While we love our current little house, we have been looking for the right home for our (larger than we were originally expecting!) family for years. These photos were taken at a house we visited this week. There was quite a bit to see: from fabulous wallpaper and a phone booth under the back stairs, to a smoke house, and bamboo gone wild.
I’ll keep you posted.
p.s. there will be another giveaway this weekend!
That looks lovely.
Wow! That house has so much character and so many wonderful features! I am going to totally focus on the pics (and not bother at all with trying to imagine any practical issues), and side with Johnny that it is nothing but PROS!!!
Oh swoon! It looks so like the homes here. (England) Much of our paper has been painted over but the built ins are similar. They so rarely build homes with those dimensions anymore, never mind the hardwood trim. Sigh! Wishing you all the best. Enjoy the hunt!
Oh my! *swoon*
Oh my goodness! This house is amazing! I hope you don’t find any cons!
If you’re posting about a house on your blog and you’re not saying “look, this house is so hideous it’s funny” then you probably want it. The perfect house doesn’t really exist. You just have to find the one that ticks all of the most important check marks and won’t fall down around your ears as you sleep. Or catch of fire spontaneously. As for the bamboo, it can be managed. You just have to make sure to remove the dead and cut back any new shoots that come up. A bamboo forest could be really fun for the kids! They could pretend they’re in a far-off land. Bamboo is also really useful for building trellises for plants and for making various structures. It is rot-resistant and super strong. Just make sure it doesn’t invade any more forest because bamboo is highly invasive!
Wow that is seriously an AMAZING house! We have been on the look out for quite some time and this house inspires me to not just settle, something like a dream home is available for us somewhere too! I don’t think heat would be to horrible either it looks like there is a fireplace in pretty much every room. I think that would help off set the cost quite a bit. Who knows though (I am also not paying the heating bill 😉 ) Dream homes are worth fighting for that is what we say! congrats!
WOW, WOW, WOW! It looks just fabulous. I hope it all works out for you!
That house looks full of adventures! I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of finding a rental home in the DC area that will fit us, that we can afford, and can fulfill my dreams of having chickens… I wish you luck in your search! Wish us luck in ours 🙂
What a lovely house. It looks perfect for a large family. Best wished finding the home you want”
What a fantastic home. Good luck with your search.
Oh Ginny. It is such a dreamy house! I read your post and can’t get the pictures out of my mind! That STAIRCASE!!! The little brick walkway that Silas is strutting on, the covered porch, THE WALLPAPER, the barn !. . ..okay. . . I have to stop!
My only word of caution with old houses is to ask about the heating costs. . . when we first moved to VA we rented a completely restored gorgeous old farmhouse. Even though the windows were replaced the house was not well insulated, we went through $1100 worth of oil for heating in a MONTH during a cold February. This house looks very high end for its day so God willing that will not be a factor. I just had no idea how much it would cost to heat a big old house.
Three hours away? Love to know more. If you don’t want it, maybe we will move!
Happy Sunday!
yes–the potentially huge utility bills are a big strike against this place!!
Those pictures make me want to pack up and leave New Zealand to go and live there. It’s amazing.
That’s all one house! How fun! I love those built-in shelves. Can’t wait to see if that’s where you settle? Could you picture your family there?
Good luck!
what a gem…..
hard work too, but goodness it’s beautiful!
keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Lovely!
How do ya’ll manage the house hunting with the kids? We went once but the driving portions were so horribly filled with crying that we haven’t been again. Any tips? I think I’ll start with checking out that Frances CD from the library:)
We don’t visit more than one a day. This house was almost three hours from home. We packed a cooler with meals and of course brought audio books. We spent about three hours on the grounds, plenty of time for them to run around. The drive home was pretty unpleasant. That holds true for all of our daytrips. The last hour or so is usually torture. But what do you do? We just deal with it!
Oh, thank you! One house a day sounds so obvious, but we never thought of it. If we decide to start up our search again, we’ll be armed with good advice. Thank you!
Thats one house?!? SO many different looks in my opinion. That looks like a big house! Really cool!
This house is such a moment in time. Amazing. I can’t stop looking at it, especially the bathrooms. Best wishes.
