There's really nothing like getting your home ready to sell to someone else to make you realize that you're perfectly fine living in finger-print covered squalor most of the time.
The beautiful double-paned windows and even more beautiful "I'm going to live in this house forever" doors I ordered a lifetime (8 months) ago when I really did think we'd live in this house forever FINALLY came in last week.
They were installed over the last 3 days and they are so beautiful I keep wondering if I can keep commuting after all.
We're set to move 3 weeks from Monday and I simply can't believe it.
We've been so busy I haven't been able to think about actually leaving this beautiful home behind.
Nevermind the friends, neighbors, connections, and familiarity we've built over a decade- I can't even process that yet. But this house- this physical structure that we fell in love with sitting on our couch in Austin while our then-1-year-old and 4-year-olds slept. It is so unique, so beautiful, so full of charm and quirks and memories.
It was built in 1949 and each owner- each steward- of this property has left their mark. Extensions and renovations and additions... we didn't add on, but we took down the wall to the kitchen, renovated each bathroom, replaced every damn window, and insulated the garage (among many othr more boring renovations, like hot water re-piping, replacing the hot water heaters, replacing the roof, repainting the exterior, repainting the interior, and replacing both HVAC systems).
I love this house.
All its quirks, all the work, I
love it.
And I hope the next steward of this property feels the same.
We spent the weekend scrubbing, magic erasing, mulching, Windex'ing, and scrubbing some more. Then we cleared off every surface, cleaned out every closet, and did our best to make it looked like only 1-2 people live here instead of the clan of 8 we really are.
The kids worked so hard and were so great. It was not a particularly fun weekend, but it did end well.
Cookshack chicken, sangria swirl margaritas, and the kids' first viewing of Top Gun, which was a HUGE hit. The kids are now all asleep in the girls' room. We've been letting them do sleepovers every night until the move since they won't be able to do so in the rental house. It feels like the end of an era and that makes me sad too.
Strangely, it helps to think of how many other people have lived and loved here and then moved on. We found this flyer tucked in our door frame when the old one was taken out. Handwritten on delicate paper, the kids wondered why the phone numbers were so short.
Our house gets her pictures taken tomorrow. She's ready and I can't wait to see how she looks! And then I will be sad, again, because I love this house and I LOVE the memories we made here. The last ten years have been so precious and we've been lucky to call this 0.33 acre home for so long.
Claire, 2012
This girl is going to have her 12th birthday party in that pool the day before we move. What a fabulous run it's been.
It is a fabulous house - if I lived anywhere near Fort Worth I would buy it in a heartbeat. Out of sheer nosiness, how come you're not renting it instead of selling?
ReplyDeleteThanks! And we're selling because as much as the prices have gone up in Fort Worth (we're listing for more than 2x what we bought it for 10 years ago!), it seems like they've gone up even more in Dallas and we'll need the equity for a down payment when we buy our forever home there next year.
DeleteI hope you find another fabulous house in the perfect neighborhood. My step-siblings grew up in Highland Park and loved it but that was 40+ years ago, when the neighborhood was wealthy but still normal, if that makes sense. Best of luck with the move! :)
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