One of our favorite posts in our entire archive is this one about hearing from our first house’s original owners. It was so much fun to see photos of their family in our house back in the 60’s, and we studied every inch of each picture and relished every detail that they shared in their letter.
We were also friendly with the people who sold us our second house, so although we never heard from the original owners, it was really great to know the sellers who had lived there for 22 years! So we always hoped to hear from the original owners of our current house. For a while… nothing. And then it happened! We actually met their daughter-in-law Chris at an event here in Richmond a few months back and big hugs ensued. There’s nothing better than hearing how special a house that you love is to another family, and she gave us permission to share some snippets from a letter that she sent us along with some old photos, so here it goes!
The house you are currently in has had a wonderful history of family memories. My husband’s parents bought it when his dad was transferred to Richmond from Cleveland, Ohio over 30 years ago. They had just become “empty nesters” so they searched for the right house in a perfect location for their future grandchildren to come visit. As a matter of fact, the first of their grandchildren was on the way during their move! It was a crazy time for them, buying the house under construction and moving from 500 miles away. They somehow fit in traveling to Texas for the birth of the first grandson, and saw the births of nine more grandchildren, and one great-grandchild while living there! They were dog lovers and brought their beloved dog, Chelsea, an English Foxhound, with them to Richmond. Sometime after she literally disappeared into the woods one day, another dog (Lady) followed my mother-in-law home. She was well loved and stayed with them a long time.
My husband and I lived in Richmond during the births of all four of our children. Before they were born we acquired our first “child,” a dog from the Richmond SPCA. We took her directly to the house to visit “grandma and grandpa” before even taking her to our own home!
All of our children remember the house as a place we celebrated Christmas Eve every year, plus multiple birthdays and other holidays (this photo was taken in the back porch, which you call the converted sunroom, around 20 years ago).
My father-in-law used to put a Christmas tree in almost every room of the house, and they were always decorated to perfection. He used to play a game with our kids, “find the ornament.” He would spy an ornament on the tree, and the kids would see who could be the first to find it. It wasn’t easy! He had hundreds on one tree alone!
My mother-in-law was a fantastic cook and had us over not only for celebrations but just because she felt like cooking. The kitchen was extremely well used and well loved by all. She would spend days baking cookies to take to Virginia Beach every year, when some years all three of her children and ten grandchildren would also be there.
There was an antique chandelier hanging in the kitchen that was precious to my mother-in-law. It belonged to her grandmother. She loved it, but it hung so low everyone knocked their head into it at least once in their visits there! It was removed before the house was sold.
The outside deck and back porch were added by them after moving in. They used the porch on a daily basis, him reading the newspaper and her doing her needlepoint pillows (this is a photo of my mother-in-law presenting one of her pillows to my daughter in the living room).
The tree in the middle of the deck (that you have removed) was just a small thing when they decided to build the deck around it. They wanted to keep it for the shade it provided. It really got huge!
It is really nice to be able to see what you are doing to make the house your own. I love the hardwood floors you have put in upstairs and really like the stenciling you did on the bathroom floor. Your daughter’s room is where my mother-in-law slept during her later years. She would be so happy to see new life there, with the fun girly room you have put together! I also really love how you transformed the half bath downstairs. It is so much brighter and clean looking! I’m looking forward to seeing more improvements in the future. I wish you many years of happiness in your home! – Chris
We’re so grateful to Chris for reaching out and sharing those details and photos with us! It was amazing to hear that the tree on the deck was tiny once. Remember how big it was when we had it taken down?
We realize this letter may not be as touching for you guys, but it was so heartwarming to us. To have a better sense of the life this house has lived and how it has been loved by so many people (filled with grandchildren, home cooking, and Christmas trees) makes us feel so grateful to be here. As a total bonus, we also heard from Erin, one of the grandkids who grew up visiting this house. Here’s her letter:
I’m one of the 10 grandchildren of the original owners of your current house. My mom shared your blog and I am blown away. The house looks wonderful! I have so many fond memories from that house. I am so thankful that you two have moved in and have posted pictures of your updates to the house. Thank you for providing a way for me to still feel connected to the house and for bringing new life to its foundation. – Erin
Amazing, right? It really is awesome to hear from others who are essentially strangers, yet you share something so personal with them: the love of a home.
