It seems like finding a new home would be fun, right? Just gallivanting around the countryside with every spare minute we had. It was fun at first. Every time we’d find a property that was even close to the requisites we decided, we’d rush out to see it. Then time after time, all the excitement would end with swampy properties, too close to the road, not enough house, not enough property or not too much of either. The houses all seemed to mash together in our heads. Meanwhile, our house in the suburbs had interested buyers as soon as we put it on the market. People waiting in the street the minute it went online…No pressure here! We never thought we’d find THE house in time, but rather we’d settle for the closest one. But there was this one…
We weren’t sure at first. After all, it was a big decision to make. We looked at it many times, making the 1 1/2 hour round trip each time. At one point my husband said that there was just too much to fix and it was absolutely NOT an option. I begged him one more time to consider this property and we made the drive again. We pelted the real estate agent with questions for the current owner. Heating costs, plans to fix the septic, possible basement leakage, pole barn electrical breaker problems and who did the remodeling. Most of our questions answered with an ‘I don’t know’. Headache after headache with the inability to get any answers.
This house was a 96-year-old remodeled farmhouse with a large pole barn, a two stall garage, an old silo and 30 acres of property. The land was almost equals parts cropland, pasture and forest. The wooded part had a deep ravine with a stream running through it.
Sounds perfect, right? But the biggest things holding us back were all the painting, cleaning and repairs that would need to be done before we could call it home. The driveway would need major repair,
the wall colors were a cross between Amityville Horror and a pinata!
The septic system had been bad for a long time so the house smelled like raw sewage. Each time we came to see the house the windows were open with candles and scented wax warmers going and they didn’t begin to mask the smell.
There was even an electrocuted raccoon atop the power pole that had been there a while. Yikes! Our first farm animal? We named him ‘Sparky’.
Luckily, a brand new septic had just been installed days before we purchased our dream farm. The electric company came and removed the raccoon. A little new carpet and paint would make it just right. So, off we went with friends and family helping us round the clock for the first several weeks.
We used over 3o gallons of wall primer, ceiling paint and wall paint…
The driveway required 3o belly-dumper semi truck loads of sand and gravel.
We scrubbed, sanded, dusted, wiped, brushed, carpeted, hammered, raked and mowed our way through to make our new-old farmhouse and yard look like a dream we were both having. You’ll see the ‘after’ pictures throughout the blog.
After all had been signed and done (and a few pricks in our fingers) we found our ‘needle in the haystack’.
Farmer Nancy's Notes 