We bought a ranch.
We always say, “We are going to live here for the next 3-5 years.” when we move into a new house. And then a year goes by and we find the next house and move. We could probably be safe to say it is a “pattern” at this point. We have all intentions of staying in a house for a longer period of time but end up fixing it up with renovations within a year time frame and then “somehow” decide to take on a new project.
We had the same intentions with our current house in our little town of Dayton, MN. We planned on being here for 3-5 years and even installed a brand new cement pad basketball court in the back yard. We fixed everything up in our dump of a house that we bought just the way WE liked it. The lighting fixtures, kitchen style, paint choices were all made to our liking and design choice.
Until one day, we realized that our oldest daughter was 12. She turned 12 that year and within an instant, everything changed for us.
You see, we want our home to a place where not only our family feels home at, but others do as well. And while that can happen in any home shape and size, we specifically wanted it to be a place where growth and space were evident. Where the kids friends would want to come to. We wanted to have the home that had the space and activities where people would want to congregate at and have the room to do so. And have possibilities of expansion.
We want to have the home that our kids enjoy every moment of growing up in. And when they are grown, they will always have space to stay or come back home to. We wanted to have all the things for them to play with, use and make memories with while they are still in childhood. We wanted to have the home that they wanted to stay at, and bring their friends home to. And since our oldest is already 12, we realized our time was limited. We couldn’t wait 5 more years to get that home, because at that point, our oldest daughter could already be on the way out the door onto her own adventures in life. We needed to make this move sooner than later.
Thus, the search began. Now, we already own 2 homes in our little city of Dayton. Both with studio apartment garages that we rent out to tenants. Thus, we have 4 potential rental properties within those 2 properties of land (that equal to about 4 acres of land as well.) And we knew that our next property, ideally we’d also like in Dayton with more land and more possibilities. (We also have a dream of generating enough properties to gift to each of the kids one day.)
In the summer of 2021, we went and viewed so many houses. We went to surrounding towns and looked at so many properties to really get a feel for what we wanted for our family. What was most important to us? Land? the house? The location? After narrowing it down through so many showings, we both came to the same conclusion of what was most important to us:
Land
Location
House
The reason being is that we can do anything with any house but if its not on the land we love, it doesn’t mean as much to us. We would view brand new built houses (because buying a move-in ready house sounds so intriguing to us as we always buy fixer-uppers) but then we find ourselves making a list of everything we would change and fix up anyways. We realized we are definitely “buy the crappy home” type of people.
We viewed an old ranch house property in June and LOVED it. I took pictures of the inside of the house and we were dreaming up of all the possibilities on the land. Only problem was, in a thriving summer market, it was overpriced and way over our budget. We left the property wishing it could work out but knowing we would have to wait for something else similiar to that to pop up in our price range.
Show me something unique and uncommon and I’ll fall in love. Show me a brand new built house and I’ll be less than impressed. I LOVE old buildings with character and flaws. I love the creaking of old wooden floors and the stories in the walls. This tiny little 1,600 sq. ft farm house just rang to me. Enough that I took pictures of it on that June day, not knowing what the future would actually hold for us there.
My husband is a realtor and let the listing agent know that if they could ever bring down the price point, we would be willing to negotiate terms that benefited both parties. I will spare all the details but a few weeks later, after we had searched and chosen some other houses to pursue, my husband got a message from that listing agent wanting to make something work. The ranch house was going to be ours.
We went under contract on July 28 and were hoping to get in quickly to start making renovations on the house and all the out buildings before winter hit- we had/have BIG plans for this property. But, something ALWAYS happens. Something always prolongs the process, makes it more difficult with more hurdles to jump. We ended up closing on this property on October 19th (almost 3 months later.) My husband has definitely taught me the art of perseverance, persistence and patience through all of our house purchases.
Truth is, we want this to be the place our children have beautiful memories growing up in. We want to host friends and family and create a welcoming space for people to enjoy. We want this to be a respite and exciting sanctuary to find peace at. We want this land, this property to be used for God’s glory. And so, it begins.
The amount of plans we have for this property can feel overwhelming so we are taking it piece by piece. Taking our time and taking tiny bites. I will unveil more of those plans as time progresses but for now, we are just so happy to call it ours.
Here are some of the features of our new property:
Almost 7 acres of beautiful land with a mix of fenced in greenery, gravel area and woods.
We are on the Mississippi River- it sits in our backyard (let me know where to get the best tubes + kayaks.)
We have an in ground pool which is a dream of ours for our kids. (Peep me any safety information as we will open up in the springtime!)
There is 1 house we will be fixing up and renting out.
We will be building our new home on our land. Hoping to move in spring/summer 2022.
There is a 6 stall storage garage on the property (it is filled for the winter with storage rentals) and also has a small area we are converting to a studio apartment and also renting out.
There is a horse stable. Not sure if we will stable our own horses there or make something else of it.
A galvanized tin outdoor shelter area is attached to the horse barn where I can evision summer events and gatherings.
We have 4 different fenced in areas for animals. We shall see how it will be utilized!
There is a small shed on the property we may use to have some chickens!
There is another large building on the property that will be used as my own shop/studio/office for my work. It will be a very multi-purpose space.
We have a gazebo.
There is a 2 car detached garage stall that we will be making into a gameroom for the kids slash exercise room for us. There is a huge loft on top that I would love to transition into a small guest house. Attached to this building is a small “pool room” area that I will be revitalizing as well.
There is a gated entrance onto the property.
We will be clearing the land to get down to the Mississippi River for easy access.
There is so much more but for now, thank you for joining in the celebration and excitement of some dreams coming true! God is so good! Stay tuned for more info on the next part of our journey!