An Old New House

Reposting this personal story from my Instagram Account as this resonated with so many of my followers.

Last month marked the anniversary of our adoption of a truly magical house. Her name is Finne.

She was built in the 1830s and from what we know was a loving and communal home to families in Salem NY. Then, a gentleman lovingly took her apart, piece by piece, labeling every beam and creating detailed instructions on how to rebuild her.

He listed her on Craigslist, hoping to find someone who will bring her back to life. He did. Cue Hudson Valley based builders Bex and Dave.

They drove their truck up and moved her three hours south. They schemed her rebirth and eventually started pouring her a foundation. They then poured a tremendous amount of love into her, expanding her original footprint. A year later they listed her for adoption, mid October of 2023.

That night, I was out for dinner with Tim and happened to see the listing pop up.

Just a few days earlier, I made the intention to buy a house upstate that could hold all of our grown-ish children and be a physical manifestation of our love. There she was!

I saw photos of Finne and gasped. I slid the phone over to Tim and he started reading the history of the house. Then he gasped.

The next day we were the first ones to see her. Before walking in, I told ‘my team up there’ that if this was my house, there better be a clear sign.

We walked in and were taken aback by Finne’s beauty. The original old wooden floors, stairs, exposed beams and extremely tasteful designed details all around.

We sat in the staircase for an hour, talking about life with the broker. On my final walk through of the house, I noticed a book on the nightstand, that was put there by the person who staged the house, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s one of my all time favorite books and I had started reading it for the 5th time two days prior. I chuckled. I hear you universe. I hear you loud and clear.

After a sleepless night, I spent a ridiculously long time writing a heartfelt offer letter to the sellers. Their broker responded with “Thanks. We have 6 showings this weekend and it will go to the highest bidder!”

My heart sank. I knew I could not participate in a bidding war. And I accepted the fact this might have been it. Onward!

The next morning, the weekend of the 6 showings, my broker calls me and said “The owners just read your letter and canceled all the showings. They accepted your offer and your application for neighborly friendship!”

Gasp! Tears were shed.

Fast forward legal schmegal. We closed on the house on 12/13/23 and have called her our home ever since.

Finne is gentle and majestic. She is wise but also silly. She loves to host and wrap guests in her warm energy. (Yes, houses have personality/soul!)

We love her so. But the biggest score of all is that we now call the humans who lovingly brought her back to life, Bex and Dave, our friends and neighbors.

The end.