Have you ever heard from your home’s original owners? Or uncovered anything cool in the house (like this stuff that we found buried under the original cabinets in our first house’s kitchen)? I can’t wait to see if we’ll discover anything when we open up some walls and redo the kitchen! So far all that has turned up is an old water bill from ten years ago in the bottom of the trash compactor.
Brenna says
I haven’t heard from the original owners, but my coworker used to babysit their kids. She came over to see me after the birth of my daughter and didn’t even realize she was in the same house! We had done so much work to change things around.
Danielle Purtle says
Our experience with the past owner was bittersweet. He wanted to meet us when we were close to our closing date. We were excited to meet him, and hopefully hear some fun stories. We found out that he and his wife built the house together almost twenty years ago. She passed away the year before, and he didn’t want to be in a place that had to many memories anymore. He was moving back to his hometown in KY (we are outside of Nashville). It made us sad to think that he was giving up the house, because it was painful for him. He did like that we were a young couple, and he wished us many happy years in the house. :)
PS- I miss y’all. My Fridays are so empty without you– but I am so happy that y’all are getting more family time. Kiss that handsome Teddy for me from Tennessee!!
Katharina says
Dear Sherry & John,
here’s a book recommendation for you:
Julie Myerson: Home. The story of everyone who ever lived in our house.
:)
Stories of houses and the people who live in them and the “relationships” they have are a really fascinating subject (I am dealing with aspects of this in my PhD …).
Have fun exploring!
– Kath (from Vienna, Austria)
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome!
xo
s
Lou says
When we moved into our house we found a box of 70’s style glass barware from the playboy club. I keep saying I need to have a party and use it. We believe it was left by the original owners.
The people we bought our house from moved overseas and left us many sweet things like some pretty hooks for the closet, a terracotta turtle that sits outside and a bell that hangs from our tree. I wouldn’t think of moving any of them, they are just part of our house’s character.
Courtney says
We snail mail letters quite often with the original owner of our home. She’s in her 90’s and living in Georgia now but we’ve sent her pictures and heard so much about the home she lived in for 40 years that we now call our own. It’s heartwarming to have that relationship. She’s even sent us owners manuals for the appliances and passed along what light switches turn what lights on and off. To top things off, she left us the original blue prints to the home. We’ve been blessed living in a home that was so well cared for and to talk with the previous owner adds that much more excitement to building our own memories!
YoungHouseLove says
That is so sweet! You guys are amazing. I love the comments of this post so much. So many great stories!
xo
s
Vika says
I think its amazing to be able to share the history of a home, especially if you love your house so dearly! We bought our house in 2011 exactly 10 years after it was built, and the bonus was that we bought it from the original home owners ( so we are the second owners of this house!). Before the final closing we had a chance to inspect the house and meet the owners. They were both retired and moving to a different town in the niagara region. The husband was an avid gardener and has told me why amd how he put the garden together which I was really excited about (since we we’re moving from a rental apartment and I was itching for my own yard!). He also told us that he about the brick wall inthe kitchen’s eat-in area which is one of our fav places around the house! He installed it himself with old reclaimed brick from a building in Toronto. It provided a very rustic effect in our kitchen, and every guest who sees it thinks it’s the coolest thing! So we were lucky to see and share in the history of this house how this family made it their home! Now almost 3 years later we are slowly making it our own home!
Heather says
I think you’ve inspired me to write to the people who bought my Grandfather’s house. It’s a beautiful old ranch house in Memphis. My Grandpa was the original owner, and he lived there for over 50 years. It’s in an area with many similar houses on huge lots that are unfortunately being demolished to squish 4 or 5 McMansions in the space where one house used to be. We were so lucky that a young couple bought the house and not a developer. I’ve debated writing them. I have so many old photos at my Dad’s house of his time growing up there that I would love to share. Thank you for being inspiring as always!!!!
Vicky says
How cool! I love this post! So amazing that you are able to share your house with the previous families.
When we were getting a waterproofing system put in our house, one of the workers found 8 huge bottles of what we believe are moonshine in the crawlspace under the steps. We’re not so sure what to do with them, but if we can find a way to safely get rid of the moonshine (we’re told not to just dump it down the drain), I’m dying to use a bottle in my decor in the house.
