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Our First Garden Season in Review

We first laid eyes on this house and its lovely gardens approximately one year ago when the real estate agent showed us around the property. When we returned in late fall for the inspection, we identified some dogwood and a few other plants from their leaves, but other than that we knew very little about what garden would look like in full bloom.

Let me tell you, this garden did not disappoint.  The daily discoveries were pure joy!

As we draw to the end of the growing season, we thought it would be fun to share with you a review of what we found blooming here. These photos are just the tip of the iceberg. We could fill up the web with them, but we’ll try to be selective.

We’ll begin with April, just before our garden wedding, and take you through summer to the present: Continue reading “Our First Garden Season in Review”

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Old Stuff, New Ways of Using It

We probably are no different from most other middle income couples who remarry in their empty-nester years. Christian and I both owned homes, and we both accumulated way too much stuff during our separate family-raising decades. Some of it is easy to part with, but a lot of our furniture and décor either comes with some kind of emotional attachment or cost us too much to just yard-sale it or give it away.

Thus, deciding to buy the house and move to Harpers Ferry was the easy part. The harder part has been merging Christian’s more traditional style (leaning modern) and my more vintage style (leaning cottage) into a single 1920s craftsman-style house.

Neither of us have ever lived in a home more than 40 years old, and a lot of our stuff in its current state doesn’t fit the the style of this place. Our challenge has been to repurpose – or reinvent – as much of it as possible. The attic guest suite has been our first achievement of this goal. Continue reading “Old Stuff, New Ways of Using It”

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Living in the Magic House

Front gate to our enchanting home.

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.

Love Spoken Here

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. Continue reading “Living in the Magic House”