* * *
Saturday morning, as I was doing the exercises given to me by my physical therapist(s), Fred came out of the computer room.
“There’s a new one for sale!” he said excitedly.
Ever since we decided that it wouldn’t hurt to start looking for a house out in the country now instead of waiting ’til we put our house up for sale, he’s been stalking ValleyMLS, sending me links to houses, and just generally driving me crazy.
“Oh yeah?” I said. “Where?”
“Smallville,” he said. “That’s not far from here!” (Smallville, of course, is not the actual name of the town, but it’s a very small town and I don’t want to give stalkers any hints on where to find us. Therefore, we’ll be referring to it as Smallville.) “Plus, we’ll be about five minutes from the river, which will be good for kayaking!”
“Well,” I said. “Call and find out more about it, and when I’m done with these exercises and have eaten, we can go drive by it.”
We drove out into Athens – past Athens, really – a couple of weeks ago to look at a house, and just seeing the exterior of the house was enough to put us off. Plus, the drive kinda sucked; it was further out than we wanted to go.
He called and talked to the realtor who was listing the house, found out where it was, and by the time I was done eating breakfast, he was practically hopping in place, he was so excited to get on the road. I decided to take my shower later, and we left.
It took us some doing to find the place, because one road turns into another road, and we hadn’t seen any signs indicating the road name change. Fred stopped and asked for directions (YES, he asks for directions! He’s no stereotypical “I don’t need to ask no directions!” man.), and found that we were on the right road, we just needed to keep going.
We found the house and drove by it, turned around, and drove by it again. We both tried to put a positive spin on it, but honestly, neither of us cared for it. Not to mention that it was 1500 square feet, and our current house is (I think) 2400 square feet. Yes, we could live in 1500 square feet, but did we want to?
“I… well, maybe we should just call Joe (the realtor who sold us this house) and see if we can go through it,” I said, but I could already tell that Fred wasn’t into that idea.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he said reluctantly.
So we headed back toward home, and almost as an afterthought I pointed out the “for sale by owner” house we’d passed on the way. “We should write down the phone number and call them,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s a cute little house,” Fred said. He turned around and we looked it over again. “I don’t see heat or air conditioning units, though. Do you see any window units?”
More important to us than space is central heat and air. You can’t live in Alabama without it. Well, you could, but I wouldn’t want to.
I didn’t see any window units, and I didn’t see heat and air units, but I wrote down the number anyway.
When we got home, I went upstairs to take a shower, and Fred ate breakfast and came up to talk to me. I don’t remember what we talked about – I think I got pissy with him, though, whatever it was – and I said “Did you call about that ‘for sale by owner’ house?”
“Not yet,” he said.
“Why don’t you?” I suggested, knowing that it was pointless. It was going to be too small, not have central heat and air, or not be on enough land, I could just feel it.
He came back upstairs a while later while I was blow-drying my hair.
“The bad news is,” he said, holding up a piece of paper, “it’s only on 4 1/2 acres of land.” We’ve been talking about 5 acres or more. “It’s 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, about 2200 square feet, has heat and air conditioning units in the back – that’s why we didn’t see them – and they’ve redone the electrical and the plumbing completely. It was built in 1935 and had the same owner until 2000, when the woman went into a nursing home. The current owners bought it from the estate a few years later, and now they’re ready to sell.”
“DAMN!” I said, my eyes big as saucers. “We should go see the inside!”
“She’s going to email me some pictures of the inside,” Fred said. “She’s out driving around right now.”
He checked his email repeatedly until we left an hour later, but by the time we left the house, we’d received no pictures.
When we got home close to 8:00, the pictures had arrived. And each picture was better than the last, at least to me. We analyzed every inch of every picture, Fred forwarded them to his Dad for an opinion. Then he tried to call the owner to set up a time when we could walk through the house.
He ended up getting the husband of the woman he’d talked to earlier, and when Fred suggested late Sunday morning, the guy said something along the lines of “We prefer not to do business on The Sabbath.”
They settled on Monday afternoon, the guy told Fred he’d have his wife call him to settle on an exact time, and then Fred emailed the woman to let her know we were interested in seeing the house.
