HISTORY NEVER REPEATS
Well lets hope not! When we originally viewed my little house we were feeling rather desperate, we had sold and nothing on the market was exciting us. It wasn’t what we were looking for, in fact it ticked no boxes, but we drove into the drive of number 7 and knew it was for us.
The driveway led us upwards and it was dusk on a Friday evening. The agent was in a hurry to get to her daughters 21st but had agreed to meet us… cash buyers in 2005 was an agents dream! The initial view was a new garage with an Shed Style Roof, there was a covered walkway using the roofs pitch which was flanked by palm trees and large stones. Double sets of steps led to the front door and thats when our smiles faded.
This little cottage on the hill had certainly seen better days, with its cramped entrance, peach bathroom, red kitchen counters, cream walls and carpet. But beyond we saw a large flat grassed garden – a little overgrown but you could see it had once been lovely, facing west was a glimpse of the water through the abundance of Wattle and Ti-tree.
Something seemed a little off – the home was staged, you could see noone was living there, but the fridge was on and food was inside. The walls were freshly painted and the floor sported new, albeit cream, carpet and it was very clean.
We signed there an then – the little nagging doubt in the corner of my mind was quickly dampened by this little gem and the plans filling our heads.
And then… the agent disclosed the home was in fact empty, it had inhabited a family of three, but sadly the couple had both died in a road accident a few months prior. Uh oh, I knew something was off! And off it was for the first few months; I felt their presence at every turn and so did my unknowing son, who would see things that were not in fact there. It was a time of sadness for this couple, they too had bought the little cottage on the hill with big dreams, the garage was the first part of their renovation and we had landed their house plans with the purchase. They were grand, in fact too grand for our meagre budget.
I was a little apprehensive when home alone, until one day when I realised that the presence we felt needed to go, this was after all our home now, and so with that we helped them along their way. Was it in our minds? Who would know, but after a little persuasion their little cottage on the hill became our little house and its happiness returned.
These little stairs are about all that is left of the original house, we have added over 100m2, we’ve regigged the layout and removed and replaced everything else. They are a little small for the current size of the home but I think they should stay, don’t you?
Every house has a story. What is yours?
Photography and Styling by My Little House
0 comments: