Today AnNicole is having a uniqe party entitiled, “How I Met My House”. I thought it would be fun to reflect on how far my little house has come in the 3 years since our first meeting.
In 2008, we were living quite comfortably in a nice 100 yr old twin right outside of Philadelphia. That is her pictured below with her lovely front porch. And although I enjoyed the area and my home, I wasn’t happy. I had two little boys in full time daycare, and it wasn’t the way I had envisioned raising my children.
So we began looking for a way which would enable me to stay home full time. Matt found a job, we took a ginormous pay decrease, and with a huge leap of faith, we moved away from our pretty house with the cute little yard.
Around this time, we discovered that some college acquaintances of ours had begun a house flipping business in the city we were moving to. We checked out there work, and I fell in love! It felt like home. Yes, it was a bit more urban than our last neighborhood but all of that history, original heart pine floors, corbels, stained glass windows, turrets, and slate shingles had my heart racing!
We looked around at our immediate neighborhood, which was honestly a bit scary. Our home had been abandoned for 30 yrs and was the product of flood damage. Over the years it had been used for all sorts of sordid and awful activities. Veteran neighbors’ let us know that our house was “the worst on the block” and “the one the children were never to go by”. Can you here the pride in my voice? And our home’s twin wasn’t much better. It smelled horrible, was disgusting to look at and also lay abandoned (that is when homeless people weren’t living in it). To top it off, over eight other homes on our block alone were rundown and vacant. So why on EARTH would we want to move here?
Because I had caught the vision, that’s why! I saw what my friends were trying to do and I completely wanted in. We purchased our home when it looked like this. Nothing. A shell. It had no walls, no floors, nothing inside. A true blank slate for me to cast my dreams upon!
And three months later our house was finished and I was helping my friends spread beauty throughout our neighborhood. I began helping with our twin… (you can see the full transformation of that home with befores and afters here.)
And then I started casting a vision for the beauties on the corner….
Here is one of the many photoshopped pics we used in trying to determine exterior paint colors…
And then I was able to help out with other homes in the neighborhood! Here are some random pictures of what my neighborhood looks like now.
Falling in love with my house had everything to do with falling in love with a dream. This neighborhood has been a sort of Cinderella Story in the works, and any story which includes creating beauty out of chaos, and style out of scraps… is a story I want to be a part of!
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Wow, Beth! You took a diamond in the rough and transformed it into something that you can be so very proud of.
Isn't it funny how we just know what house is right for us? We viewed our current house during an open house and walked out after seeing only 3 rooms on the first floor. The unkempt rooms turned us off completely. Several months later, we viewed the house again on a whim- this time it was vacant and looked 100% better! We placed an offer and it was ours. 🙂
Hope all is well w/you. Hope to get back to blogging soon. Just wanted to say a quick hi.
hugs, Sue
I love this story. How you've helped change a whole neighborhood. I think this would be so much fun to do. What an adorable neighborhood.
I remember you helping with the twin house, but I had no idea you did so much for the neighborhood! That is awesome that you made it what it is today.
Beth, I love your story, so glad you hung in there & fixed that baby up. It was totally worth it.
This is such a cool story! I'm so glad you shared it with us! I remember driving through older neighborhoods in Salt Lake and thinking how amazing it would be if a whole group of people would move in and commit to fixing the interesting old houses up. I absolutely LOVE that you guys did exactly that. A+ (don't know why I'm grading you, just felt like you deserved it…hehe).
Thanks for linking to my party!
Hah! We were just talking about this. Yes, you can't put a monetary value on being at home.
That's an amazing story! You must have incredible energy to have accomplished so much! Your home and neighborhood looks just wonderful! I love homes with charm and character as well, but I don't think I could have done what you have. Amazing!
I loved reading about how you met your house! What a great story. I bet your neighbors are really glad you came along! 🙂
What a great story . . . and such a lovely transformation!
Love this! Such a great story – and you are making a difference!
I just read your story about redo your twin…I'm sitting here with my mouth open in awe…how do you do it AND work as a counselor. I teach 3rd grade and I know how drained I feel by 4:00 let alone by Friday…Helpful hints and tips on stamina please? You are so inspiring!!
Beth your story if wonderful! What a great project to be part of and own! You have done such a great job of restoring these fabulous houses. xx
Beth what an amazing story! I just adore your home and it's great history. You all have created a true gem and it's really gorgeous. ~Aweome job!
I meant to tell you how much I love your decks and all of your colorful flowers. Everything is soooo beautiful and vibrant!
Your new pictures you made in your master bedroom are stunning as well. I have been by to see everything you have posted lately but haven't left as many comments. Oops! I'm sorry! *Smiles* I read everything though. LOVE your blog!
Well I finally posted on your idea about a creating a vignette. ~Whew! It took me forever to get it posted since other things kept popping up. Thank you for the idea and your sweet visit today! Check it out if you have a moment.
~Blessings, ~Melissa 🙂
What a trasnformation and how brave you were. So well worth it, it looks fabulous.
I love your house and I love how you saw beauty in ugliness. It's so wonderful that your neighborhood is being renewed. Thank you for sharing this!
So glad your dream of being a stay at home mom came true. I've been home with my kids for 11 yrs and love it. Your house/neighborhood is beautiful. Kudos to you for all the hard work!
I really enjoyed checking out some of your rooms on your blog. I love, love, love shells too 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Love it!! What a great story! I remember the "stuck with kids in day care" days – makes you readjust your priorities. We are also in an old house.
-Trish
Wow! What a story! That's so cool and it took guts! 🙂
I love your story! Our house was a real clunker too. 😉 The work we've done on ours has spurred some of the neighbors to make updates to their homes. 🙂 Our street is making a comeback. 😉
wow – the turrets on that corner house are amazing!
What a wonderful story and I love how you have helped this community become a better place to live. Thanks so much for stopping by.
A nice story, but your last line was perfection!!
What a gorgeous neighborhood! I'm a sucker for old homes, and love to see when others take to bringing old homes back to life!
-Sarah Marie aka Miss Mud
http://MyMississippiMudPie.blogspot.com
I love a house with a history and strong architectural lines it's easy to see why you fell in love!
I am a city/urban girl through and through. I love neighborhoods like this. You already know how much I love your house. 🙂