Thursday, April 7, 2011

This Old House . . .

. . . is for Sale!







Before Remodel



After Remodel


My Dad and Mom's house in Springville, Utah is for sale. Since they have both passed away we decided it was time to sell it. Over the last few years my brother Harold has been working very hard to remodel and fix it up. He has put on new siding and windows, and completely remodeled both kitchens and bathrooms. They have painted and put in new flooring. It is now shined up and ready to sell.

Now this is not the house that my brothers and I grew up in. That house was in Montana. But I did live in this house for about a year after my mission while I was finishing college. So it does have a few memories for me. We had lots of fun times here with family and with friends.

My parents bought the house in 1984 after they had retired and moved to Utah. They chose Springville because it was a quiet little town. They bought this house because it has a basement apartment, which they rented out to help their income. They have had a long list of renters through the years, both to couples and single individuals. Mom and Dad were very courteous and friendly landlords, giving them Mom's homemade bread, cookies, sometimes meals and of course their friendship. They became quite attached to some renters.

When grandkids came to visit, the house had lots of little quirky places to play, like down the basement playing "McDonalds" through the unfinished window in the laundry room. Or outside in the little "phone booth" (I don't know where Dad got that from) or driving the VW bus. Dad's old green truck was a permanent lawn ornament in the backyard. The backyard is big and had a fruit trees, berries, and usually a vegetable garden.

A couple of years after my Mom died, Harold and Verla convinced Dad it was time to move out of the house and into their "inlaw" apartment in Provo. After that Harold worked hard to remodel and fix it up. Soon he had renters upstairs as well as downstairs.

The first time I saw the "newly remodeled" upstairs kitchen I thought, "Oh, I wish my Mom could have lived in it while it was this nice." She would have loved it.

If you notice the first picture, it has a ramp leading from the porch down to the lawn. My brother's built that a year before my mom passed away, as she was confined to a wheelchair. Harold also adapted the bathroom so she would be able to manuver in there with her wheelchair. I am thankful that he did that so that Mom would be able to spend her last few months at home instead of in a nursing home.

This house has experienced much life, laughter and love. It has also experienced it's fair share of sad times. But that is what life is all about.

Good-Bye Old House! Good-Bye my former HOME!


To take a look at other pictures of this house on the real estate listing click here.


1 comment:

Sharalea said...

I also have sweet, fond memories in that house...from my first visit when I was about 5 all the way up into my college years when I would come to visit & do laundry :)

Sweet memories, what a house. thank you for this post--it looks awesome from the outside, I'd love to see inside pics too!!