home + garden

My parents moved out of the 'family' house to take new jobs in another state. I came back to the house the day after and went from room to room, bawling my eyes out. I still drive by my grandfather's house, Grandpa's, and it will always be his. The new owners painted it a hideous brown, and cut down the tree swing. barbarians. That was 20 years ago. :D Those houses were family members.

I look at my folks house as a family member too, I love the house, yard, and neighborhood. The time is coming when they will be moving on, and I have a strong desire to buy the house out from my siblings and live there. If anyone reading this bought their parents home and have enjoyed making it their own, I'd like to hear your feelings about it. Do you enjoy living there again?

I never considered the house I grew up in as a member of the family. The house became my home because that's where I interacted with my parents, my parent's friends, my siblings, my sibling's friends, my friends, my relatives, and my neighbors. I hope these memories will stay with me for years. My parents moved 17 years ago, and my father has passed away. I'd rather think of him then any house.

We sold the house I grew up in 3 years ago and it was 50 plus years of accumulation and stuff, some happy and fond memories, some not. At it's heart were my parents. They are both gone now and I miss them, not the house.

My father is still in the house he built after WWII. Most of the neighborhood homes are now owned by children of the original owners. I do hope one of my siblings buys this house but right now its not on the market, hopefully it won't be for a long long time. I do enjoy going to visit and seeing the "kids" I grew up with in their yards.

I bought my childhood home when my mom died and my father chose to move to his cabin. My husband and I love this house and neighborhood. We have made the house our own, but it has many fond memories as well. It isn't weird to live there - many people ask that - and I know at least 3 other friends who have purchased and live happily in their childhood homes.

I'm a baby boomer and my parents lived in 4 different homes (3 while I was growing up at home) before they divorced. Move on people! Look at recent stats. 50% of households are single parent. How about the housing industry? This is a thing of the past. If you are so depressed about losing your childhood home then why don't you buy it!

When my parents passed away in the late 90s, they left a small 120-year old cottage on the lake. They'd lived there for 40 years and my dad, a master craftsman, had turned it into a state-of-the-art mini-lodge. Since I'd only been in one home my entire adult life, and since my brother had no interest in taking over the cottage, I was able to sell my home, turn over the profit to my brother, and move into this enchanted cottage. That was a decade ago and a day never passes that I feel extremely blessed to live on the water's edge. 45 Christmases and 10 grandchildren later, I'm hoping to pass on this legacy to my own children one day. That is, if my reverse mortgage holds out!

My parents raised 14 children in a house in Blaine and all of us kids at some point since they sold have parked our cars in front of it and regretted that time moves on. With that in mind, I was lucky enough to buy the home my great aunt and uncle (married) and a great aunt (never married and still living, age 98) owned for 65 years. Three generations of family adore the house and the previous owners and it felt a bit odd when I moved in, like I was intruding, but now I know they are all happy that it stayed in the family as did many of their furnishings and small household possesions. I am hopeful someone else in the family will take it from me when my husband and I are gone. I think it is a shame some people are so keen on throwing away the past. I'm not saying live in the past, but you don't have to discard it.

Every house I moved from I would tell myself "this home will make the next family/owners happy". Home is where the heart is, & you can't buy back the memories; let the next family make a wonderful life there.