Paige @ Lux Per Diem says
How cool! I’ve always wanted a letter like this! Alas, the original owners of my 1923 bungalow aren’t sending letters anymore. :/
jamie says
I (and later my husband) lived in my first home for 12 years. It was a very old (1880’s) home and, although I loved it, required constant updating and was too small after welcoming our first 2 children into the home. Five years ago, we sold our home to a couple and moved to the suburbs. The couple that bought it let it go and it quickly deteriorated and went into foreclosure. It was very sad as I had such great memories there. Fast forward to 2 months ago…I drove by while in the area with my now FOUR kids (who were dirty after being at the zoo all day) and was surprised to see the house looking amazing and the current owner working in the yard. I pulled up, rolled down my window and told him that I used to own the house and how happy I was to see he was taking such good care of a home that had provided so many years of memories to us and others. To my surprise, he welcomed me and my 4 kids in right then and there to tour the house and see the changes and updates that had been made! I seriously LOVED him for that. My 2 oldest boys were able to see the nursery they shared for the first few years of their lives and it was such a sense of relief that this adorable little home was once again being cared for in the manner it deserved.
N Shirley says
I live in a home that was owned by one family for almost 100 years. I am in my 60s and I love this house! Praying that when we “move on” someone else will love it too! Love this post!
Anna says
I’m fascinated by the history of houses. Who lived there and what they – and the house – were like.
We live in a midcentury house, built in 1953, one of the first in the country with central heat and air. The first owners had the house in their family through about four years ago. It’s really awesome to see all their changes and how it must have evolved.
JoAnn in NJ says
Our house was built in 1923. I’ve had two former owners knock on our door – one still lives in NJ and the other lives in Michigan. Both were excited about the updates we made to the house (and they both denied painting the fireplace white and adding the pepto bismol pink kitchen! It was fun to connect to people who have lived in your space and raised their families where you are raising yours. We are absolutely not our home’s owners but its stewards to keep it going strong for the next 90+ years. Loved seeing this post, thanks!
Jessica says
This post had me in tears! I have such fond memories of both of my grandparents houses, sometimes when I’m feeling overwhelmed with life, or just sad or whatever, I think about their houses: the furniture, the smells, decorations, etc. and it always works to cheer me up. Wish I could see what the current owners have been up to. :)
Jennifer says
Last year we bought a house that was built in 1963 and are the third family to live here. We heard that a neighbour keeps in touch with the original owners who have left the province but keep a cottage here. I asked them to let them know they are welcome to visit anytime if they are passing through on the way to the lake and I so hope they do! I would love to see pictures of how it looked originally and thank them for the care they put in to details like trim and built in cabinetry. They made such good choices that have endured years of use with timeless style.
Heidi says
I’m glad you treasure the life your home has had before you. It’s important to reflect on its history. A man came up to us at our church and told us we were living in his childhood home. Then he informed us that he was CONCEIVED in our house and born in the bathtub! Touching…really…but some serious TMI!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow!
xo
s
Jess @ Crunch Hot Mama says
Even though it’s not my house, I totally had tears in my eyes reading this. I think we can all somehow relate to growing up with family that gathered together over food and fellowship. It made me think of/miss my grandmother and all her amazing Italian cooking that I enjoyed growing up. It will never be the same, since my family is all spread out, but I love this post and the emotions it has evoked. You guys are blessed to live in a home with so many memories. Thanks for the post-it’s fun to hear from people who have fond memories of ya’lls home :)
Michele says
Not as touching? I *may* have got misty reading it at my desk.
My brother recently went back to see the house we grew up in and it hasn’t been taken care of. That makes me sad.
Maureen @Altes Haus says
Do you still have the items that you found in your first house?
YoungHouseLove says
Good question! I can’t remember if we tried to mail them back to the original owners at one point or if we kept them in a folder somewhere… will have to look around!
xo
s
Samantha says
We are only the second owners of out house, which was built in the early 1950s. The daughter of the original purchasers was the one we worked with when buying the place and she was very sweet, pointing out where they used to grow veggies in the yard (where we now have built a raised bed), and telling us that her grandfather built the chiminea also out back (that still works very well)!
