The Townhouse

 

I had always lived in rentals my adult life. I married young and my husband at the time was in the military. Never knowing if we were going to be sent somewhere new, the commitment of buying a house didn’t seem worth it. When my current husband relocated to his hometown, we followed. Initially we moved into the basement apartment of his mother’s house. We were very lucky for this opportunity. It allowed us to save money, which allowed us to have our youngest son. 1 year in, we knew we needed more space. Our oldest children shared a bedroom. When our son turned 7, that’s when we knew we had to start looking for a home.

 

We looked and looked and looked. We were not in the position financially to buy or build (the dream) our forever home. We just needed that third bedroom, and enough room for a hopeful baby. The townhouse felt right. It was just enough space. A perfect first home until we figured out exactly what we wanted. It was the newest of all the properties we visited, move in ready. It seemed like everything else we looked at needed work. Investing somewhere we weren’t going to stay forever seemed counter productive. We made an offer, and they accepted. The VA valued the home at less than our offer, but the sellers were OK with the loss. Their dream home was already waiting for them.

 

While the space started out as enough for now, over time it really felt like just enough in general. The ideal of minimalism and small space living really changed my life in this home. We saw our oldest children grow and really settle in to their new hometown. We got to welcome our youngest child. We also got married.  It was just enough for this stage in our life. My personal opinion is with one more bedroom and a basement it would have been perfect forever.

 

We spent three wonderful years here. In that time I made all the designs choices that felt right for the space. By the end it was finished, beautiful, and home. As the children got older, and bigger, there were many discussions about how long we were going to stay. When Covid arrived we quickly realized the idea of building are dream home was going to be far more costly and out of reach that we imagined. We would stay put for now, thinking we could get another 3 to 5 years from this home. Then see what the world looks like.