Wednesday, October 29, 2008

it's beginning to look . . .

The past couple of days it has been psychotically cold! I am talking like 29 degrees in the morning. I had to scrape the ice off the windows of the van before I drive away. I am sometimes nervous thinking that the van won't start because it has never had to endure this type of cold before. I think I'll will shortly take it in to get it "winterized" so that I don't run into trouble later.

New information on the house hunt. I am in talking negotiations with a realtor on a property south of the city I am working in. Here's the rundown . . . 20 acres of BEAUTIFUL rolling land, in the country with NO major highways or freeways in sight. Across the road is a huge plot of land that the owner is keeping as a nature preserve. It has an acre of woods in the back, several outbuildings, and the house is 3000 square foot. 7 bedrooms. There is a small house (500 sq.. ft) on the property as well. Here's the kicker . . . it's an Amish home that has NO plumbing, No electricity, and NO bathrooms. :) It does however have a 3-seater outhouse that works! We are working to try to buy it on an all cash offer and then we will not have to take even a small loan out for the purchase.

All of us have vision for the place. We have talked about this house more than any other we have seen. It seems like it will be TONS and TONS of work but in the end we will have almost EXACTLY what we were thinking a house should be.

~large living and dining areas
~large kitchen
~enough bedrooms to house visitors
~lot's of land to work on
~a guest house for grandma (or anyone else)
~a place for a fireplace and a wood cook stove
~a place for animals
~relatively close to work
~and we would be able to buy it CASH.

We are excited to see if this is the place that God has for us. I talked with the realtor again today and told him our story of getting out of debt and wanting to stay out even with a house purchase. We will see how it goes. :)

6 comments:

leigh anna said...

1. its been that cold here too
seriously....this morning it was 28 when i checked the weather, but by the time i got in my car to go to work it was 34....and now it is 59....so its warming up pretty quickly

2. i'll keep your prayers in my prayers...keep us updated on the house :) sounds like god has provided .... yet again! :)

LauraT said...

This property sounds like the adventure of your lifetime! I can totally see you guys getting this place! Outhouse? No indoor plumbing? Sounds awesome! How fun will that be?! I'll be praying that God will make things work smoothly if it is his will. Laura

Anonymous said...

Quit whining about the weather. What did you think? It would be like it is here in Florida? 70 degrees and humid? I'm just glad that it is you and not me in the cold! About the house and property...sounds Pyscho! No plumbing or electricity. Think about this for a minute. How are you going to live without the internet or Ildi's coffee maker. Are you going to go total Amish or are you looking to upgrade the house with 2oth century features like lights, heat and a toilet? Glad you are on the adventure and not me. Opps! Gotta run! Glad it's to an inside toilet and not an outhouse! Don't forget the Sears Roebuck catalog for TP!

Marci said...

Sounds like they are Swartzentruber Amish. Our last house was an Amish home. It was old order though and did have indoor plumbing. We put in the electric box and 5 outlets. That is all we ever had. =)

thompson said...

Hey,
You wanted to move to Ohio--you knew what the weather was like. Did you really expect to have 80 degree weather like we're having in Rancho Cucamonga, CA? Believe me, I would rather have it a bit colder!
Garth, if I were you, I would put the plumbing in before you move in. It get's mighty cold in the middle of the night when you have to use the privvy!
We continue to pray God's wisdom for you during this home search.
Love to all,
Sherri

OTA Class of 2012 said...

Hey the house sounds great. Got any picures?