I LOVE my home -- a 3,000 sq. foot 1963 brick and stone rancher on a 1/2 acre lot.
It's basically two 1,500 square foot rectangles -- one on top of the other -- with a 2-car garage on the S short end and a screened porch on the N short end, off the family room and my bedroom. Behind me is all hardwood forest and the way the land rolls away, the neighbor to the N is below my house. I can stand naked on my screened porch and no one would ever know. Heh. I hang laundry out there so this feature comes in handy!
In 2004, it was an estate when I bought it at auction. It was filthy from cat pee and chain smoking. It had bad mechanicals, a two-layered failing roof, and original everything. I bought it because it had good bones and a great location. I'm the second owner and over the last decade, I've done extensive renovations on the "slow and steady" plan. When I bought it, I had two and sometimes three kids at home. It was a wonderful place for them -- they skateboarded in the semi-finished basement, and walked or biked to school, the library, work, or the YMCA. The brick wall in the basement will always have the strike zone that my son painted on with white-out so he could practice his pitching inside when the weather was lousy. Note: that was not authorized and I was mad at the time. Now, I cherish that reminder of his youth.
In 2013, with just one kid left at home, I renovated the basement so my house is a now a duplex. The rent pays 3/4 of the mortgage and that's helping me pay off law school student loans. My son (18) and I live in the upstairs 1,500 square feet. LOVE: the massive Tennessee slate fireplace, the beautiful hardwood floors (refinished by ME last year), the floor plan and natural light, and the screened porch.
I'll admit that, when the time comes, it will not be easy to leave this powerful symbol of my badassity. When I bought it, I had just gotten divorced. I had never lived on my own and was terrified that I couldn't do it. In 2003, after my ex moved out, our marital home flooded twice. I fought for a FEMA grant that bought out that house and once I had confirmation of the buy-out, I got a bridge loan that paid off the old mortgage and let me buy the new one. My kids and I had been in temporary housing for 18 months but because I was smart and scrappy, we had our "new" home in time for Christmas of 2004 and it has been our rock ever since.
For me, this house is so much more than shelter.
