The Hitchcock House - our moving story part 2

Let me tell you about our new home. I guess I should call it a house. It's not a home yet. I affectionately call it my house of horrors for now. But I see it's potential- that's important to remember.

Apparently the previous residents didn't own a garbage can of any kind. They'd throw trash on the ground wherever they happened to be standing. The 4 acre property has wrappers, bottles, cigarette butts, and other random garbage scattered across the grounds. There's also large trash. Imagine the queen-size mattress on the front lawn. Bucket seats from a missing vehicle. Pipes and tires and tarps galore. Behind a thick stand of trees there's an actual dumping spot full of rusting cans, bottles, and other garbage. The interior of the home is similar. Did I mention the dishwasher full of dead leaves and cigarette butts? How about the attic full of pornography? Yikees.

Let's move on. The previous occupants kept dogs. A lot of them. There were nearly a dozen dogs on the property, given open access to the house and outdoors at all times. There's even two dog doors cut into the walls of the house to let them roam freely. The dog doors were always open- there's not even a flap to cover them. Imagine all the dirt and pests they brought in. The animals chewed up the door frames and baseboards as well. There's a LOT of scrubbing to do.

The entire home smells....really badly. I think they were chain smokers. We'll be repainting every surface in the home. This is the only time I'm not happy to own vaulted ceilings. I'm scared of heights. I should clarify this: I'm TERRIFIED of heights. I can't imagine climbing a ladder high enough to reach the ceilings.

There's literally pages full of home repair items waiting to be addressed (honestly, who in their right mind BURIES the dryer vent?!). The 'to-do' list will keep us busy for a long time, but I can deal with it. 

There's only one thing I really can't deal well with: pest infestations.

This is where the Hitchcock-element comes in. Imagine cobwebs in the corners and ceilings of every room. Cobwebs draped in the windows. Various beetles crawl along the floor of literally every room. Some of them are cockroaches- shudder! There isn't a space without a resident insect.

 The pest inspector was kind enough to point them all out to me, then he'd try not to laugh at my reactions.
At the end of his inspection he asked us to sit at the table with him while he presented his report. I could only imagine what was crawling under the table, but gingerly pulled up a chair, trying to touch as little as possible. At one point of our conversation, the inspector asked Nathan, "Will you please get that off your sweetheart?" EEK! There was a beetle on my forehead! 

After the inspections were complete, Nathan and I were a bit in shock. How could people live like this? Could we handle the repairs ourselves? Was it going to be worth it? Should we back out of the contract after spending almost $1,000 on inspections? I felt a bit panicky and we couldn't sit to think anywhere in the house. We sat on the front steps to talk.

We listened to the birds and looked at the trees while we thought. We love the property, specifically the trees. They are perfect, like from a fairytale. Huge ancient oaks spread their limbs across the yard. They are beautiful, and will only become more beautiful when they support a tree house and swings from the branches. All I can think of is my children playing under these trees. I've long fantasized about owning a home with huge trees for my family to enjoy.

Our kids hate this house. The rooms are smaller and the house needs a lot of work. They ask me, "Why on earth would you want to leave our big, beautiful home in the city and move to such an ugly, dirty little house?" I tell them it's an adventure. 

We've been reading the "Little House on the Prairie" series this year in home school. In one book Laura lives in a sod hut. I keep telling them that anything is better than a sod hut. That makes my new home look like a palace. 

We can fix the house, even if it takes a long time. We can make it into a lovely home full of love and laughter and cleanliness. We decide to go for it. 

So now it's official: we own 4 acres of Texas hill country.