Sunday, August 8, 2010

Living in history...


I was thinking about how wonderful it would be write all the events and things that have taken place in our lives since the last time I wrote on here, but I think that may take ages. Plus I would not know where to start, so instead, I will share our latest adventure as a family.
On August 27, 2010, we bought our first home! Trevor and I knew that our time in this little town was not over, and we thought that having a home of our own would be the best step for our family. We looked at many homes in the area for a few months, but nothing seemed like the right home for us. Then in June, we found the one and made an offer. When it was accepted, we were thrilled and so scared! Without a Realtor or any other help, we learned a great deal about buying a home. What an experience this has been for us! We were glad when the last paper was signed and the keys were handed over. We love the area and the mountain views and feel very blessed to be here.
The original home was built in 1911. In 1935, an addition was made on the backside of the home including an added basement. The brick wall from the original outside can still be seen in the kitchen. Many have described it as a "Little English Cottage". In fact, the lady that owned it before us was from England and it reminded her of home. It is a very unique home with "quirks", but we love it anyway! It's a home full of character. The house sits on a little more than a half of an acre with large trees, a creek(property has water rights), and the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. Since it is a home filled with history, I have often wondered who has walked these floors before. How fascinating it might be to know stories about those who lived here when the bricks were new. I will have to look into it and see what I can find. I know that a few years ago two elderly sisters(in their 80's?) came to the door to see as if they could come in and take a look at the home. They grew up in it before the addition was in place. One of the sisters told the owner of the home that when her mother was due to have her little brother, she had begged her father to take her to the hospital to see the baby. When her family told her she needed to stay home, she remembers crying on the steps looking out at the back window(I will point out the window in the pictures) to watch her parents drive away. I wish I could have known the names of the sisters! We are grateful to be here and look forward to making our own memories here. What a wonderful little haven this is for us. We feel truly blessed.
Here are some of the many pictures I have taken. I hope that it can give you an idea of the home.



A view from the front door looking into the living room(we have the crown molding we would like to put all around the ceiling)

A view from inside the living room looking out the front door


Living room(check out the built in shelves and the pass through window..guess they use to cook on the one side and pass the food through it to the other room)


A view of the front door. Look above the door....all original...


A view of the dining room


The other side of the dining room looking at the wood stove


A view of the original staircase. We would love to refinish them.


A glance into the kitchen from the dining room


The kitchen


A look at the original outside brick wall which is now in the kitchen.


Another view of the kitchen. The little door on the upper left is a way to get into one of the attics(guess we have two) We would like to one day make that attic another bedroom) Also note the window. This is the window that the lady had mentioned looking out to see her parents drive off. Cool, Huh?


Another angle of the kitchen ceiling


Look at the wood work above the door


A view inside the shower...great mountain view and you can watch the farmers at work all while getting clean! ;D


The boys room


Emma's room

Our room(not sure why the camera made a spot on the wall...)We were sad that we could not put the posts on our bed...or the mirror on our dresser, but until we can make the other bedroom..it will have to do.
Another view of our room


These are the keys and door locks on all the bedroom doors! How neat is that?!?


A view of the storage before going down to the basement


A glimps of the basement...we hope to finish. The laundry is down here and also a spot to install our wood stove we bought a year ago. We have a lot of storage space down here also.


A view from inside the mud room off of the kitchen...also needs to be finished, but check out the stone floor!


A look at our creek!


Some of the big trees on the property..kids love LOVE the rope swing!


Annie enjoying the grass...looking so distinguished.

12 comments:

  1. OH MY GOODNESS!!! HOW ADORABLE!!!! SO JEALOUS!!! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT!!! Can I have used any more exclamation points?
    Love,
    Erin

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  2. It is LOVELY!!!! I wish we still lived up there to see it in person...I bet you are LOVING it.

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  3. oh and I love the door knobs and the keys

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  4. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!! That house fits you guys so perfectly!!

    p.s. the spot on your wall is a ghost :)

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  5. I am totally jealous! Congrats to you and your family. I sure wish I could come for a visit :( Enjoy YOUR new home.

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  6. I love your new home! So exciting but we still miss you here. We'd love to stop by some time.

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  7. What an adorable house! Love the inside! and all the character! how eciting for you! its soo fun to have your own home to work on and decorate. Congrats!

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  8. Wow, Jarom and I LOVE you house! What a find. I hope you'll spend many happy years to some there.

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  9. Thanks to all!! We are loving it! Still can't believe it is ours. I love places with history!(AND Linda...did I say that was our bedrooom with a spot on the wall???? Sorry, I meant to say the GUEST bedroom! My bad...hey so when were you guys thinking of coming for a visit?? Bahahahaha!!! Should make for a great Halloween!) We seriously would love any visitors! So COME on DOWN!

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  10. I love it!! So beautiful and original. We would love to come visit sometime!

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  11. Very Jealous! I've always wanted an old home with loads of history and charm. Not to mention I'm totally jealous you are still in the rexburg area. I could've stayed there forever! Who knows, maybe some day we'll be back.

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  12. That is so awesome! I can't wait for a home of our own, but I have to wait a long time yet. Student loans are going to be screaming at us for awhile still. But I can be happy for you in the mean time!

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