THE FARMHOUSE

The Farmhouse turns 110-years-old this year and I couldn’t let December slip by without celebrating. She’s a lovely old gal worthy of a gala, but we’ll have settle for a special bottle of bubbly, a new watercolor portrait (coming soon), and a post filled with old photos, our favorite memories and spaces, and loving prose. Hope you’ll join me in wishing this old home a very happy birthday!

We’re incredibly lucky to have lots of historic photos of the Farmhouse so let’s start there…

Historic Photos of our Farmhouse

In a small town like our’s it’s not really a surprise that we know the granddaughter of the original builder and went to high school with the great-grandson. But the fact that they’ve kept so many photos is an old-house miracle. We’re beyond thankful to Debbie for sharing these with us!

A pieced-together history

We’ve pieced together some of the house’s history from previous owners and here’s what we’ve learned… The Farmhouse was originally built in 1912 by a father and son. The finishes were shipped via train to our small town in large batches and builders selected from what arrived. The tiles for the fireplace (now, sadly, covered in concrete) were specially imported from Italy. The house location was selected, we think, due to an adjacent natural spring which would have provided a ready supply of fresh water.

The family owned hundreds of acres of surrounding farmland, much of which still grows Timothy Hay. At one point there was a barn on the property, and I understand that livestock was kept where the garden is now. The house was originally lit with acetylene, a volatile gas made in a shed on the property and piped into the house.

The original family lived here for years, the kids attending a rural one-room school house just down the road with other country kids. Once the son grew up, he built a small house next door and a tiny little bridge was put in between the two houses so his kids could run back and forth to their grandparents.

At some point the Farmhouse was sold out of the family and in the decades and decades that followed it fell into some disrepair. A local family eventually took on the project in the later half of the 1900s, rebuilding the chimney, cleaning up the millwork, and replacing the failing roof - essentially saving the house from ruin. It changed hands a couple more times before we finally bought the house in 2016.

Our 6 1/2 years here

Our story collided with the Farmhouse 6 1/2 years ago. Garrett and I were living in Seattle at the time, with a toddler and a baby. We were fixing up our fourth house in the city and dreaming about a slower, quieter life for our growing family. When the Farmhouse popped up on the MLS in our hometown (just 100 miles from Seattle), we went to see it that very weekend.

It was love at first sight for me. I’ll never forget walking up the shaded front walk for the first time, feeling a sense of awe and urgency. I don’t know how to describe it other than to say that I didn’t just want to buy this house and live in it, I wanted to die in it. I couldn’t have conjured a more perfect house in a more perfect location in my dreams.

Of course Garrett saw more than just the pretty millwork and tall ceilings, he saw an old roof, a sagging porch, and plenty of other repairs that needed to be made. But he knew me well enough to know that we would be trying to get this house. And we both knew it wouldn’t be easy. We called our mortgage broker on a Saturday, wrote a heart-felt letter to the current owners, and put in our best offer. Sure enough there were 6 other offers that first weekend and we waited with bated breath to see who would end up on top. By some old house miracle, the current owners (or maybe the house) picked us.

We’ve grown a lot in this house. One year after moving in, almost to the day, our daughter, Daphne, was born here (in a planned home birth). Our son Brooks, took his first steps on the lawn. Our oldest son Wilder learned to grow pumpkins, tend chickens, mow the lawn, and climb trees. This house has nurtured and protected us and grown with us.

Of course it hasn’t been all smooth sailing over the last 6 1/2 years. There was some cultural shock moving back to a small town after living in Seattle for 12 years. And managing 3 acres is a new level of work we couldn’t have appreciated when we first bought the house. The 10-mile drive in and out of town has been such a frustration that we’ve considered moving multiple times. But we always come back to how much we love this house, it’s beautiful architecture and it’s calm, peaceful surroundings. This is a special spot in the world and we still pinch ourselves that we get to live here.

When we first moved into the house, the son of the original builder still lived in the small house next door. I’d catch him at our mailboxes and chat about the house and what it was like growing up here. He told me about his bedroom (now our sons’ shared room) and the plane he had hanging from the ceiling. He told us about the acetylene they used to make in the shed, which powered the lights in the early 1900s. And he told us he loved hearing the sound of kids in the yard again. Garrett and I promised to have him over for dinner once we settled in, but he sadly passed away before we could make good.

Projects

We’ve been slowly working on the Farmhouse ever since we moved in, tackling big remodels and smaller decorating projects too. From the kitchen and garden in 2019 to our pandemic chicken coop to the primary bathroom and exterior paint job in 2022. The house has been featured in print, a total dream come true, first in DIY Farmhouse and then in Better Homes and Garden along side Harry Styles ;)

To this beautiful old farmhouse, we wish you another 110 fabulous years. You’re a beautiful, sturdy old house and we couldn’t be more honored to be your caretakers.

xx