Hey Friends!

I know it’s been a while since I have last posted ~ it’s because things have been pretty crazy, disappointing, exciting and up in the air these past couple of months ! However, today is a day that I thought would never happen…we are finally closing on our new home!!! This is house number 4 and state number 4 for us in just under 12 years!! …and hopefully this will be a forever home!

Let Me Introduce You to Our New 1886 Victorian Home in Wisconsin!!

I would like to make mention that I did not personally take these photos. I saved them from the listing as well as photos I found via Google.

I have ALWAYS loved Victorian Homes, in fact, they are my most favorite style home – the more gaudy and detailed, the more I liked it! I love intricate woodwork, I love patterned designs, I love grand staircases, I love closed off rooms (I actually hate open floor plans!) and I love color! Simply put, the more time (or attention to detail) something took to make, the more I love it!

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Now my husband on the other side…not so much. He’s more of a Craftsman style lover: straight lines, simple yet classy but not over-the-top. Because we bought all of our previous homes knowing we wouldn’t be there for forever and would need to sell, we have always kept things pretty “neutral” keeping the future buyer in mind. It definitely paid off each time, however, now I finally get to “do a home” for ME!!!

I have allllllllways wanted to own an old home AND a home with a wrap around porch. When we moved to the South 12 years ago, I sincerely thought that was exactly what we would buy. Boy was I wrong! The whole Hollywood vision of old southern homes lining every street is completely not true. Don’t get me wrong, there are those type of homes, but unfortunately we didn’t live in towns that had them. Quite contrary to what I thought, the South actually has an abundance of new construction homes because so many people are relocating here. So, I find it almost comical that I am finally getting the house I have always dreamed of now that we are moving back up to the frigid cold of Eastern Wisconsin! In my case, I guess #4 is my lucky number! ?

 

**I strongly believe that this house not only wanted us, it needed us. This actually wasn’t the house we were “supposed” to buy. We were contracted on a different home which ended up falling through (no fault of ours) and then we offered on another home which we did not get even though we offered considerably over. This was house #3 that we offered on (house #2 we were contracted on) and everything has worked out with it….with a few hiccups along the way (all of which were resolved) and the sellers have been really wonderful (which has been a huge blessing compared to previous experiences we’ve been in).

The house is amazingly gorgeous…however, it is not pristine and definitely comes with a laundry list of things to do – but I’m totally OK with that! Home renovating is kind of like childbirth…you forget all of the pain once the baby is born (or once the house is compete and sold, ha!) that you’re crazy enough to do it all over again!

 

 

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”
– Neil Gaiman

This quote is certainly true and sums up my outlook on this new home. I’m excited about learning and doing so many new things! I’ve been researching and learning about things I didn’t even know existed. Things like asbestos, radon mitigation, knob and tube electrical wiring, Queen Anne, Folk, Stick Style, etc Victorian homes, and so much more. Honestly, it’s been so much fun and This Old House has become my new favorite show!

 

 

Besides the fact that many old homes are never ending money pits, unfortunately a lot of them are in areas where they’ve been turned into multi family living homes and rentals and not taken care of or stripped of their original beauty. Plus, they usually don’t have very good yard space. However, our house is just the opposite of all of that! (well, I’m hoping it doesn’t turn into a never ending money pit…but knowing us and all of the grand ideas we have for it, I guess I can’t really say it won’t) but the house has been fully updated electrically, HVAC, bathrooms, humongous finished basement and more…AND it is on 3/4 of an acre!!! It really is a dream come true! (I’ll put that in writing now so when I’m frustrated down the road, I can come back and read this very sentence!) ?

 Winter Wonderland

I literally have to pinch myself when I see these photos because I cannot believe this is our new house!!! To me, it is so gorgeous in the snow!

 

With my excitement, I’ve become a research addict and have been trying to figure out as much as possible about our new home. Who had it built, who were the previous owners, what did they do for a living, etc. Come to find out, the original owner was actually a pretty important person in our town and had a lot of influence and important jobs! (his wife’s family was pretty important also!) – I’ll be sure to write posts about the history once my research is more complete! It’s so fun to think that there have been SO MANY people who have lived in this house for 133 years before us! I can only imagine all of the wonderful memories made in this home! I cannot wait to love on it, sink tons of hard work (and money, ugh) into it and give this old gem the glory and beautification it deserves!

HOUSE FIRE

On June 28, 2019 – just three short months after moving in our house was struck by lightning and caught fire. I’ve chronicled everything with updates along the way HERE.

 

I hope that over time you will join me on our adventures! Be sure to follow me on Instagram  and Facebook to stay up to date with it all!