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I know what you’re thinking. “Four houses in thirteen months? That seems like a weird brag.” Ha! No bragging over here. When we set out on the journey of building our house, we didn’t imagine it taking so long (said everyone everywhere) or requiring such an erm, flexible living arrangement. But now that this process is just about wrapped up, I thought it would be interesting (cathartic) to sum up all the different places we’ve lived.
The White Brick House
Aw, sweet memories here. This was the second home we bought and it’s the last home we’ve actually owned and lived in. Though it’s only been 13 months, it feels like this home was a lifetime ago.
Overall, we were happy in this home raising our two boys, knowing that it wasn’t going to be forever. We moved in here from our “starter home”, so a finished basement, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and 2200 sq ft seemed like plenty!
This home had “good bones” and a family-friendly location, so we seriously talked about doing a hefty renovation to get some of the other things we felt the home was missing instead of just our cosmetic updates.
But in the end, it didn’t have the peaceful, wooded location that we craved and we knew that ultimately, a peaceful location with land was our end goal.
And though we knew we weren’t going to be here forever, that didn’t stop us from putting our own touches on it! The most popular posts from this house were: How I Limewashed My Brick Ranch Exterior (For Under $30!!), My French Country Cottage Inspired Exterior Reveal!, and Our Budget-Friendly French Country Inspired Kitchen Reveal
The Blue House
Our white brick house sold way sooner than we thought (as in, before it was listed) and we couldn’t find a suitable rental. Our friends had an empty house they were selling and generously offered up their home to us. So we sold The White Brick House, I went from the bank closing to Paris, and then came back to my new “home”, a.k.a, The Blue House.
The Blue House was at a higher price point and had been listed for months without a lot of interest and I’d be lying if I said I wanted it to sell. (At least until we were gone – I’m not a monster!)
Not so secretly, we were hoping the timing would work out to stay here for 6 months and move right into our house that was built. (Because that was our timeline at the time.)
Overall, we loved it here! We came from 2200 sq ft to 4500 sq ft and it felt huge. We didn’t need all the space, but we certainly enjoyed it. It was on 2 acres in a quiet neighborhood with a playset and a ginormous porch overlooking farmland. The views, especially in the quiet of the foggy morning, were just amazing. We felt a lot of peace here.
We jokingly (but not so jokingly) had the conversation about just buying this place and not having to move again haha. But of course, we were already invested in the building process and though it was a lovely home, I have a very specific style aesthetic. I wouldn’t want to take an already nice southern-style home and try to make it into my European style!
To everyone’s surprise, the house sold shortly after we moved in. So we packed everything up and moved into The White House.
The White House
I did a rental tour of this place and I was trying to stay optimistic in that post, but I won’t lie, this home was very challenging for us. It was smaller (1400 sq ft) with a very not finished basement – but the size wasn’t the biggest problem, though small is challenging with kids and 2 people working from home.
We were the first family to stay here as it’s usually a college rental since it’s right next to a college. It smelled like weed and cat pee and was in a very busy, loud part of town. The layout was wonky – such as our bedroom opened up to the kitchen and the bathroom was in the “dining room”/glorified hallway, for starters.
Though there was still good happening (hello, getting to build is a privilege!), time went very, very slowly here and the rental combined with the delayed building schedule drove me a little batty.
We thought for sure we’d move from this rental to our build, but nope. Our lease was ending, we couldn’t rent month to month, and our build wasn’t livable yet – which meant we needed to move. Again. But I was not upset in the slightest, because we secured a pretty amazing rental and I couldn’t wait to move.
The Bluff House
And when I say we “moved” here, I mean that word loosely haha. More like we threw everything we had into boxes and drove them over. Titus and I handled all the furniture and in 2 days, we had moved everything we needed. Does that sound crazy? Yeah, a little. But can you blame me?! (Hey, I already told you that The White House made me batty.)
We went from a 1400 sq ft home next to a college to an almost 6000 sq ft home on 3 acres. By the internet’s standards, that’s a mansion! And though we don’t need this space (and the house we are building is considerably smaller), it’s fun to “live it up” for a short amount of time.
Being here feels like we are renting a really cool Airbnb. And you know how much I love the European aesthetic! This is by far the coolest place we’ve ever lived.
Posts from this time: Our European-Inspired Rental House Tour
Fast forward to today. We are currently living in The Bluff House and loving it. It’s already been a month and time feels like it’s flying by. House build progress seems faster too – but it could just be that we’re not waiting on it. A watched pot never boils!
Sure, we feel the teensiest bit anxious to get into our build. Though we love The Bluff House, in the back of our minds, we know it’s not home and we want to fully settle into something that’s ours.
I’ve had decor and sentimental items boxed up for over a year since we’ve just been “passing through” homes, and the homemaker in me wants to settle down and make a house a home. But we know that no one has “forced” us to build and there are certainly bigger problems in the world. We are fortunate we’ve always had a place to live.
I’m thankful for the vast experience this journey has given us. After all, the best way to know what you like about a home is to live in it! This process has allowed us the *opportunity* to “try on” many different homes. From a 1400 sq ft college rental to a mansion on 3 acres, I feel like I’ve lived in it all and it’s helped me come up with my own list of what I think must-haves are in a house. Hmm…I smell a new post brewing.
Curious about the vision for the home we’re building? You can find that out in these posts!
The Design Plan for Our Custom Build: Entryway, Primary Suite, Laundry Room/Mudroom
The Kitchen and Pantry Plan in Our Custom Build
The Design Plan for the Living Room, Dining Room, and Sunroom | Custom Build
