"Everything Old is New Again!"

Welcome, y'all. My husband and I are embarking on an exciting, crazy journey. It may very well drive me over the edge, LOL, but we are taking charge!

What are we doing? Well, we want to build the house of my youth- a home I miss very much. My parents bought the house, located on Merewood Lane, when I was 12 (early 1982, the year I was turning 13); they sold it in 1994, after I was married the first time and living in Mississippi. The neighborhood had become kind of dodgy, and Dad #2 received an offer of a promotion to the "home office" in Upstate New York. So he and Mom #1 packed up their lives (and part of mine) and headed to the frozen hell of Horseheads, New York. They moved back to Texas a few years later, but that's another story. :)

What is it about the Merewood House? I'm sure it's a variety of things- it was a very impressionable time in my life. It was (and remains to this day) the longest I'd lived in a house (even though I went away to college, I still count that time). There were good and bad times there, along with the innocence of childhood and then the growing awareness of adulthood. We had a really kick-ass pool, too! Friendships were made during that time- friendships that have carried into what is now -GASP- middle age (how the hell did I get to be middle aged? I sure don't think like an almost-forty-three-year-old!!!)

At any rate, this house/home etched such an impression in my psyche that, from time to time, I dream about it. Am I crazy? Probably. The dreams have various tones- in them, the house has been the same, it's been different, the pool has been filled in with dirt and covered with grass, the pool was there but filthy, etc. Freud would probably have a field day. One thing remains constant in the dreams: the sense of longing for my old home, in a state that is familiar to me.

The Merewood House, ca. 1985

It's not like that, anymore, of course. I haven't seen the inside of it since 1994, but I have driven past it a few times (during the day!), most recently this past Saturday evening. The neigborhood is still dodgy. The wood has been painted white. They cut a window above the front door. They planted two trees in the yard, one on each side of the front walk. I don't like it; it doesn't seem right.

The Merewood House, ca. 2007ish (from Google Maps)

Due to some interesting circumstances (again, another story), my new husband (okay, we've been married almost three years, so not *new* new, but you get the idea) and I are living with my in-laws, and we are saving up to buy a house. I'm picky. I love the angles and designs of a lot of the 1980s houses (the Merewood House was built in 1980), I don't like "cookie cutter" homes. Things have to be *just so.* I'm a Virgo, which explains a lot of this, I'm sure. I've searched the Houston Association of Realtors website for houses that would meet my needs, only to find bits and pieces here and there- "Oh, I love those angles," "Very cool built-ins," "Great pool! Why does the rest of the house look so lousy?" Did I mention I'm picky?

Anyway, it came to me the other day: there is a house out there... the Merewood House. Buying it is not an option- not only is it in the dodgy 'hood, it's also not for sale. Here's the cool part: it is a custom design. The original owner, who sold it to my parents, was the homebuilder for that neighborhood. After selling the house to us, he went to a neighboring subdivision and built its mirror-image twin, which he moved into. That's right, folks... there are only two (as far as I know) of this design. I believe the homebuilder is deceased, but his son lived down the street from us. Thanks to the power of the Intarwebs Gods, I have located said son, and guess what? He is a homebuilder, who does a lot of "green" building. I emailed him to tell him what I wanted to do, and to ask if he had the plans for the house. He told me the original architect is still in business, and gave me his (the son's, not the architect's) cell number. I plan to call him soon. We want to make a few tweaks (which I will mention in future posts) and have some modern conveniences, but we want to maintain the basic integrity of the plan.

I told my parents what hubs and I intend to do. Mom #1 thinks it's great, I think (she misses the house too). I'm sure she told Dad #2, but I don't know his reaction just yet. Dad #1 has cautioned me about nostalgia and homebuilding, due to some issues my cousin had with her nostalgia project. I know he is not discouraging me, merely asking me to be careful. :) I'm sure he's told Mom #2, but like with Dad #2, I don't know the reaction.

So, here we are, thirty years after first moving into the Merewood House. We want to build as green as possible/affordable, given my allergies, as well as my hatred of regular insulation (more about that later). We have a long road ahead of us: we need to find some land that's not in a scary place, that is affordable, and that is closer to family and friends. We need to figure out financing. I invite you to follow us on our journey, wherever it may take us. :)