No, but really. We bought a farm. Well, kind of. A vacant farm. Is that a thing? A wannabe farm. A soon-to-be farm. We're going to build a farm, people!
Let's rewind. Ever since we put our old house on the market four years ago, David and I have been dreaming and scheming about buying again. As you guys know from here, we didn't exactly have the luxury of selling the old house and immediately buying. It took us four years to get that sale wrapped up, which meant four years of changing our minds about where we wanted to buy. Or, more importantly, where we wanted to set roots. Where we wanted to grow our family. Let me just tell you that I'm pretty sure David and I are Zillow's number one and two users- we have been obsessively house hunting for years! And not even just in one area- we pretty much followed searches all across metro Atlanta, just to cover our bases. At one point, we decided we definitely wanted to be in the city. Then we definitely wanted to be in the suburbs. Then we thought we'd buy an old house and renovate. Then we wanted to build a new house in the suburbs. Then we wanted to live in the city again. We were all over the place, but a lot can happen in four years! While it was hard to be patient, we had faith that God was leading us in the right direction and would put us on the right path in terms of where to settle.
Fast forward to October of this year, when we finally closed on the sale of our old house. One October Saturday, our little family was at our (rental house's) neighborhood fall festival. While I was waiting in line with HDawg and Little Lady June to get balloon animals, I noticed David was on the phone. After we got our butterfly and dog balloons, the kids and I rambled over to David and he said, "I found some land I think we should go look at!" I was a little confused- we had been mostly looking at subdivision lots with an acre or two of land, but this was 17.5 acres. But, it was a beautiful day and the kids wanted to play outside, so I said "okay, let's take a walk through the woods, honey." And the rest was history.
All the heart eyes, all the soil tests, all the meetings with builders, lots of time in the woods, more heart eyes, many many prayers, plenty of chats with our architect, lots of conversations with county officials about zoning and flood plain and taxes and rural development, a few more heart eyes and then one official closing with my new law office and I am proud to report that we're officially the owners of 17.5 acres in a country suburb outside of Atlanta.
The land is beautiful. There are two cleared pastures of about four acres each, a perfect home site, lots of pretty woods and even a gorgeous meandering creek along the back of the property. In the best school districts, about 20-25 minutes from our offices. The kids love it. David loves it. I love it. There's a perfect spot for a huge garden that we plan on starting this spring. Possibly even some small animals (chickens? goats?) in our future. And, the best part? I get to build my dream house. Hello, people! My dream house! I can't even begin to tell you how excited that makes us. And don't you worry, I plan to report it all here on the ol' blog. It's been awhile since Ten June has seen some great home projects outside of our four years of renting, so hopefully you guys are still around and ready to see some of our house building and farm growing process!
We officially bought the land a few weeks ago, but we're still in the very beginning processes of the build. I would like to say that we will break ground in February or so and then have a 6-8 month build timeline after that, but that's still all up in the air as we wait for our plans to be finished and the process to continue. After four years of waiting to see where life was going to take us, a few months ain't no thang. So exciting though, right? While we wait, David and I will just pretend to be Chip and Joanna Gaines and basically pin anything "farm house" or "ship lap" to our inspiration boards until then. Hellooooo dream farm house, here we come.
WE BOUGHT A FARM! #moo
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This is awesome! We are planning to move back to the Atlanta area in the next year or two and buying land like this is my dream. 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you! I love Atlanta for this very reason, so much great (inexpensive!) land in great areas. Shoot me an email if you need any insight about the city, but if you've lived here before you probably know all of the areas. Good luck to you!
DeleteYAY! Congratulations! So excited (and jealous) you get to build your dream house!
ReplyDeleteHa, thank you! Definitely a dream come true!
DeleteI love that you guys are doing this! I can't wait to see it come together. Our property is 17 acres, too! And It's amazing. Henry is obsessed with everything about the land. Your kiddos will surely love all that space, too!
ReplyDeleteOh the kids are obsessed. Yesterday, H got to chop down trees, rake leaves, go frog hunting and go on a "bear hunt." I mean, it doesn't get any better ; ) Thanks for all of your inspiration, I love keeping up with y'alls development!
DeleteCongratulations! Building a home is SO exciting! We started building in late April and will be finished in a few weeks, just in time for Christmas! I've been pretty patient through the process (you kind of have to be), but at this point, I'm SO READY to be out of the tiny apartment we've been in since April! Good luck with the whole thing - you'll love it!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!! I will definitely have to check out your blog more, I clicked over and it looks so cute! I may get lost for hours in all of the house building fun : )
DeleteYay for you guys!
ReplyDeleteHow freaking exciting! Can't wait to follow along :)
ReplyDeleteSo fun!!! We were thisclose to doing the same thing last year. And then once we started talking official numbers they told us we would need way way way more money in the bank. :( We were so disappointed. No way we could come up with $50,000+ for a down payment. :( So we are back to saving those pennies and waiting until that farm is ours!
ReplyDeleteWhat a dream! : ) Congratulations
ReplyDeleteSo exciting!! Congratulations!! It looks beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI am so excited for y'all, Michelle!! I'll have to live vicariously through you for now... a few more years in the burbs are necessary for us, but we long to be on a farm at some point... at least our grandkids will be able to enjoy it! Congratulations and big hugs!!
ReplyDeletexo heidi
That is so exciting! I can wait for more updates! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteWe are in Canton and LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteHoly crap!! I missed this news!! So exciting!!! Congrats!! xo
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