Patience Is a Survival Skill
The yard in 2017
There was a great deal we didn’t know when we purchased the 1868 house and the two plots of land to the south 10 years ago. We have been learning as we go all along. I am a big fan of Stephanie Travis from the YouTube series, “Escape to the Chateau” She recently released an episode where she mused about what she has learned and many of her points resonated with me. Here are those points (and a few of my Amens of my own).
The Truths of an Old House
The purchase price is just your entry fee. (You will have a lifetime of physical, emotional, and financial resources pulled into the house)
The house always decides. (Look for the silver lining in things that need to be done vs what you had wanted to do )
You don’t own the house, you serve it. (If you want a house that serves you, perhaps a historic house isn’t for you)
EVERYthing takes three times longer than you think it will, and costs twice as much.
Patience is not a virtue, it’s a survival skill.
Don’t confuse luxuries with necessities. (You learn how people lived in the past without some current day amenities… one of our mantras is living in the past for the future. There will be some occasional discomforts until it gets better)(you will get tougher and better)
Listen to the building. (Don’t try to shoehorn your aesthetic into a house that wasn’t made for it / find a place for it)
Prepare to become a reluctant expert in things you never expected. (We flipped poor boys have poor ways to mean if you can’t afford it you just have to learn how to do it/make it ourself)
Know when NOT to DIY. (Know your limitations. For the sake of your ego and wallet!)
Find the right craftsmen. (Seriously. Do it right or rip it out and do it again.)