So Monday at 3:30 – 3:45ish was decided, and we spent every minute of the rest of the weekend staring at the pictures she’d sent, discussing what we’d do where. We talked it to DEATH, because while Fred was cautious about the house and whether we’d like it, I was unequivocal in my love for the house. I was IN LOVE, I knew it, I was practically ready to make an offer for it sight unseen.
Monday morning Fred called. “I don’t want to bum you out,” he said.
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?” I moaned. Sometimes – most of the time – I wish he’d just come out and say it rather than pussyfooting around what he’s going to say.
“I just talked to the owner, and she said someone dropped off a contract yesterday.”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I said.
“She said she didn’t think they were going to take it, so maybe we’ve still got a shot.”
I spent the rest of the day stressing out about it, because I LOVED THIS HOUSE. Which is when I decided to ask y’all to send generic good thoughts my way – sorry if I worried any of you, I tried not to! – and when we set off for the house, I felt surprisingly optimistic.
To cut a way-too-long story short, we LOVED the house. It has a huge front porch – which I’ve always wanted – it has lots of room (it seems, really, like it has MORE room than our current house; I’m wondering if 2200 square feet is an accurate measure of it), it has a nice big kitchen (room for an island or a butcher block in the middle), it has a window over the kitchen sink (which I’ve always wanted), and the amount of land is AWESOME.
When we were done looking at the house and the land, I was so worried that the owners would take the other offer that I was fairly vibrating with excitement and worry and love for the house. Fred asked the owner what they wanted for the house – he hates to haggle – and she named a figure, and we went out back and pretended to talk about it, then went back in for one more look at the house.
And we made the offer, and Fred discussed the closing costs with her husband (via cellphone), and the next thing we knew – the offer had been accepted!
Last night, Fred and the realtor – the guy who sold us this house, who agreed to usher us all through this process – drew up the contract, took it out to the house, and everyone signed. And assuming that nothing goes wrong with the house inspection (Thursday morning) or the appraisal – and we’ve already been approved for the mortgage – on September 29th, we’ll be closing on our dream house.
It needs a lot – A LOT – of cosmetic work inside, and lots of work on the land, but since we won’t be moving in ’til next Spring (we have to stay in Madison so the spud can graduate from her high school; we had hoped we could go ahead and move in and she could drive to school in Madison from Smallville (only a 20 minute drive). But Fred talked to the superintendent yesterday, who said that there was nothing in place to deal with something like that, so no. We’re not going to yank the kid out of her high school a month into her Senior year; she’s been going to this school district for 7 years now.), we have lots of time to work on the inside of the house and the land.
I think I know what we’ll be doing with our nights and weekends for the foreseeable future…
And what kind of journaler would I be if I didn’t have a house tour up and ready to go?
Here you go.
Emu. We refer to all emus as “Bill Phillips”, because the man looks strikingly like an emu. Disturbingly so. See for yourself. I mean that comparison in the nicest possible way, of course.
Someone on one of the message boards Fred visits on a regular basis made this out of one of Fred’s emu pictures, and it makes me laugh ’til I wheeze.
As Fred termed it (and I adopted it), a melange of tigers. That’s Doc on the left. Doesn’t he LOOK like he’d like to take a chunk out of your ass?
“I’m mean! Yes I am!”
“I consider this sibling conquered. What ever shall I do next?”
He swore there was no tongue involved.
This dog – the “babysitter”, Sue called him – did not HESITATE to mix it up with the cubs.
All of today’s uploaded pictures can be seen here.
Heh. My entry says I pointed the house out to Robyn, and her entry says she pointed it out to me. 🙂
Congrats on the new house, it’s gorgeous!! 🙂
Ooh, first comment!! That never happens to me. It’s darling house and all I can think of is how much you guys must be getting all that property with a house in good, original condition. Out here in CA (SF area), we’d pay probably $750-900,000 just for the house in bad shape, not to mention the land. I sent you happy thoughts yesterday and I’m glad they worked!! Enjoy all of your upcoming projects!!!
Congratulations!!!!!!!! I love it! It is so adorable. I am glad that you found something that you like so much.