Then, after moving in, my husband was checking out the crawl space upstairs and found some old letters that the mother and father had exchanged when he was stationed overseas! So I reached out through our realtor and got the message to the daughter, so I could give them back to her! She was so happy to receive them, and even complimented us on restoring the original hardwood floors!
She still lives nearby, so we saw her when we were out to dinner last fall and she stopped over to tell us that she loved that we had put up Halloween decorations! All in all, a wonderful experience, and it was so good to know that our house was loved so well before it became ours!
Meg says
How fantastic that you were able to learn so much about your home(s) from previous owners — I think that’s just awesome! If I were one of the grandchildren with so many happy memories there, I would be so overjoyed to know the treasured family house was being well-loved and cared for by you.
The home we just purchased is only a decade, but we’ve learned a bit about its original family from neighbors. It’s not a happy story, sadly; a couple who later divorced with children. After the husband was caught cheating, the wife had no choice but to let it go into foreclosure — but not before having an EPIC yard sale everyone is still talking about! Apparently she sold all his tools for 50 cents or a $1 apiece, and even the appliances went for next to nothing out of spite. She made signs about his philandering and posted them all over the yard, too, apparently. Whew.
Mia says
About 10 years ago I was able to take a peek inside the house I grew up in that my parents built.
My brothers room had a walk in closet, and underneath one of the bottom white shelves, there was still “Tom” written in blue crayon, 20 years later. I loved that :-)
Casey says
Our house is nearly 100 years old and has gone through many owners. The original owner worked as a trolley operator one town over and kept horses where our detatched garage now sits!
Isabel says
So cool that you got that letter and pics! Our house was built in 1956 and we briefly met the woman who lived there until we bought it. One of our neighbors still sees her on a regular basis so we hope to have her back for a visit. Her ex-husband (and my next-door neighbor until last year) designed and built the house so having that connection has been such a privilege and has led to some pretty colorful stories of not only the house but also the town. He used to be the town mayor back in the 60s, and not a popular one apparently, and claims there have been burning crosses in our yard and bullet holes on the front door (not the current door thankfully!). Sadly, he doesn’t have any pics of the house when he lived there but he’s promised he will give us the blueprints of the house, which he drew up in college. The house where he lived before moving last year is actually the original family farmhouse from, get this, 1659!!! There even used to be a revolutionary war cannon right outside. It is an amazing piece of history which thankfully my new neighbors are set on honoring and preserving.
Cindy says
We lived in a stone farmhouse that was built in 1937. We lovingly cleaned, painted, refinished, and landscaped every corner. A daughter of the original owner came by to visit. She was so excited to see that we had kept a built-in floor length mirror in our bedroom. She shared with us that she remembered being 5 years old at the beginning of World War II. Her father enlisted in the Army. When he came home with his uniform she remembered him putting on his uniform and saluting himself in front of that mirror. She said he looked like the most handsome man in the world to her that day. It was one of those moments when the hair on your arms stands up.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh, that’s amazing!
xo
s
Tanya says
Wow! Chills! :) :)
Meg P Myers says
This story gave me chills! So cool!
Jenny says
So amazing!!
Ellen says
It was a sad day when my brother and I closed our parents’ home. My mother was gone and my dad was moving to be near us. But as we walked through the garage to the car one last time, I spied the big black name and address plate that had been on their mailbox for almost forty years and, impulsively, grabbed it. It sits above a window in the breakfast area of my kitchen and is one of my most sentimentally favorite possessions.
When we were back in town after my dad died, we drove by the house, and it looked wonderful. The new owners who had young children had had made some attractive changes to the yard and added on a screened porch at the back—something my mother always wished she’d done. It looked like a happy house to us.
About six months ago, I was online looking for something else and, on a whim, I searched on the address. The house was for sale again and had been drastically remodeled and added onto. There were photos of all the stunning interior rooms. We agreed that my mother would have loved it. It was flooded with light and all the little awkward problems had been solved, especially the kitchen. It is such a joy to see that dear old house get new life, and we hope another generation will grow up there. I like to think of the voices of their family being added to ours as their children grow up and bring their own children back to build even larger memories as we once did.
