Hello 1930 Farmhouse!

One of the reasons I loved Norman when starting at OU was the tree-lined streets and old homes. I've walked, jogged, and driven these streets for almost 15 years now, and always dreamed about what it would be like to live in one of these historic homes. After we got married and made Norman our hometown as we looked to purchase our first home, we drove up and down the streets even more frequently, searching for the perfect place. We started by renting an older house from a historic home-loving Normanite, Judi Hadley, who we then asked to help us find our first dream home. And so she did just that: she helped us find a little 1947 cottage, hidden by a "rough around the edges" facade, but with lots of potential and lots of love. So we took this frame of mind after having Ellie, realizing we would never be able to afford a pristine and perfect home close to campus, so we branched out to other areas and neighborhoods with just as beautiful homes and features. 

And then we found our dream home: a 1930 craftsman farmhouse, soon after Ellie was born, on one of our many drives around campus and it's nearby neighborhoods. We'd probably driven by it many times, but hadn't really seen it, and the more research we did on the home, the more we loved it. It didn't stand out immediately, but we knew we would love to make it ours someday, so we began to call it our dream home, driving by at least every other week. We loved the architecture, the porch, the large lot, and all of the beautiful trees. We knew that as our family expanded, our little cottage would soon be at max capacity, and though it was hard to imagine ever leaving it, we told each other that if this dream home ever became available, we would try to get it. 

With simple plans to love on our first dream home over the summer, with all the big projects finally accomplished, I saw on Facebook that our dream home would be having an estate sale, and that the family would be selling the home in the near future. My heart sank and I immediately felt ill. I showed it to Chris, with tears in my eyes and panic in my mind. "There's no way we could make this work", I thought to myself, as I didn't feel we were ready financially or emotionally. But I made plans to go the estate sale first thing Saturday morning, especially after seeing the pictures of the home on the estate sale website. Of course, I focused on the home itself, but had my eye on a few items I knew I would cherish too. I also contacted Judi to see if she knew any information about the upcoming sale of the home, and she said she would look into it.

So many treasures to be found, but the biggest one was the home itself!

I decided to go by myself, in hopes that I wouldn't cry, but as I pulled up and saw how busy it was and my mind began racing even more, tears already beginning to well up in my eyes. I couldn't stop thinking that there would be no way for us to afford it and that there would be a ton of others wanting this house too. I walked into the house, my heart beating out of my chest, and caught a familiar scent of both of my grandmothers’ houses, and I had to fight the tears back. I was in awe of the beauty inside, though I realized it would need some work, and as I went from room to room, I heard others saying the things I was thinking. I found the vintage Minnie and Mickeys I had seen, and searched for the "God Bless Our Home" sign, but disappointingly, it was already gone. 

I went upstairs and ran into one of my former students, who asked how I was, and of course, it let the flood gate of emotions and tears come out. I explained how much I loved the home, but thought we couldn't make it work. She said that her dad knew the owner's son, and that they did plan to put the house on the market soon, but that she thought her dad could give me his contact information. I was unsure but hopeful that I might be able to at least contact the owners. I meandered around more, taking in the details of every room, and also ran into Judi inside. I told her how much I loved it, though she said she had not found out anything yet. We chatted more, as I waited for my former student’s dad, which I also then saw a couple ladies seemingly contemplating that sign I had my eye on. Feeling bold, I asked them if they were going to purchase that sign, and they said they would definitely let me know. Though it was cold, I went to hang out on the porch, and then got to meet my former student’s dad. He told me more about the home, and that it was the original farm house to the 160-acre area, and that fact alone hooked me even more. He gave me the contact info for the current owner’s son, explaining it had been owned and lived in by his mom for the past 50+ years. I fell in love with it more, and when the gal with the sign came out to tell me I could purchase the sign, I immediately got tears in my eyes once again. Before we each parted ways, I thanked Judi, my former student’s dad, and the gal who sold me the sign, and walked to my car half a block down with tears streaming, thinking that this dream was just too big and that I needed to just let it go.

I got home, and told Chris all about it, and feeling silly for being so emotional about it, but still having those big feelings. We both looked at each other and said that it was just too much for us right now, emotionally and financially, so we were going to try to let it go, but would cherish the sign I was able to get in whatever home we were in.

