A Promise Kept: My home was in a Magazine!

A magazine home that is my very own. Did you know that my home was featured in a magazine this year?! The summer issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse to be exact. It was a dream come true! A real bucket-list moment for me. The best part of it all was how they captured the true essence of our home, “A promise kept.”

Our Magazine Home: A New “Old” House

If you didn’t know, our home is a new build, but was built to appear as if it’s been around for a very long time. A new “old” house. I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of this concept, but five years ago when we began our build, I had never seen anyone build do this. In fact, almost everyone of my contractors, family, and friends thought I had lost my mind. I don’t think anyone but my husband Mark understood.

Let’s Rewind to a few years before the Magazine

About 15 years ago, my husband and I were just a couple of teenagers talking about hopes and dreams for our future. He knew how much I loved old architecture. Then {and even now} he would drive me around old neighborhoods to OoOOoOo & Ahhhhh over the architecture of historical homes. Every single time we would drive around those neighborhoods, I would tell him the same thing: “When we get our own place, I want to restore something just like this.”

My husband is a smart man. He already knew from being in construction how much ongoing restoration would have to take place to upkeep what I wanted. So he said, “One day, I’ll build you a new house, but we will make it look old.” I had never heard of such a thing, but knowing that most of the restoration would fall on his shoulders, it seemed like a good compromise. I would get the look I wanted without the outdated electrical, plumbing, etc. And if I am being honest, I don’t know if I ever truly believed we would get the opportunity {much more, have my home featured in a magazine.} I mean, it was fun to dream, but that is a BIG dream.

A man of his word.

Then, about five years ago, we finally got our chance. We found a beautiful piece of property on a lake. We knew immediately we were going to attempt to make our dream of a new “old” house come to life. A lot people didn’t understand or see the vision. But we did. And now to have been featured in a magazine, I’ve seen how many people love our idea!

Pinch Me: My Magazine Worthy Home!

After a year and a half of blood, sweat & a few tears, I’m currently swinging on the back porch swing of our new “old” home. I’m listening to the birds chirp and the wind-chimes sing and just feeling so grateful. Not just for the opportunity to build our dream home, but for a husband that loves me so well. I still get that pinch me feeling every time I look around this house we’ve built. There is so much love wrapped up in the walls of this home. An innocent promise kept by a couple of teenagers in love, so many years ago.

Check out the rest of my Blog if you want to see how we continue to update and decorate our home. If you are wanting to create your own new “old” house, my friend Jay creates amazing FREE designs!

XOXO,

Brittany