Jaclyn says
We just moved in to a home that the previous owners had for about 60 years (there was one owner before them who had it for a few years). We got to meet the owners son and daughter and law at the closing. They told us tons of stories about the house and were so excited to hear about all we wanted to do to the home (that was a relief!). Since then the granddaughter of the owner and I “met” via email as our work overlapped (we both work for non-profits).
It is so wonderful to meet the people that lived in your home before you! It makes all the dated design choices feel more endearing :)
heyruthie says
I love these posts! I loved the original one, years ago, and this one too. My Grandma sold her house almost 10 years ago, and I *still* dream of that house, even today–that somehow, we are able to see inside, that we “wound up” there somehow, or that we “got the old house back” by some quirk. I’m sure this family is loving the connection. It’s fantastic to know that it’s always been filled with Love, and that you all are continuing that wonderful legacy. Here! Here!
Carrie says
When we moved into our house, the old owners left us a letter and phone number in case we had any questions. Shortly after moving in, we found a lunch box full of cash in the basement. We called the old owner and he came up to get it thanking us profusely for giving him the money.
The funny thing was his expression when our dog walked in the room…a sheltie. It seems that they had the same breed of dog in the house too.
Casey says
This made me cry. I totally get it. A well-loved home is so much more than just the walls… it’s like that cheesy Zillow commercial on right now. “You’re looking for a place for your life to happen” or something like that.
We don’t know the full history of our house, but we purchased it from people who had only been there a year and it looked like an apartment… white walls, basic carpet, zero personality. Settling in and bringing it back to life over the past nine years has been such a total labor of love, and although I know that someday we’ll move on, and be excited for the next adventure, I think at the same time we’ll have to be dragged away kicking and screaming. And will definitely be hiding letters and photos in the walls. :)
Morgan says
I love this post!!
Our house was built in 1940 and we purchased it two years ago from the 2nd owner of the home – who lived there for 62 years! On the day we moved in she had left us a lovely card saying congratulations on our upcoming wedding (it was a few weeks later)and said it was bittersweet to be leaving behind the house where she and her husband raised their 6 children. But she was happy that a young couple, just like they were 62 years ago, were moving in and hopefully we’d raise our own future children there and live there for another 62 years. I cried. She still comes back to visit every summer and pick some apples off the apple tree they planted many years ago.
Iryna says
Wow! This is so cool! Our house was built in 1970, but the previous owners from whom we bought the place were there for only a few years. They did have a folder with warranties to some of the older appliance (like the washer and dryer), I think those might be expired now :).
Amanda B. says
Our home’s previous owners had grandchildren, and we were delighted to find some high-quality outdoor toys stashed behind the shed. We lived here for 6 years before our first child was born, but the little slide and pool cleaned right up with a little bleach, and he’s been having a blast with them this summer! We are so grateful to those previous owners for the fun “gifts!”
Sara says
When we were in negotiations/finalizing the purchase of our home, I found out it was the home of a high school classmate! It felt kind of weird to be buying her parents’ house. We’ve completely changed it. Her friends are my friends on Facebook (and they used to hang out in our house as teens!) so I’m sure they’ve seen updates and shared with her. Wonder what she thinks? I snooped on her Facebook page and saw some old pics of our house. Man it needed the facelift we have given it.
Tanya says
When we moved in to our house in Bon Air, we were able to talk with the previous owners son. He was there moving things out one day and we stopped by. He took us on a tour of the home, from his point of view. He told us how as kids they would love to run in a circle from the kitchen to the dining room to the living room … Round and round and round. (I do it with the dog now – she loves it) He told us about the company Christmas parties his dad would have in the basement (wet bar, fireplace, pool table!). He was able to reminisce and go back to all of his memories of growing up there; he thanked us for that. Things that he hadn’t thought about in a long time. (his Dad had passed away a few years prior, leading to the home going up for sale) He also told us he was happy to meet us and was really glad that it was being left in good hands. What a great thing to hear from a stranger; I immediately felt good, like you, knowing that so many good memories were associated with our brick rancher. Something we could build on (and we are! Just engaged a month ago!) As for cool things we’ve found in the house – an original copy of the Richmond Times when JFK was shot and another when Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. We need to get those framed! So glad you were able to be in touch with your original homeowners! (Side note: We also HAD ;) country blue on all of our trim! Definitely a fad at some point!)