WOOO! I’m with Thea – you’d pay a BUTTLOAD for property and a house like that here.
I’m so stoked for you all – and I CAN’T WAIT to see picture updates as you fix it up the way you want it.
I’m trying not to be jealous – Alabama is looking like a good place to move lately – perhaps I COULD live away from the ocean..hmmmmm
Congratulations to both of you! The house is wonderful – so happy it is all working out. BTW, if this is your first home that you can use a wood stove to heat … you will LOVE it. There’s just something really nice about woodstove heating … we almost never use our forced air gas heat; the woodstove is so much better.
As soon as I read yesterday that you wanted generic happy thoughts, what did I pose in your comments for the Wednesday question? Questions about your current house and why you’re looking for something else. Oh yeah, I’m psychic! Or something.
Congratulations! Adorable house and I *so* envy the 4.5 acres!
Congratulations on your new home!
I guess you will be renovating it before you move in?
Where are you going to put the workout room??
What will the neighborhood be like for your walking?
Best wishes!
Congratulations on the house! It is absolutely adorable and I love all of the yellow. We’re closing on our very first house on the 31st and I was practically drooling all over the paint samples at Lowe’s last night. 🙂
I can’t wait to see what you do with the place, older houses like that have so much charm to them.
I LOVE the house from the front. From what you’ve described, the only thing that could make it better would be if the porch wrapped all the way around.
Congrats! How ever will you keep the kitties in rein in that “yard”???
Robyn:
The good news was worth the wait. Congratulations on the new house!
Chris
You can’t help it if you have a tiger-tasty-ass!!
I’m so happy for you all! Love the house – it looks amazing.
What does the Spud think of all this? Was she able to visit the house with you on Sunday?
What a great looking house! Just exactly something that would catch my eye, too. Love the porch, and all the neat touches (beadboard walls? wood/beam ceilings? stair landing & fireplace-side windows? LOVE). As for that concrete pad, you could get one of those canvas or vinyl or whatever tent-top things, or hey, how about you put a HOT TUB out there? Oh the possibilities are endless. How very exciting for you guys!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Congratulations! I’m very happy for you and you’re much nicer parents then mine were. Well sort of. Mine just didn’t tell the school that we moved. If they had found out one of my friends’ parents said I could live with them.
Congrats again.
I haven’t looked at the inside pictures yet, but just the one of the outside makes me smile. I can see why you fell in love with it! And it will look mighty cute painted yellow, don’t you think? 🙂
Congratulations!
Also – I noticed the way you slipped in that the laundry room may also be the foster cat room in the picture descriptions. You’re going to foster again??? WOOT!
Congrats!! We just signed papers for our first house a few weeks ago and we’re still excited 🙂
Sorry about the bite, ouch!
If you want to see the tons of pictures I have of our new house, email me. I don’t know about you, but I love looking at houses.
That is my dream house. Congratulations!
I am so excited for you! Love the house. Old houses are great.
It must be house-buying season – we just had our offer accepted yesterday for our first house!
congrats! It needs to be yellow. 🙂
Congrats on the house! I LOVE old houses, and your new one is awesome.
I love it! It is beautiful. I love old homes, especially with land. I am so happy for you three (and the kitties). I am glad that nothing is wrong, I was a little worried when you asked for good thoughts.
Congratulations!
So pretty! Congratulations!
Is Smallville around my neck of the woods, perchance?
Congrats on the new home, Robyn!!!! 😀
Well, this is just awesome! You guys found a real gem there. Will there be a house remodeling journal? Good thing Fred got all that practice painting in your current house. What are your plans for the kitties being able to go outdoors? Whatever you come up with I am sure it will be uber perfecto. I am so happy and excited for all of you. You are going to have so much fun!
One more thing… you mean they do not have open enrollment at Spud’s school?
I think the new place looks awesome Robyn, you should definitely get a horse 😀
Congratulations on the house! That’s just wonderful!
You know, although I don’t personally care for the house, it seems like it was built perfectly for YOU. The yellow walls, the neat paneling, those floors – the entire house has a cheerful disposition with just a hint of “don’t FUCK with me!”
What a charming house! Congratulations!
