There’s a vacant one room school house that I pass on my way to work. I’m enchanted by it. Maybe it has something to do with my love of school as a child or the fact that I wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House on the Prairie. {Once, I asked for and received a long skirt and shoes with wooden soles to role play in my tree house. I liked the way my shoes sounded on the wood floor boards and gravel driveway.} Having lived in a 3-bedroom, 1-bath barn/home with my parents and 3 younger siblings for most of my life, I’ve always been fascinated by small spaces that work hard. {That’s probably how our mini mudroom came about.} There’s just something about using every square inch of living space to its full potential that feels good to me. Sure, a room can look like a million bucks, but if it lacks function and ease then it’s not a room I feel comfortable in. And I’m not talking about filling every square inch of space with stuff but rather making it useful. {Empty spaces for walking, playing and letting the room breathe are very important.} So, I have a crush on this old one room school house.
I mentioned it to my grandpa the last time he visited us from Florida. You should know that my grandpa knows everything there is to know about houses. {My dad comes in a close second.} He’s built I-don’t-know-how-many with his own 2 hands {including some of my childhood homes}, and if Handy Hubby and I ever have questions about doing something house-related, we ask him. When I told my grandpa about the school house, he suggested I look up the property on the county auditor’s website. Did you ever know such a thing existed? It’s great. It gives all sorts of information on the land and any buildings on the land…owner, age of building{s}, map, lot size, sales history, tax info, etc. From the information provided on the auditor’s site, I discovered the owners lived on the land right next to the school house. I instantly wanted to contact them, but I was afraid of scaring them. After several weeks of contemplation, I finally wrote a letter. I told them a little about myself and how their little school house had struck a chord with me. I asked them to contact me anytime in the way they felt most comfortable and gave my email, address, and phone number. I was curious about the building: was it a family heirloom? had anyone they’d known attended school there? what did they use it for? what does it look like inside? has it ever been lived in? any particularly interesting stories about it? That was about 3 weeks ago. I haven’t heard back. They probably think I’m some crazy lady, but I’m glad I wrote a letter. Otherwise, I’d wonder all the time about what if I had written a letter.
What about you? Is there a home in your area that you find yourself daydreaming about? Did you know about the auditor website thing? Share!
images: Warren County Historical Society
inspiration