Kate says
I contacted the owner of my 1885 farmhouse who owned it throughout the 1960s – 80s. He helped answer a lot of questions as to what rooms used to be and what they did to the house during their ownership. It’s in really good condition, but my husband and I are trying to restore the house to be “old farmhouse meets modern clean”. We’ve removed rooms upon rooms (and hallways and ceilings) of wallpaper and stripped the painted floors of paint to restore the old pine look of the floors. The coolest find so far was a paper tobacco pouch buried in hay in the barn from the early 1900s. It was a local tobacco manufacturer around Syracuse, NY and is now in a shadow box in our living room.
Amanda @ Serenity Now says
Loved this post! I think my sis may have had a nightgown just like those little girls were wearing. ;) A few years ago, three sisters who grew up in our house in the 70s stopped by. They had so much fun peeking in at the kitchen (which apparently used to have that green astro turf grass stuff as flooring) and seeing the changes we’ve added to the first floor. :)
Bethany says
We actually lived next door to the previous owner of our first (and current) house. He grew up in it, and when his parents passed, he took over the house. He had a “bit” of a drinking and unemployment problem, so he ended up getting foreclosed upon. When he got kicked out, the old lady next door felt bad for him, and let him live in her basement. We bought the house from someone who flipped it, and every time we made changes to the yard, Mark would come out to tell us we were doing it wrong, with a cigarette and beer in hand. It got pretty annoying! He actually ended up falling down the stairs next door, hitting his head, and passing away. I’m sure glad you have a better experience with your previous owners :)
Courtney Madden says
When I was a teenager, my mom and I visited the house she grew up in that my grandfather built with his own hands. The new owners welcomed us in. It was so great to see that piece of my mom’s childhood and of my grandfather. My mom even mentioned the slate tile floor in the entryway she loved (it was covered in carpet at the time) and the current owner had no idea. She ripped up a corner of the carpet to find it still in place and was so excited to remove the carpet and restore the slate!
Amanda says
This is so great! I moved to a small town to live with my fiancé and into a house he bought 10 years ago. About half of the people who are living on our street are original owners (the entire neighborhood was built during a mining boom in the 1950s and 60s), and our next door neighbors are relatives of the couple who built our house. We are now remodeling from the studs up (and taking inspiration from your work!), and it is so much fun to bring them the newspaper clippings that their friends and family built into the walls, to hear the stories about how and why the house was constructed in certain ways, and to invite passers by who ask, “You the ones who bought Bob’s house?” inside to see the (turtle-slow) progress and show them our plans for the next generation. The neighborhood remains skeptical as we discuss siding colors with them (haha– very opinionated, all of them), but I think they’re getting just as much joy as bemusement at seeing the new, young couple breathe life into a family home.
lisa in Seattle says
I researched our house using public records and online newspaper archives. The original owner in 1909 was a lawyer who sounds like almost a Wild West kind of character — he was quoted in the paper saying he would personally shoot any speeding drivers he saw coming close to pedestrians, noting that the cars were capable of nearly 50 mph. The second family had 12 boys (!) several of whom seem to have been high school sports stars and apparently all who served in WWII survived. One boy unwittingly managed to get mixed up in an attempted bank robbery, though enlisting a 9yo to take in the demand note (and not telling him what the note said) turned out to be an unwise move on the robbers’ part.
Meg P Myers says
This is awesome!! I teared up! My husband and I bought a home (actually near John’s high school!) a few years ago, we are the 4th owners. After doing some work in the attic, found some boxes left behind by the original owners (who bought the hosue new in 1960). It included the man’s college notebooks, bank statements and some files from a job he held at the Goddard Space Center. It also stated he was a captain in the navy. After some Googling, we tracked down his son who happened to live one neighborhood over. We invited him and his wife over to tour our home, he shared lots of photos of the house, the neighborhood, and explained why some bricks were missing from the basement staircase (removed while they tried to move a pool table to the basement!). We gave him his father’s belongings and we both appreciated meeting eachother and learning the history/ current state of the home! And we were all amazed how trees can get so huge over the years!