Just have to say that we had wallpaper with a mural like that one photo in one of my houses growing up, and I LOVED to make up stories about it, as outdated as it was even then! 🙂
I wish that was my house!
The whole place. Just amazing. That kitchen, oh that kitchen!
That wallpaper! Eager to hear if it is the place for you all.
The kitchen is fabulous bet there’s hardwood floors under the linoleum. And the gorgeous black and white bathroom floor is great. Love, love, love the wonderful carpet on the gorgeous staircase. Would love to see your “touch” on that house.
oh wow i love the wallpapers!
Wow! Growing up in a little old southern town, that house brought back a flood of memories. Wallpaper, tile, builtins- but most of all the kitchen. It had the feel of a house I lived in as a girl! So neat. Good luck!
Ginny, I LOVE it! From the wallpaper to the bamboo to that gorgeous staircase. All the best with your decision making! 🙂 xxx
The phone nook under the stairs is AWESOME!!! What amazes me are all the details that are still intact! Is it the original owner that’s selling it?
built around 1850, and yes, it’s been in the same family all these years!
Wow! What a fantastic history!
The home is incredible! Such wonderful details and so much room! It would be fun to grow up in a home like that…….love everything about it. Good luck!
WOW! What a fun house! That would be so cool. It’s like from a movie.
What a beautiful home! I LOVE the wallpaper!
Happy house hunting!
Sarah xx
Wow. The previous owners didn’t happen to like wallpaper at all, did they? 😉 if something like that had been around here when we had to move (outgrew the cottage!), my daughters would have flipped for the pink bathroom!
And I would have swooned over kitchen, built in cabinets and the hardwood floor. Good luck on the hunt!
I am crazy about that house. What a wonderful place!
…Oh, and those built in shelves – it’s as if they’re waiting for your books
Wow. That house seems to have great bones. Do you know the year it was built? Whatever the year, clearly the lady of the house had fun decorating in the…late 50’s, early 60’s?? Did I see two sinks? Think of the efficiency of multiple children washing their dishes! If it’s a go, you may want to study up on the “Save the pink bathrooms” movement. Good luck!
I LOVE that house! But the kitchen has got to be the coolest kitchen I have ever seen. I want that kitchen. It’s just an amazing house and looks really huge. The staircase too. Oh my goodness. I bet there are so many rooms you’d get lost. I have house dreams and this would be a great one. How fun. Good luck with the hunt.
What a beautiful home. I particularly love the kitchen – old fashioned but very functional. I hope you buy it. I would love to sit here watching you bring it to life.
Wow–so much charm and character! Hope you find the house and property that are meant for your family!
The built in book cases are a dream of mine too, but that little nook with what looked like a seat in it with a drawer and the vintage wallpaper has me really intrigued. Not to mention the giant kitchen!
If you don’t buy it, can I? 🙂
My all-time dream: built-in bookcases!
wow. wow. wow I would move into that one in a shot and wouldnt change a thing. It looks like its waiting for the new Brora catalogue to be photographed there.Bliss!GTM.
Love the stairs, and the hexagonal (octagonal?) tile, and the Paris wallpaper, and he fireplaces, and everything! So beautiful and such great pictures Ginny. Good luck finding a house fit for you guys!
How lovely, that house looks like something out of a movie to me all the way from here in Australia! xx
There is tons of potential here! You could make this house look like a little Downton Abbey! Start interviewing footmen! 🙂 Are you considering this one seriously? I love the big windows and the bathroom tile. Would you keep the Paris scene?
looks marvelous with all those old bits of wallpaper and colorful spots. and trees for forts.
Oh I LOVE it. We have a new house and I can so appreciate and love the character of an older home. Beautiful!
wow. What a unique house!!!!
I look forward to hearing more about the house-hunting journey!
oh good grief, gorgeous!!!
What a beautiful house! Good luck!
*s i g h*
Lovely, lovely, lovely…
I can see you there! Not that you need another two cents in the pot!? We were where you were this time last year and are so happy in our not so new (it was built in the 40’s) “new house right now. Blessings on your search!