entry room and living room that will be turned into a temporary bedroom.)
In case you missed, you can find the post about why we moved here. There is a lot of family history in this small town, and it has always felt like home to me since I spent many summers and weekends here growing up. There aren’t many homes that go up for sale since not many people move away, and there are many people who try to move back if they are from here. When we first considered moving here, we didn’t think we could find a place.
(Dining room and the laundry room. The laundry room used to be the original kitchen!)
(Family room)
(Primary bedroom and bathroom off the kitchen.)
When we were visiting family here we heard through the grapevine about a house that a couple wanted to sell, but wasn’t currently on the market. I knew exactly the house since it was behind my mom’s childhood home one street over….the one with the wrap around porch. Swoon. We gave them a call and asked if we could walk through the next time we came back in town. Since it was an old home we weren’t sure what kind of work would need to be done, and what kind of condition it was in.
(Future reading nook?)
(Bedroom 2)
When we walked through we were in awe. This couple had raised their kids here, and put a lot of time and effort to maintain and restore parts of the home. It is the 5th oldest home in the town, built in 1860. It’s currently a 4 bedroom, 5 bathroom home, and the style era it can be matched with closest is Italianate. The kitchen, basement, primary bedroom, and bathroom were added on in the 80s towards the back of the house. There are original stain glass windows, restored floors, and original brick in parts of the home. The yard also had the space we were looking for with big old trees and gardens (to Gabe’s delight). We immediately felt like this could be the place for us.
(Bedroom 3)
(Bedroom 4)
Of course the other big bonus was the location. It is a street over from my 97 yr old grandma’s house where my mom grew up in), which is still a central hub for family gatherings. This house is also next door to my sister, the same street as other family members and friends, a few blocks from the school, and a few blocks from the store, library, post office, etc.
(Daylight basement)
We took about 6 months afterwards of going back and forth about this move, and whether or not we should uproot again. It felt too hard and weighty of a decision most days. When we went through every pro and con of making this move, we knew deep down this was going to be where our family would thrive.
(Backyard)
Walking out on the front porch feels a little surreal right now. It feels like we are just visiting for the summer! There is this undeniable weight lifted that we finally made it to the other side of a big move, and that we are in a place that already feels like home. Grateful to God for leading the way.
We told ourselves no projects for a while as we adjust, but it’s hard not to turn off the design wheels that are forever turning in my mind. We have a few immediate needs that we will have to get started on, and I will share more about that soon! For now I am just focusing on getting room situated and finding a place for things. It may take a year to fully unpack. No rush though…we will be here for the long haul.