Congratulations 😀 I can’t wait to see what you do with the place.
It’s gorgeous!!! Love the idea of all that land, being a farm girl and all. I bet the yellow walls sold you!
Why not turn the room above the garage into your workout room or a young adult room for spud??
I want the first option when you resell! You have bought my dream house!!!!!!!!
Good Karma Good Karma Good Karma…just make sure the inspector looks for termites. Lots of wood happening in that old house.
Have FUN with it!!!
I was SO. WORRIED! Thank you for not making us wait.
Congrats on your house! It’s lovely.
I love the house and in general the charm of older homes. You’re going to have so much fun!
Its charming. I love the front door! How do you think the cats will do? Are you going to fence in the back for the cats?
And look at how much of it is already YELLOW!! It is definitely the season for home buying. Ours went up for sale yesterday and we made an offer on a bigger one.
Omg Robyn, beadboard all over. I’m so excited for you- you’re going to have a great time fixing it up. xoxoxo
Oooooooo, I LOVE that house!
Congrats hun! Like I told Fred in his comments.. you have got to invest in a nail gun.. and you will never let him get ahold of it cause you will fall in love! Power tools are AWSOME! 🙂
I LOVE your new house! We bought our first home a year and a half ago here in NC and it is a fixer-upper 1930 farmhouse. We love it, although it has been a lot of work. Your’s has way more charm than ours and I can’t wait to see what you do with it. By the way, we are in Asheville NC (great kayaking country) and work for Biltmore Estate. If you’re ever in the area, let me know and I will hook you up with free tickets!
I love that house. I have a farmhouse in Maine that is my love just like this one will be yours. Sadly I live in Hawaii and don’t get to enjoy that place as much as you and Fred will get to.
Congratulations!
As someone that is starting on the journey to having gastric bypass I have a couple of questions.I am struggling with do it/don’t do it.The fear of dying or having complications.I have two small kids and they need me.I know that I haven’t been able to lose the weight myself and with 150lbs to lose..my health is only getting worse.I already have high cholestrol/trygycerides,high blood pressure,edema,pre-diabetes,pain in my legs/back/ankles,and take several medicines.I am only 27.
Most people that have had WLS are telling me do it..they wish they would have years ago.I have my first appointment with the surgeon on the 29th.I have my paperword all done and my doctor is 100% behind me.I hope insurance approves me because she (doctor) thinks it could really change my life.
What made you decide to have WLS?
What made you decide to do gastric bypass instead of LapBand?
Awesome on the new house! Love the yellow! My question, like Niki F, is about the cats – are they going to be fenced in? Free?
Oh, and are you guys going to add a pool?
How lucky are you that your house has so many of the original walls and ceilings? I hope hope hope you can find a way to remove the paint and stain the wood back to it’s natural color (well that is, if that’s what you like – that’s what I would do) There’s so much character in an old house like that. Lucky YOU!!! And you’ll love living in the country!
Yay! Congratulations, and fingers and other extremities crossed for a clean bill of inspection and so forth.
If the current owners don’t do a good cleanout before you take possession, and leave that Viking ship thing in that one closet, can I have it? It’s cute. (c:
Shannon, I just had to reply to your post… sorry if I am hijacking your comments here Robyn. I had GBS almost four years ago. I had every complication they warn you about.. literally. I wont go into all of it on here, but lets just say, if they warn you about it.. I have had it. I would still do it all over again (with the complications if I had to) and recommend it when I speak to people. I do tell everyone to make sure they know the risks, are comfortable with that decision and stand by it for themselves. Don’t do it for someone else, do it for you. My surgeon was on top of everything and when a complication came up, he dealt with it promptly and I came through it ok.
If you ever need to talk, or anything, please feel free to Email me at any time. My email is on the link thingy here for the comments signature.
Good Luck Hun and congrats on whatever decision you make. :0) Oh, and if you do have it.. listen to Robyns advice, she is the poster child for the “perfect Gastric Bypass Patient”!!! Excersise, eating, menu, amounts, protein… she makes me ashamed of myself! LOL
Thank you Robyn, for not throwing a “mater” at me for hijacking your comments 🙂 Lurve you!!!
