We always sort of knew we were going to build a house. We both always wanted to live on a little land. Perhaps we’re both a tad anti-social, but neither of us wanted to wake up each morning and be able to read the paper because our neighbor left one on their kitchen table and we happened to glance out our kitchen window. We don’t stunt our day with dreams of block-parties or keeping up with Joneses or Johnsons or Kardashians. That much is evident by simply looking at our current home!
We’ve lived in our cozy little shack for two years now, living well below our means and biding our sweet time, and as much as we have grown attached to our three uncomplimentary colors of carpet
and our one un-lockable bathroom, it is time for us to branch out and find a home that is not just an object of our affection, but a product of our love.
Our initial dreams consisted of a parcel of land so large that our driveway would have to have to have its own street sign: Henderson Circle. We would have an outbuilding for our ATVs and our boat and/or ski-dos and, of course, we’d have no neighbors as far as the eye could see. We’d spend the summers playing in our pool and the autumn seasons watching our tree lined drive/road burst into colors from our porch swing. We found such a piece of land in Morrison…31 acres which backed up to a state park.
We also checked out lots in Port Byron and Erie and we toured a few pre-owned homes, but we kept going back to that piece of land. Every lot we looked at was too small or treeless or in an undesirable area. Every house we looked at had ‘something’ wrong with it or was nearly on top of the neighboring house. We wanted space and our own house. And we kept going back to the 31 acres by the park. We walked up and down the acreage multiple times and I won’t confirm or deny that two of our family members marked it as their territory. Of course, we eventually had to come to the realization that we were not millionaires and if we wanted land and trees, a house, boats and ATVs before the kids made us grandparents, we were going to have to search for something a little bit smaller. We happened to remember a friend discussing a new subdivision on the outskirts of Fulton, so we drove on over and checked it out. The subdivision was quiet. It had large lots. It had trees. We checked out plat maps and spoke with the developer, and we found a lot that had nearly everything we wanted! So it was 30 acres less than we initially thought we’d have, but that simply means we can build our house 30 times faster. It doesn’t have private ATV riding areas, but it does have a large open wild area which will be used by just us and our neighbors. And while we will still be in our new home long after our kids leave us to find their own dream homes, the subdivision setting will allow them to grow up in a very similar setting to what we had (and we think we both had it pretty darn good.)
We always knew we would know when we found where we were meant to be. Standing on the newly laid asphalt and looking out at our overgrown field grass and our doomed chestnut trees, it feels good. It feels right. We temporarily removed a gas line marker and scribbled OURS in the dirt along the road front. (Don’t worry, Dads, we put it right back where we found it.) Soon our hands will build our house and our hearts will make it our home. Chestnut Court, here we come.