But I still had the owner’s son’s number, and that little piece of fate I just couldn’t waste. So I gave that number a call. He asnswered and I introduced myself, telling him how much I loved the house, especially after visiting it for the estate sale. I asked him to wait to sell the house, but he explained the need to sell to help support his mom, but also asked what items I had found at the sale. We chatted a bit more, and I told him that I hoped something magical could happen where we could buy it and thanked him for his time. I had hoped to find a sense of relief after our conversation, and while on one hand I did, on the other hand I couldn’t stop thinking about the house, and knew any other scenario of someone else owning it would be hard to swallow. We visited it again on Sunday with our little family, and Chris could see what I saw: beautiful original characteristics and potential that we were afraid someone would come in and ruin it.

So I began to pray for a clear sign that if this house wasn’t supposed to be ours, that there would be a clear breaking point and that we could let the dream go. But it that I began to also let go of our cottage a little, realizing we already were at max capacity. I came up with several hair-brained ideas on how to get the house, but none of them made sense and would add too much unneeded stress and strain to the situation. On Monday night, after a long weekend of pondering and praying, Chris finally said to me, “If you want to get that house, the only way we could possibly do it is to sell ours.” A peace about it washed over me immediately and I knew that would be the only way we could it. But I also immediately started crying about giving up our home…one with our best memories.

So we made plans to try to get our dream house: we called our parents, I emailed Judi, and Chris went to the bank Tuesday morning. Once we found out we were approved, Judi came over, we filled out the needed paperwork, and a sign was in our yard that night. I called the owner’s son to give him the news, and he said he would let us know when we could come see it again after they cleaned up from the estate sale. The next three nights were filled with showings at our house, that brought in several offers, and we met again with Judi just one week since we’d first seen the house to choose an offer. We were under contract, and just waiting to see our dream house.

We couldn’t wait to finally see the house in it's entirety, and as soon as the owner's son let us know it was available, we were elated and asked to see it that night. He toured us around the home, he told us many stories about his own memories as well as this history. One of the first things he showed us was this article from the Norman Transcript, that was written when his parents bought it.

He told us about it being built in 1930, and that it really was the original farmhouse to a 160-acre pig farm. (Van's Pig stand also opened then....perhaps they owe us some money?!? Haha...) The land was originally purchased in 1892 for $200 per acre. It has had only three owners: The Schultze Family, The Chaudoin Family, and then his family who bought it in 1961, including his mom, Mary E. Sudduth, who has lived in it for the last 57 years. He even shared a story with us from his childhood newspaper route, where an older lady asked where he lived. He told her about his house, and she told him that her father had built it, and that he had gone to the lumberyard and had picked out every plank to build it himself. Even before we knew all of these details, we knew it had to be special because of the craftsmanship throughout the home, and in the original woodwork, light fixtures, and door knobs. 

It was incredible to hear it's history, and know it had been so well cared for. We put in our offer that night, and the following afternoon Greg called us to let us know that offer was accepted. He told us his mom was thrilled to hear that a family would be living there, and he congratulated us on getting our dream house! We then planned to meet him there that evening to see the house again, and to exchange paperwork. We got to the 1930 farmhouse early, and we were not-so-successfully trying to take a selfie of us and the house when he arrived. As he got out, we shook hands and thanked him, with tears in our eyes, but we could also see he had tears in his eyes. He explained why in that where we were taking our first picture with the house, his siblings had all gathered to take their last picture with the house. He said he it was a sign it was meant to be, and we agreed. 

 So we went in with new eyes…knowing this time the house would soon be ours. As we finished up for the evening, I told him what Ellie had said when she found out. She has exclaimed, "We won the big house!”, but his response was, “Well the house won too!". He gave us that newspaper article that I cannot wait to frame and hang with our "God Bless Our Home" sign by the front door.

With every change, happiness can always be found, though there can also be some drawbacks, some disappointments, and some bittersweet moments. I knew I'd be willing to give up my other plans and dreams for this home in a second, but maybe I don't have to give it all up. Maybe this is a lesson of trusting God's timing, His purpose, His plan, and letting go of the worries I've always carried around. A lesson of finding joy everyday, no matter how chaotic the rest of my life seems, and always always being grateful. And we are so grateful. What a beautiful beginning to our story at our dream house, while cherishing the days left in our first dream home.