Monday, January 11, 2010

History in an old House



There's alot of history in a 100 year old house. 102 years to be exact. The last woman who had the house before me,lived here about 15 years ago. She bought it with her husband and 3 kids. She did a lot of remodeling, expanding the kitchen, doing wallpaper and custom floral carpeting. Unfortunately her husband had an affair with another woman and left her and the kids. She lost it to foreclosure. I met her a few years ago when she came by, I let her in for a tour of the house which she enjoyed, with her new husband, so she did move on.
The next owner was (by local neighbor's accounts)was an eccentric, artistic and wacky guy, who had numerous lovers, one of which he shot in the house... (not mortally, I gather) and had "preformance art" on the front porch in his toga. He would make a stage on the large porch and dance to loud music for the neighbor's (dubious) entertainment. From the account given to me by a reliable neighbor, he had some loud music on and was gardening in the yard next door, which at the time was his property also, when someone called the police because of the loud music. The story goes that the 2 police who came, one of which was a younger rookie cop, and when (allegedly) the owner Drew attacked the cops with a pitchfork, the rookie unloaded his gun into the owner and killed him.
This was quite a scandal in the neighborhood and town. The next owner, my ex boyfriend Bob, bought it from the bank, he said the previous owner never made a payment on the house and was also being foreclosed on. Bob owned it no more than 6 months,and as I said, I found him working on it and made an offer and purchased it basically before the paint was dry.
Sadly, Bob died of a heart attack a couple years later.
I had a friend who was a psychic, who when she came through the house said there were "many" spirits residing in the attic and not to go up there after dark.
I never felt spooked living in the house, I felt like Bob would've been there to take care of me from any adverse characters residing with me. In fact, I felt like the house was very welcoming to me and kept a close watch on me. So, if there were any of the spirits not wanting me there, they stayed upstairs and I let them be.
I hope the next owner will feel the love here that I did. I wish them well.
It is a lovely old home and neighborhood is mostly calm and generally a wonderful place to live.
One of my favorite neighbors, Vera is 81 years old and grew up in the house across the street, and her husband Richard, (now deceased) grew up in the house next door to me. They were married for 50 years and made/ make the neighborhood something classic to be cherished. Today she is like a mom to me and made me feel loved here.

3 comments:

  1. Great story, Katie! I always enjoy them. : )

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  2. Thanks Amara,
    I value your opinion! I like the history in the old houses. A lot has happened here...
    K

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  3. This is breaking my heart. If my jackas* soon(?)to be ex had even begun to pay me any part of what he's owed me for our business the last 3 + years, I would have invested with you. This is a tragedy.

    deb

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