House and Half-an-Acre

Wednesday afternoon we signed more papers than I can count. It amounts to a book that the title company actually bound and gave to us so that we have it all in one place. That was thoughtful of them. Sign here and here and here, and initial here, and sign here and here and here … Be sure to sign the one that says the title company can fill in any places where we may have missed signing! 

There was tension right up to the end. The electric gate was still a matter of contention (The gate is another aspect that deserves a whole piece on the subject! It will be forthcoming!)  The sellers didn’t have a definite time frame or estimate as to how much it was going to cost to get it operable. They were sort of hoping that we’d just let that slide. 

I was not! That would be comparable to us showing up at closing a couple thousand dollars short and just saying, ‘well, we’re good for it.’ They wouldn’t have gone for that, I’m sure. We did finally get something in writing that was a bit more specific. That was even past the time we would have normally left to be out on the west side of town signing here (and here, and here…my signature gets sloppier as I go along!) 

But with that detail done, we have bought a house for the first time in our lives. The months of the process had come to fruition. It even happened on a day in January when the Old Farmer’s Almanac said it was good to buy a house! 

I have been a pastor for decades and we have always lived in a manse (Presbyterian word for ‘man’s house from Scot’s origin). That way the churches have not had to buy another house and keep making payments when they already owned a home. I have also been setting aside money in an equity fund so that we’d have a down payment and closing costs. That was a good plan. 

We are now the proud owners of a craftsman cottage that was built in 1948. It has hardwood floors and some arched passageways that delight the eyes. It has a big patio that has tile on it that will be a great spot for relaxing and dining and maybe having a fire pit. It has a basement that offers more space and has been recently redone. It has a two car detached garage that will become my wood shop in the months ahead. It was built with real-live 2 inch lumber and seems good and stout. It’s a lovely little house that has ‘character,’ ‘charm,’ and a large degree of ‘cute,’ as others have described it. 

It sits on a half-acre lot in an older, established neighborhood. It has some mature trees.  Unfortunately those trees are not well-spaced for hammock hanging! There is some nice landscaping, although some of it is over-grown and will need to be removed. There is a front yard with a stone walkway to the front door. There is a back yard where we might grow some things. There is a fence around the property—I’m guessing someone had a dog at some point. There is some crepe myrtle and leyland cypress and roses already. In essence, there is some room and ground here to work with. 

So the cute little house and the half-acre it sits on now become our responsibility. We are ‘homeowners,’ a status and title that we’ve never had before. 

It is the culmination of a task that has taken us some time. We looked a numerous other properties. Some houses that didn’t quite suit us; some properties that had issues; one piece that would have been more ground, but that also means a lot more work and money. I have seen a bunch of code violations and other things that made me shake my head and ask myself, “What were they thinking?” I have played detective with some details that were unsatisfactory. It has been interesting, to say the least. 

But it has also been worth it. Searching for a house should take time. Time to look at options. Time to look at it from a variety of aspects. Time to see what doesn’t appeal at all. We didn’t rush this decision, and that feels good. 

A good friend told me that we don’t pick our houses—our houses pick us. Wood and stone, bricks and mortar are not capable of such things, but there is some sense in which when we entered this place it felt ‘like home.’ I’ve had that feeling before, and it has proven itself in times past. Buildings convey a certain energy. I’m reasonably sure that we’ve all felt that. 

“Home” conveys a unique energy. It welcomes you. It feels comfortable. It invites you to imagine what it would be like to cook a meal in this kitchen, or to sit and converse in this sitting space, or to have a cold drink here outside. Even if there are things that need to be fixed or painted or changed, it still feels like there is something ‘right’ about this space. 

So we’ve found what feels like our new ‘home.’ It’s going to be a while before we’re there all the way. We’ve got to sort and purge and dispense and distribute some of what we’ve already got around us. But we’ve picked a landing spot—or perhaps it picked us. 

We’re ‘homeowners.’ Maybe it would be better to say that we have found a cottage and a piece of ground where we feel we belong. Where we were already ‘welcomed home.’