Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Old House

This is a painting that hangs in my hallway.  We commissioned an artist to paint a portrait of our home when we lived in North Dakota.  The house is located in the Georgraphical Center Of North America (Rugby, ND).  The very first time I ever drove through Rugby, on my way to my sister and brother-in-law's farm, I admired this house.  Each additional trip I would ask my husband to alert me when we were getting close to "the house".  Sixteen years ago, when we moved to Rugby, the house sat empty....but was not for sale.  Four years later the owner of the house died.  We contacted the family and made an offer on the house.....without ever seeing the inside!  Yep....we did....some thought we were crazy....maybe we were.  Our offer was accepted and we became the owners of one of the lovliest old homes in North Dakota.  Now....the house had been "updated"....so we had to do something about that....so all the carpets were removed (and they were glued down)....the floors and staircase were all restored.  Some wallpaper had to be put up to cover some of the more serious plaster flaws, but other than that....lots and lots of paint....inside and out.  The very first morning that I woke up in that house....it felt like home.
We got to enjoy our little piece of history for four years.....now all I have is my painting in the hallway....and some wonderful memories.

5 comments:

A mom of many said...

Sheila,
What a beautiful house! I bet it was hard to say good-bye.

Unknown said...

I'm like Tina, it must have been hard to leave. I can imagine how much you enjoy that painting. That painting was a great idea though.

Lori said...

That looks like an amazing house! What fun memories.

Judy S. said...

What a neat house, Sheila! And I'm so glad you got your featherweight. What fun you're going to have getting acquainted? Let me know if you need any fabric, LOL

Simple Home said...

That looks like the kind of house I've always wanted to live in. I'll bet it was hard to leave. I've been in tract homes all my life, but you don't find too many vintage homes in this part of So. Cal.
Blessings,
Marcia