Erin says
I love this story!
In my mom’s attic, the name Hank is written in paint on the wall – presumably by one of the kids that lived in the house before my parents moved in about 40 years ago. We never met “Hank” but we blame things on him whenever something in the house goes missing or the ceiling fan starts making a funny noise. Its like he’s part of the family now – the creepy ghost that lives in the attic!
Nina says
We moved into our current home ( 4 apartments, one for each my sister and me, one for our parents and younger brother and one that is currently leased to friends) 2 years ago. It was build around 1900, and has seen a lot. After renovating it for over a year, we hosted an “open House” for our neighbors that endured all the dirt and the noise and still were very friendly :) Most of them are in their 60s and 70s, and they knew a lot about the house. During WW2, the family that owned the house hid jewish families under the chicken coops in the garden. They had a bakery in the downstairs apartment, where my parents live now, from which they gave hundreds of packages of food to the families. Later, a bomb landet a few houses away and got off, killing a neighborhood girl that landed in our roof. I often think about those times gone by, and how lucky we are to live as we do now. When we remodel the attic recently we found a picture of the family that build the house. We don’t know much about them, sadly. But the picture is now hanging in my parents entry, and another fun fact we discovered when we checked its back- the phone numbers back then only hat three digits. I couldn’t believe it! Somehow, knowing about the history of our house makes me appreciate it even more…
Jenny says
This post made me cry. My parents just recently sold the house that I grew up in. We weren’t the original owners. (The house was over 100 years old when we moved in.) But I always felt like the house liked me and was looking out for me. (It’s silly, I know. I was a very imaginative child.) The new family that moved in has lots of grandchildren. I like to imagine that “my house” is looking out for them now.
Erica says
I live in a condo that was converted from a 100 year-old Catholic school. My apartment used to be a kindergarten classroom. Someone once walked by and told us that it was his classroom! It was cool to meet someone who was once a little kid who played in what is now our living room. Every once in a while, people who walk down the street or deliver our food tell us they went to the school. They are always in shock at how it looks now (and how much it costs to buy an apartment in our building).
Katie says
My husband and I were newly married when we bought our first home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We became friendly with the older couple we bought the house from, who coincidentally built a house just up the street from us, but we knew very little about the earlier owners.
While preparing one of the spare bedrooms to become a nursery for our new baby boy, I was taking down some old shelving in the closet when I discovered a note written in childish handwriting on the inside wall by the closet door. It read “This is Elena’s room. I love this room. Please take care of it.” I have no idea when Elena had lived in the house or if her parents even knew she had written the note, but I was instantly glad I had chosen that room to become my son’s room (and the pregnancy hormones made me weep a little, I must admit).
When we moved out of the house, my son was too young to write his own message in the closet. So I traced his handprint below Elena’s note and wrote “This was Andrew’s room, too.”
I hope the family that moved in after us continues to love the house as much as we did, and as much as Elena did.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh, these stories are making me teary guys! Love them!
xo
s
Kate C says
Oh,that is precious!
Amanda says
What an awesome post! It’s so cool to know your house’s history. Our house in the fan was built in 1912. Once we were out on the porch when a 40 ish guy walking by stopped to reminisce about living here in college. Another time I found the house in the 1940 census. There were seven people in the house including a baby named Violet. I would love, love, love to know more.
Chan says
The first home I purchased was built in 1910 and was all lathe & plaster with wood chip insulation! We tore it down to the studs and found so many treasures in the walls! An old Polaroid of a man in a farm field, newspaper clippings, odd trinkets, a full intact carcass of a mouse (so creepy it was cool!) & the head off a small doll….that only had one eye, lol, creepiest looking thing ever! It was so neat to see though. It had been a farmhouse that was moved to town and had an addition built on, so by looking at the placement of the studs you could tell where the entrance was before the addition was added on. When we put up new insulation & drywall we hid some items back in the wall (newspaper with the date, etc) in the odd chance that someone else do a reno!
Charlotte says
The two previous owners of our house are deceased, however, our neighbour behind us, knew them both, and has told us many great stories of them. Plus we still get mail. Even though the previous owner passed away in 2006 and the the one before that moved out in the early 90s. :P