If the original owners came to your house . . .

Our home is not very old, built in 1986. The couple we bought it off of moved to Texas after the sale. When we got the keys to the home, there was a beautifull letter, and a trinket candle waiting for us on the counter. The letter was quite long, explaining how when she grew up, she was not very fortunate ( they were poor people) and she always dreamed of a " Mansion on the hill" ( Every little girls dream I suppose.) So when she married, and they were able to build thier own home....they dug out our pond...to make a " hill" for the home to sit on, and she and her husband built this place. Its by no means a " Mansion" but has the appearance of one. It sits back from the road, down a sorta long lane.
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I was intimidated by the home when we first pulled in the drive, thinking there is no way just DH and I will need that big of a home. But after we came inside, it quite quaint. Only 2 bedrooms, one bath with a mostly finished basement. In the living room/diningroom there are vaulted ceilings with decorative beams, with hand carved pictures in them She explained how her husband hand carved them with a hammer and "several screwdrivers"LOL He is 80% blind. She did ask me if she was to come back to Indiana, if she could come by once in a while to " see the place" Of course I said yes..and she has come several times in the last 3 years....we have struck up a great friendship. We havent changed much on the place, other than the grounds...adding a garden, and several chicken coops and a few fruit trees. I am glad we have kept in contact with them...they are wonderfull people.
 
I think the first thing I would do is apologize for ripping out almost all of Emily's beloved azaleas. Emily and her sister Blanche were spinsters in their 80's, and their father had bought this house from the builder when they were in their 20's. She gave us some photos of how the house and yard looked when they first moved in. Emily had azalea's everywhere. We also ripped out the overgrown yews. But I think I have greatly improved the outside otherwise. Inside, like Lengel, its a mess. We have painted and fixed up some (the kitchen remains original, just new linoleum) but I am an art teacher, my daughter is an art student, and I have two boys, one of whom loves to build things out of any material available. I also detest housework. She would probably be appalled at the mess, but delighted by the chaos of having a house full of active children and creativity.
 
about a month after we moved into our place the previous occupants(I say this because the house had been a rental for several years) drove into the neighborhood. For some reason, even though I was home, they stopped at my next doors neighbors and asked them if we would be alright with them doing a walk through.

My neighbor said she wasnt sure how we would feel about that and "why not ask them yourself" heard the conversation through the open living room window. They never bothered to come over. But my answer would have been no. They hadnt owned it, they had rented it. No claim as far as I can see.

Oh and we have lived here since 2000, house was empty for 3 months prior to use buying it. We still get bills addressed to them for medical and college expenses.
 
I am the original owner of my current house but if someone had owned it previously and wanted to see it I would let them. It's not so much about how it's changed, it's the chance to stand in a familiar place that brings back a flood of memories.

When I was a teenager we visited my Mum's childhood home. It had sold several times and many changes had been made. She didn't care about the changes, she just enjoyed the few minutes we stood there and said how it brought back memories. Later we talked about how it had changed over the years but she was happy with that, saying it was nice that other people had made it their home too.

Right before I moved to the States we drove by again but it had since been demolished and 2 flats built in it's place. My Mum did her best to hold back the tears. Still I am glad she got to see it once last time before it was gone.
 
The previous owner of our home was my"old person"friend when I was a little kid. I used to come over from my childhood home to here everyday and we'd share twinkies and chat. When he got even older he offered to sell it to "cream puff" and my husband, we jumped at the offer. He died earlier this year. However I see one of his daughters at my child's school all the time, she's a teacher there. I've offered for her to comeout whenever she'd like. I'd like for her to see how well her dad's place is being cared for and how much we've done to it.
After we moved here though ,I went by our old place to ask if i could take a picture of our childs growth chart in the laundry room, I figured it would have been painted over but it wouldn't hurt to ask. The new owner was gracious and let me come in and take my picture. The house was totally different. everything was beige. I love color and I wondered how many coats of primer it took to make the place beige. I was sad but it was good to see that it was not my home anymore, it kinda freed me up to create our home. I have great memories of our old place but i'm glad another family is loving it in their own way. Ithink it's about the memories not the structure.
 
The original owners of our house pop by often - they gave us our goat and the bantam chickens.
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They're my inlaws cousins. THey built the house 30 years ago - I want to get the pic's they took when building to put them up on the wall here.

Most of what they put in the house is still here - we don't have the $$ to change much.
We did just tear out the big window in the dinning area and put in a sliding door and a deck.
We converted two sheds, one for the horse and goat and one for the chicken coop.... they think its pretty cool!

They live about 65 miles away now.
 
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Hello,
This post made me cry because I can relate with the old guy.
Thank you for letting him see part of the property.

I went back where I grew up, its all about our memories good and bad...
My dad passed away. Our old home is nothing but a hole in the ground now.

I took a few rocks from the basement walls for stepping stones in my flower
garden, I dug up a bucket full orange day lillies that always grew along the road,
that I remember piccking with my mom/dad every summer. I also dug up a couple shovels
full of periwinkles and planted them buy my chicken coop I can not tell you how
much that visit to the long gone house meant to me, and the stuff I took away with me.

GOD BLESS YOU and your clutter :)

Melanie
 
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Hey weird-I just got done watching Moving Up, a show that brings people back to their old homes to see what the new occupants have changed. Our house was a little dirty...maybe the old owners would appreciate the new carpet and flooring- and the lack of doggy mess smells! LOL!
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Except for the last owners, everyone connected with our place is dead.
My growing up house, it's over 100 closer to 200 actually, and nothing's the same. Especially since my cousin has it...
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