My husband and I are always on the hunt for older homes to renovate. The ones that we are particularly interested in are inexpensive because they are in need of work that most people wouldn't attempt. But the seems to be what we are always attracted to...a total gut and renovation. We see these potential future projects on-line or in a real estate flyer. We would find out where they were and we would start with a drive by. If the home looked abandoned...which most of the ones we are attracted to, are...we would get out and have a walk around the house and buildings. We would each walk in our own direction and look at the areas that were most interesting to each of us. My husband is a carpenter/contractor and is looking at it from a structural standpoint. I am the dreamer. I can clearly see what needs to be done (after years of being married to a contractor/ carpenter) and begin devising a plan of how we would fix this old girl, and how we would bring it back to its original beauty..plus. I always think of the houses as female and the outbuildings as male.
We are currently working on two buildings/houses at the same time.
One of them is a log cabin from the 1800's that had a 'Keep Out' sign posted on it, which automatically piqued our interest (of course).
The other home we are working on is a Victorian home from the turn of the century that needs all kinds of MW...major work.
When we are interested, we then need to call the listing Realtor for a conversation, and a look see inside. As we cruise through these properties/houses with realtors, the properties were usually so beat up that the realtors have a hard time pointing out anything positive. We don't really listen to the realtors any way, we just need them to get us into the property. We've refurbished enough homes/properties that we know what the structural 'musts' have to be, the rest is cosmetic, poor use of space, materials/colors or a wide range of things that probably not many would take on, but of course... WE WOULD. I'm sure the realtors walked away shaking their heads...but, we try to stay in touch and invite them back when the projects are complete and they are amazed...we aren't,
we could picture what it was going to become from the very beginning.
When spring/summer came, I went out into the yards of both properties. The log cabin is on 40 acres and the Victorian had a small backyard/front yard. At both properties, I would sit in a lawn chair, while our two dogs ran around and envisioned my plan for these spaces. After drawing layouts for a few days, I began work on the smaller yard of the Victorian, while my husband was doing some nasty, dirty work on the inside. My plan was to get rid of most of the grass, put in gravel walkways and build a lot of perennial beds. When I stuck my shovel down into the ground, I hit something hard, so I continued to dig up the grass and found some laid brick. I scrapped up the overgrown grass and followed that brick path from our home to the fence of the house next door.
I sat down for a rest and a drink of iced tea and wondered why this brick path was in our yard leading to the house next door. The two houses are about the same age, so I don't believe that the next-door property belonged to this house at some point in time. My husband suggested that it was a path that the neighbors used to go back and forth. That made sense. The next-door neighbor had already taken down the wire fencing and put up a secure wooden fence. We followed suit so that we could safely let our dogs out. We rolled up the old wire fence and saved the gate and erected a secure wooden fence. At some point, the neighbors may have had a gate at the end of the walk into the others backyard.
Being a writer/blogger/photographer, I began to imagine and create a story about this brick path and these two neighbors of yesteryear.
I'm going to call these neighbors Mr. & Mrs. Russell and Mr. & Mrs. Vander
(Bob and Betty Russell & Jean and Albert Vander).
They purchased their new homes in Menominee, MI in 1900. They each had two children and were so excited to be on their own, their very own first home.
One day while they were moving their things into their new homes, Betty and Jean spotted each other and waved - said "Hi Neighbor". Bob and Albert had already exchanged head nods in the alley as they were unloading boxes from their cars into their garages.
Monday morning Bob and Albert headed off to work, and the four children headed off to school leaving Betty and Jean to unpack and make this new beautiful home 'their own'.
While hanging a clothesline in the backyard Betty saw Jean struggling with a large chair, trying to get it into the backdoor. She walked over to help her.
And, so began the friendship that would last for decades.
The pathway between these friends' houses became worn from daily travel and muddy when it would rain. So, the two husbands decided to lay brick to make it easier for their wives to visit. And, they would, every day, rain or shine, winter or summer. It was an important visit for each of them. They would discuss the weather, their families, recipes, other neighbors and their lives. They have been in each other's homes, but they really enjoyed their visits at the fence, didn't have to worry about having a sink full of dirty dishes or unmade beds...just visit...
Eventually, as they aged, they put benches by the fence so they could comfortably sit and visit.
Betty passed first and Jean would still walk out to the fence and sit for a while, thinking about all of their conversations and how much she missed her friend. She would whisper to Betty, hoping that she could somehow hear her quiet words. As she got older, it became not safe for Jean to walk over to the fence, but, she would still visit with her friend each day, from a dining room window.
The children of Betty and Jean knew about their friendship and after they were both deceased, they planted a flower garden on each side of the fence in honor of their moms and their deep friendship. Those flower gardens are there to this day. They had not been cared for in years and my plan is to clean up my side, add perennials and place a statue that I bought of two angels sitting on a bench in the center of this little friendship garden.
As I turn over the dirt of this special meeting spot,
I think of them visiting and chatting away in Heaven.