I love that house! And that yellow! It’s your destiny!
Robyn! It is so awesome! Looking through the photos of the house, I was drooling! I LOVE all the charm that the house has! The bathrooms? Gorgeous! You guys will make it more wonderful than it already is!
There is only one thing that I wonder about…Where is MY bedroom??
Hugs!
And I will NEVER turn my back on a tiger again. Guaranteed.
I’m SO happy for you guys! What a great property!
This is exactly what I imagine my house to look like when the “grankids” come someday!
I’m looking forward to the home repair stories.
OH THANK GOD you’re not getting divorced… Terrible to admit that’s what I was thinking but you had me scared!
That house looks yummy. I quite like the colour in the master bedroom, I admit… what have you got against green, eh? And it has white plumbing already – that’s got to help. Can I come & stay? (Notwithstanding I’m an axe-murderedr off teh internets, obviously)
Hurray for the Andersons! And yeah, never turn your back on a tiger. Or a lion, for that matter. I know a guy who did — and ended up with four, four-inch deep puncture wounds in his ass. No lie.
Oh awesome place – a real fixer upper!! Here’s my question: what are you going to do with the kitties when you move in? You let them outside now, are you going to build a fence again, and put collars on the 2 of them like now?
Robyn! Congratulations!!! That is wonderful and exciting. That’s also exactly how my husband and I found our house – after looking at another house we found disappointing, noticing a fsbo sign in a yard. Congratulations! It’s absolutely beautiful!
Holy craptasmagon! Hardwood floors, vintage details, CLOSETS – I am fucking drooling!
Can’t wait to hear about all your adventures in your new place. A big Congratulation to you and your family!
YAY!!! I LOVE old houses!! So much CHARACTER! Just like yourself. 😉
OMG how exciting. No wonder you had no time for an entry on Monday. In the case, “you are forgiven.” Congrats – I love the walls – old planks or whatever it’s called. No wonder you loved the house – all that yellow!
Enjoy – I’m sure you will be getting your workouts this fall. You could “sneak” into the house earlier – just don’t tell the school. Your mail is forwarded for 6 months. . .
Congratulations on the new house! I LOVE the original(?) slats through the halls and livingroom areas. Your new house makes me droool!!
Congrats on the house Robin(and Fred!). From the front it looks so unassuming but inside it’s amazing! It really does have wonderful potential. I am very happy for you two and I can’t wait to watch the renovations.
That’s the kind of house I would love. Enjoy it! 😀
Congrats! What a great find!
When I was growing up I lived in a different school district than the school I attended. The way that I got to go to my preferred school was based on the racial ratio of the school. They needed more white students to get a better racial balance. You might look into it. I was suprised when you said the Spud’s superintendant said there was no way arrangements could be made. Unless the house isn’t in Madison Co.? That may be the problem.
I LOVE THAT HOUSE. You must allow me to occupy the guest bedroom. Please and thank you. 🙂
Oh you are going to love your new house! I love old houses and I love working on them. You will become a fixture at Home Depot and Lowes and start watching HGTV on a regular basis now. Good thing Fred loves to paint. You found a true diamond in the rough that will be a perfect gem of a home when you guys are done with it. You lucky ducks!
I’ve just now had a chance to really read this post and look at the photos. That house is so super cute. I’m really glad for you guys. I’m going to drop the unsolicited advice bomb on you and I understand if it totally makes you hate me.
Andy and I bought our house almost a year ago and we had Super Big Plans for renovation. Because we didn’t have the money, we haven’t really started anything yet and it turned out to be a good thing. I’m really glad we’ve had a year of living in this house because we see now that a lot of our initial plans wouldn’t have been right for us. They would’ve been fine, but not the best way to spend our money. So my suggestion is that you do the smallest stuff first, give yourself a chance to live in the space and then make your decisions on bigger renovations.
One more thing- I love, love, love the porch.
Also- I didn’t read through the comments so if this is a repeat of what someone else said- sorry!
I am LOVING the house! And the land… this former country girl misses having all that space to be FREE!!! Just lovely Robyn and Fred, fingers crossed for you!
Congratulations on the new house! It looks amazing!