First, it was the way this 1927 stone foursquare in Harpers Ferry seemed to find us when we weren’t at all looking to leave Charlottesville. Then, once we agreed with the house that we belonged together, it was the acceptance of our offer with no negotiation, the perfect timing of a job transfer to NOVA for Christian, and two quick home sales as we divested our Virginia holdings. It’s also the way this house has embraced us with an immediate sense of belonging.
We quip that this house is charmed. Another interpretation is that there is some higher purpose in our being here (and I must definitely assign some credit to my husband’s prayers at every step of the process). We have more to discover about why we’re here, but we know that hospitality must be our new calling.
This all started with Christian’s serendipitous click on a little dot in a Zillow app less than a year ago. He and I had been dating – not officially engaged but already talking about spending the rest of our lives together. We decided to pay a visit to the Harpers Ferry area. We both enjoy touring historical places, and we became curious about the price of a lovely historic home we saw for sale in nearby Charles Town. We scanned the Zillow photos of its interior on Christian’s cell phone. Ho hum. Nice yard but 1990s-era vibe inside.
Then came that fortuitous click on a Harpers Ferry property. First photo: stone house with full front porch and flowers along the path. Nice. Second photo: Entry with craftsman-style staircase and lots of stained wood trim. Wow. With every swipe to a new photo, our interest intensified. The house had been expertly renovated with its vintage charm intact.
“I’m calling the realtor to see if we can get in to look at it,” Christian said. Like Sarah in the Hebrew Bible, I laughed. That was not something I would ever have thought of doing.
In another three hours we were walking through the front gate into what looked like a secluded secret garden. Then we went inside, and together we fell in love with the place. It has a second-story sleeping porch, for goodness sake.
We talked about it a lot over the next few days – first in a crazy-idea sort of way. I told my daughters, “We saw this great house, but there’s a one-in-a-million chance we would ever get anywhere with it…” Then the conversation turned more serious. Maybe moving to a totally new place would be the best way to begin our new life together … leaving some painful (as well as many joyous) experiences behind.
Once we agreed to go for it, everything fell right into place. We worked very hard, mind you, getting two houses on the market, moving out, moving in, changing jobs. The way has been cleared at every turn, however, and here we are.
We named this place Rockhaven, for reasons which we hope are obvious. It’s an enchanted blessing, and we have plenty of room for sharing it with our guests who wander this way – family, long-time friends, and new friends we haven’t yet met!
If you would like to meet our magic house, ya’ll come! You are welcome here.
