We bought an old house.
And now that we actually live here, I am realizing that buying an old house and living in an old house are two very different things.
After years of raising our children and homeschooling, John and I find ourselves in a very different season of life. Our children are now in college, and we have suddenly been given the opportunity to start something new.
So, we bought an old house.
And I have a feeling this house is going to keep us busy for a very long time.
Why We Fell in Love With It
There were a lot of things about this house that immediately appealed to us.
For starters, I fell in love with the exterior. It has a Greek Revival style that immediately made all of my period drama dreams come to life. It is grand without feeling unapproachable, and there is something about an old house with this kind of presence that is hard for me to resist.
But as much as I loved the way it looked, it was really the way the house lived that sold us.
The layout works very well for us. Even though the house is large, it is surprisingly practical. There is room for a music room with our grand piano, plenty of space for entertaining, and enough room for everyone to spread out without the house feeling disconnected.
And then there is the property.
Almost an acre and a half.
Mature trees.
Space for gardens.
City water and sewer.
And a house that, at least from what we could see, had good bones.
I could immediately start imagining what this place could become.
Of course, imagining it and actually doing it are two very different things. I am learning that part now.
Getting to Know an Old House
One of the things I have loved most about these first few weeks is simply getting to know the house.
We have spent a lot of time cleaning.
And I mean a lot of cleaning.
Scrubbing floors, baseboards, walls and doors. There has been plenty of dust and dirt, but underneath all of that we keep finding little reminders of why we fell in love with the house in the first place.
The hardwood floors are gorgeous.
The old walls have so much character.
Even the basement, which was admittedly a little creepy when we first arrived, has become much more pleasant after some serious cleaning. It is now where I do laundry, which is not what I was imagining when we first toured the house!
There is something satisfying about cleaning an old house and watching it reveal itself.
We haven't done much actual renovation yet. Right now, we are mostly uncovering what is already here.
And Then There Is the Reality of Owning an Old House
Of course, it hasn't all been cleaning and admiring hardwood floors.
The electrical rewire has taken much longer than we anticipated, but we are finally at the inspection stage. Tomorrow is another inspection, so hopefully we are getting very close to the finish line on that project.
We've also had a steady stream of contractors coming through to look at various projects and give us estimates.
One thing I didn't fully appreciate before buying an old house is how difficult it can be to find someone who both understands an unusual old-house system and is willing to take the time to figure out the best way to approach it.
Some of the things we've encountered aren't projects contractors see every day.
So there has been a lot of measuring, looking, thinking, discussing and figuring things out.
I'm learning that owning an old house requires a little patience.
And probably a lot of patience.
The Things We Didn't Know We'd Be Learning About
One of the first surprises was the sewer.
The home inspection showed root intrusion, so we knew we would eventually need to address the sewer line. What we didn't realize was that there is more than one sewer line.
There are two lines coming from the house and another coming from the garage.
We are still waiting on estimates, but I am thankful for the plumbers who have been willing to take their time exploring the property and figuring out exactly what we have.
Then there are the box gutters.
That has been an education all by itself.
I have learned far more about old box gutters than I ever expected to know, and we are having to get creative about maintenance while we figure out the best way to address the larger repair.
And because this is a historic property, we are also learning about historic restrictions and the local historic commission. We are starting to build a relationship with them and learn more about what is required when making changes to an old house.
There is definitely a learning curve here.
The Garden
Of course, one of the things I am most excited about is the garden.
If you've been around Rudy Cottage Flowers for a while, you know how much I love growing flowers. I have already started dreaming about what I want to create here.
I am envisioning a dreamy, formal cottage garden.
A place for cut flowers.
Raised vegetable beds.
Garden paths.
Flowers spilling into one another.
And hopefully, eventually, a garden that feels like it has always belonged here.
But for now?
We are edging and weeding the existing beds.
There is plenty of work to do before I can start creating the garden I have pictured in my head.
We also have an arborist scheduled to come clean up the trees, including some large dead branches. And I am quickly learning that having almost an acre and a half of property means there are a LOT of sticks.
Apparently, one of my new responsibilities is picking up sticks before mowing.
I even bought a mini chainsaw.
This is not exactly what I pictured when I imagined my new gardening life, but here we are.
And then there are the deer.
Lots of deer.
I am used to dealing with rabbits in the garden, but apparently I have graduated to a whole new level of wildlife management.
Thankfully, the wildlife isn't all challenging.
The birds here have been amazing.
There is such a variety that I have been using an app to identify birds I don't recognize, and I seem to be discovering new ones constantly. I've already started scouting out places for bird feeders.
So maybe the garden is already becoming something, even if it doesn't look like the garden in my head yet.
Oh, and We Inherited a Koi Pond
Yes.
We inherited a koi pond.
And I have absolutely no idea what I am doing.
So far, I have learned how to clean the filter and, most importantly, I have managed to keep the koi alive.
I'm still not entirely sure what I am supposed to do for winter, so that is going to be one of the many things I need to learn.
I suppose that's another part of the adventure.
There are a lot of things about this house that we are figuring out as we go.
What I Hope This Place Becomes
When I think about what I want our old house to become, I don't just picture a beautiful house and garden.
I picture a peaceful oasis.
I want it to be a place where we can entertain and have people over. A place where we can create and spend time together. A place where we can build relationships with our neighbors and become part of the community.
I want to learn here.
I want to grow here.
I want to garden here.
And after so many years focused on raising our children and homeschooling, I think John and I are ready for a new adventure together.
And honestly, I am excited about that.
Why I'm Sharing It
One of my favorite things about gardening and homemaking is seeing how other people do it.
I love seeing someone's garden evolve over the years. I love seeing the before pictures and the projects that didn't quite go as planned. I love seeing someone take an ordinary space and slowly turn it into something beautiful.
So I thought maybe I should do the same.
I don't have a finished house to show you.
I don't have a finished garden.
I don't even really know what everything here is yet!
But I thought it would be fun to document the process.
Maybe something we learn will help you with your own old house or garden. Maybe you'll have advice for something I am trying to figure out. Maybe you'll simply enjoy watching this place change along with us.
I don't know exactly what this old house will look like a year from now, let alone five years from now.
But I have a feeling it is going to be beautiful.
And hopefully, along the way, it will become much more than just a house.
It will become our home.
This is just the beginning.
