How my house came to be mine...

I should tell you at this point (now that I have shared some photos of my house) the story behind finding this property and how it came to pass that we live here.

Years ago when I was a teenager my family lived on Main Street. We lived in one of the few houses left on one end of Main. My father had a little shop next to our house. My first job was at a little greasy drive in close to home. I would either walk or Dad would come and get me if it was late. Later, during high school I worked on the other end of Main back when there were still large department stores downtown which was before the malls came.

At that time each member of my family worked somewhere on Main street. Sometimes I would walk home from work and stop at a hotel that had a quaint restaurant within. I would have dinner alone and upon arriving home Mom would ask if I was hungry. I would reply with just the appropriate pause "Nooo, I guess I'm not too hungry. Thanks anyway." And then I would head up to my room and do my homework still thinking about the steamy pie ala mode that I had gorged myself on just a half and hour ago. Mind you, this kind of solo behavior just wasn't done in my home. We were members of a large family never prone to eating out or eating someone else's pie.

So, Main Street was a home to me. I dreamt of living there as an adult. As a teenager I was very aware of folks still living above the shops on Main. I envied them. I wanted to move into these places and eat whatever I wanted and watch the birds outside my window and have to go walk my dog in the middle of the night. I wanted that bad.

And when I started as a nail technician on that very same Main Street, it was very comfortable for me. Although so much had changed since I was a kid, I still loved it. I loved the fountain, the trees, the buildings.

We bought a building that had so much potential for business with lots of space. At the time, I never thought we could possibly use the lower level but my hubby did an amazing job renovating that and now there is a wonderful clean bright salon there. We use the main floor for the main business and the upstairs was quite frankly to me unlivable. Mind you, I had been up there when I was a kid and I can't quite remember the reason why I would see it but even then it was getting worn down, unkempt and plenty of repairs gone to the wayside. But now, that was a whole different story. So much gone untended. So sad to see walls falling showing their lathe and plaster as if they were embarrassed. I was embarrassed for them. Knowing that this building at its time was sweet and practical just drove my hubby and I crazy. It would almost scream to us to get in and get r done!

I had a good friend who is an extremely talented and gifted designer say to me "Let the building tell you what will work. Don't make it do something it won't. You will fight it forever. But let it speak and follow that direction and you can't go wrong."

So we listened very closely to the whispers of the building and it spoke. We knew what to do and how the wood would respond and how the walls would look. We knew how far to go and when to stop. When they say the walls have eyes, I believe that. They also breathe and I know that many who have been here before speak to me as well. I love it all. Such richness resides here and sometimes in the quiet of the night or on a sunny afternoon one can even hear angels wings here. We know they are here and they are very welcome.

Sometime I will tell you how my hubby gifted me this house...it is a great story. But for now, I say thank you for listening to my ramblings on about a home I love.

Have a great evening.