We built this house...

"Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts"

Oliver Wendell Holmes

As I grown older, I have thought more about our lives together. The years have come and gone, and shortly we will be celebrating our 30th year in the house that we built. It was just recently I have been thinking about our house. I know, it is easy to take our dwelling for granted. However, our house, once we made it our home, became a part of the fabric which is woven thoughout our family.

 

 

Our first home was a small "starter house" in a fairly new suburb of the Twin Cities. It was a fine home for us and we had neighbors which we became very close to. I was working by the airport in Bloomington ,which made my commute daunting at best. However, as the old saying goes "live where you want to live and work where you want to work". That rang true with me. I loved living in the northern suburbs and I also loved my job.

 

 

My wife worked about 20 miles north of our house. Many of the people she taught with had bought acreage lots and built over sized houses. Whenever we would visit one of them, I would look around in wonder at all that land! Not only the land, but trees galore. Out buildings to store tools and toys in were like eye candy to me. When we arrived back home after one of these visits, I could not help feeling "cramped". Also, with the town houses behind us evolving into Section 8 housing, I wanted to ensure our house did not slide into decreasing property values and the problems associated with it.

 

 

After we had our first daughter, I suggested the three of us do something nutty. Lets drive north a few miles and look at lots. It sounded like fun, so we piled into the car and started what could have been a fool's errand. One of the first places we found had recently been developed into 2 1/2 acre lots for sale. It was in the middle of huge strand of mature red pines and was beautiful. We talked to the developer, got some information and left. The thought in my mind was that now that these lots were were on the market, they were going to sell like hot cakes. The thought in my wife's mind was lets keep looking.

 

 

The lot in the pines which really had my interest was a larger than the rest. The lot was too small for the developer to split into 2 lots. I loved the location of this lot, and in my mind's eye, I could visualize how a house would look nestled into those lovely pines. My wife however, was not on board. Logistics were discussed. My already long drive would be longer, but my wife's would be shorter. That was fine with me. After some husband/wife negotiations, we agreed to put some money down on that 4 acre lot in the pines.

 

 

We brought both sets of parents out to see the lot. The consensus by the elders was their kids were nuts. The lot was in the middle of nothing and had no cities amenities close by. No sewer or water, so a well and septic would be needed. With dozens of reasons not to do it, we decided to buck the wisdom of our elders as well as common sense and do it anyhow. We found a design for a four level split, made some modifications, and "inked" a deal with the developer, who was also a builder.

 

 

We moved in the summer of 1984, shortly after our 10th anniversary. It was strange. I was not around much when the house was being built - I was in Washington D.C. working on a protracted negotiation. I would come home on the weekends, drive out to see the progress on the house, and then leave again. Our builder was honest ,so even with not being around much when the house was built, it turned out just fine (with a few minor adjustments).

 

 

After we moved in my travels continued. After a grueling week in Washington, surrounded by the concrete jungle, I would fly home on Friday night. Once home, I would strip off my suit and just listen to the quiet. On Saturdays, after chores, we would sit on the deck and enjoy the solitude of the woods. Our new house had shortly become not only our home, but our recluse as well.

 

 

Years went on, our second daughter was born, and the girls grew up in our house in the pines. Each girl had their own room and decorated them to reflect their personalities. We celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, our daughter's marriage and other festive events. The house was part of our joys as well as our sorrows. We made improvements, added out buildings and developed our back yard into a landscaped wonderland. Eventually, both girls who had grown up in this house, left for lives of their own.

The house in now emptier, and certainly much more quiet. Both of the girl's former bedrooms have been "remade" into rooms for different purposes. The back yard which was once filled with swing sets and portable swimming pools, is now a sanctuary for birds, deer and wild turkeys. We know that our time in this house will be over sooner rather than later. Before long it will be time to move into something smaller and easier to care for. When that day comes, it will be hard. This house, like so many others, are chuck full of family memories. Laughter, tears, joys and sorrows will always be part of the history of our house.

We built this house. We built this house to be much more than a house - we built it to be a part of our family, our home. The almost thirty years we have lived in this house have sped by like thirty minutes. Truthfully, I have enjoyed just about every minute of it. In the words from the song by Crosby, Stills and Nash, "Our house is a very, very fine house..."