Trees and Taxes

We planted a maple in 1998, top photo. Second shot is 2000. The tree is now over 20' tall and offers excellent shade. 

Off to pay the property tax today; $401.10 is the annual tax burden.

The Floor Plans

A peek inside

We bought the Old Hurst House on September 9, 1994 and the work began to make it livable. We began with the kitchen, where the counters had gotten wet and soggy. We pulled everything out, including the floor covering, and we began to strip off the wallpaper. It was a chore.

Renovation

In 1996, we built our own scaffolding, and began to prep and paint the back of the house. When one section was done, we would use hand trucks and brute strength to move the scaffold to the next spot. 

It took us three years to finish the painting as we did it all by ourselves. 

The front porch floor was replaced the next year.

Had a new roof installed and the dental molding, soffit, and fascia repaired in 1999.

The front porch floor was replaced the next year. We also repaired the bottoms of the front porch posts and put up the lattice.

The early years

So Bill and I moved to southern Indiana back in the summer of 1994. No, we didn't have jobs or any compelling reason to come here, but we had reasons to leave Atlanta.

First, the Olympics of 1996 were coming. Scary scary. Also, we had looked at property and it was totally priced out of our range and we didn't want to owe our souls to a bank for the next 20 or 30 years. Then, we were burglarized three times in four months. Very scary scary. We wanted to leave the rat race asap.

We had a little bit of money from his dad, and I had saved a wad from working on TV shows and movies. We had visited this area,  (I grew up in Indiana, albeit the northern part,) and I had a childhood friend who lived here in Harrison County. She sent us real estate ads from the newspaper and in the end, we packed up a U-Haul trailer and came north.

It was hard for me to adjust, as I had been working 14 hour days in a busy metropolitan area. I left it all behind and suddenly, I was sitting on a quiet deck and listening to cows and birds and trying to slow my brain down. I had to reinvent myself, and it took a good six months.

In the meantime, Bill got a job with a paycheck and we commenced to looking for a home. There was one place in Crawford County, a house and 23 acres, to be had for a song. When Bill saw the property, it was like, where's the house? Um, there. No, that's a falling down shack. No, that's the house.

We picked up a million ticks that day, and we didn't buy.

We rode around with various and misogynistic real estate agents, we drove our own selves around, we looked and looked, and then one day in the newspaper, there was this ad: Always wanted a big house but thought you couldn't afford it? Large home on corner lot..... I cut that ad out and saved it, because when I first saw The Old Hurst House, I was in love. The second I stepped foot inside this place, I knew we would buy it.

There was a ton of work to be done before it could be livable. Ah, but we were young and full of energy back then.

House for Sale

This is what our house looked like in 1994. What a gem! The moment I walked through the front door, and saw the staircase, I was sold. The ad read, "Always wanted a large home but thought you couldn't afford it?"  This is Bill and his mom looking at the front of it.

This is the back. Not so nice, but still, mostly cosmetic stuff. This house is solid as a rock! Built from locally grown yellow poplar, and milled just a quarter mile south of here at the Ashton saw mill. I am not positive of the actual built date, but I believe it was c.1865.

There was a barn out back, almost as big as the house. You can see how overgrown it was.

Bill and I moved to Indiana in 1994, leaving Atlanta on the Fourth of July. We were young and full of energy and had a little bit of cash. This place was made for us. 

We are offering the Old Hurst House for sale for $90,000. Details to follow.