This Old "New" House

When we bought our farm we were delighted with the location, just a few miles from town where Hubby worked and the kids went to school.  We were thrilled with the road frontage and the sturdy barns.  The lush pastures and gently rolling fields were pleasing to the eye.  However, the old farm house was just that...an old farm house.  Like many farm houses, it had served its purpose over the years...lending shelter and comfort to hard working families.  Also, like many old farms, the money for major improvements had been spent on barns, fences, fertilizer, seed, and equipment.  Farm needs always taking precedence before house needs.

That first day, after Hubby had bought the farm, I stood on the hill looking out over the sensational view.  Then I turned to the house and sighed.  It was spacious and it did have my mother's farm requirements -- electricity and running water!  But it lacked in the touches to make it welcoming.  We had trees but no landscaping to soften the approach to the bare back door (all farm houses use the back door!)  The kitchen (the heart of any home) was one wall of mismatched cabinets and pine subflooring whose splinters taught us quickly to wear shoes inside!!  However, sweeping was easy.  There were so many gaps between the boards that you just swept across and let the dirt fall through to the cellar.

It had one bath which was located out of the kitchen.  This resulted in many funny (and sometimes not so funny) incidents over the years.  If you plan to avail yourself of the facilities in our house, come equipped with a sense of humor!  Our bedroom also opened into the kitchen, which is handy for quick snacks but rough on sleeping through teenagers playing cards on the kitchen table.

The entire house was a hodge-podge of additions, renovations, updates and make-do's from the families that had lived there over the years.  We learned from a former resident that the house itself was built out of part of the original house that had been partially destroyed by a tornado.  They just used the remaining walls left standing and built around them. Which explained why you might have three different types of walls in one room and not a square wall in the house!

While I was standing there that first day, thinking slightly depressing thoughts, Hubby walked up behind me and draped an arm over my shoulders.  Hugging me, he murmured apologetically, "I know it's not the house you've always wanted."  I nodded, wordlessly.  "However," he continued, "if you'll just live here for five years I'll build you a new one.  I promise!"

Little did either one of us know that it would take nearly 30 years and we would build that "new" house one renovation after another.  We have just finished the last room from the original old house.  A leak after the snow and ice of this winter started a round of repairs that ended with a new ceiling and new hardwood floors in the dining room, newly refinished hardwood floors in the kitchen and den (new during the remodeling fifteen years ago) and a fresh coat of paint on the three rooms. 

With this round we have finally rebuilt every room of the old house.  Each room was like an archeological dig, discovering artifacts along the way.  Like the crumpled up 1950 newspapers used to insulate the bathroom walls, or the 14" baseboards that extended 8" below the floor in the upstairs bedroom.  Like finding that the hall walls were held together with strips of masking tape over cracks in the old plaster and lathe walls. We've replaced windows, insulated, roofed, stripped paper, papered, put down floors, replaced the siding,  even replaced a wall in the cellar.  We've added rooms, a porch ( then used part of that porch for another room), landscaped, planted and pruned, and loved every inch of the old homestead. 

In return, the old house has seen us through children, grandchildren, celebrations, mourning, heartache and happiness.  We have shared its space and shade with friends, family, and, occasionally, passing strangers.  It has sheltered us through times of laughter and tears, sickness and health.

The old farmhouse is no longer something to be endured but rather a beloved home.

Hubby always keeps his promises....

Eventually....

Sort of.