Part of the draw of this property we will be spending the next 8 years or more on was the farmhouse.
Not large enough to hold all of us, and that was even before our 5th graced us. Yet it drew us in with its charm. What to do with this ancient farmhouse, with residents of grey squirrels, woodchucks, and raccoons, carolina wrens and eastern phoebes?
I'm so glad that you have asked! Why, the obvious choice is to use it and its overabundance of beautiful hand-hewn beams and tongue and groove wall and floor boards to build the huge barn above it into a house.
At least, that was the obvious choice for my resourceful husband, who has worked in the construction field for the last 15 years. So we started one cold February day on the deconstruction of the old farmhouse. Yes, it was bittersweet. I feel a connection to the family that spent their lives here. I found a five-year diary from Mrs. Sarah Willis that gives me small glimpses into what her life was like while she lived here. And I will share it with you in pieces, here and there. Yet, the life of that house is going to live on in our home, with plenty of room for us all. New life. That's what this entire journey is about. For us as a family, for each of us individually, for the memories and lives left in the essence of this land. Not a thing will be wasted or not appreciated. And it is my belief that this offsets all of the what-a-shames that comes with taking down something with so much history in it.
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