Merry Christmas! For us “Christmas” lasts until January first, and then we begin the letdown into non-holiday winter. Is that how it is for you guys??

It’s been crazy over here the past few days in our neck of the woods. Wrapping and ripping, feuds and laughter, hormones and balance, tears and smiles. We’re full of contradictions! I hope it’s been a tolerable holiday for those of you who haven’t wanted to go through it, and I hope it’s been delightful for those of you who’ve looked forward to it.

I’d mentioned in a Insta post around Thanksgiving that I might do a Holiday House Tour, since I do love the holiday season and really enjoyed decorating our humble abode this year.

So I snapped a few pictures to share of our simply charming cottage. A bit overdue, I apologize :/ When the Little Person has a cold, it’s difficult to find time to post.

I’ll tell you bits and pieces of the property’s history and the story of how we fell in love with this place…🏡

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Welcome to our humble farm life in the mountains!

The house was built in 1926 at the center of a farming business, which owned much of the surrounding land for miles. Over the years it was parceled out and we now own just 15 adjacent acres.

As you can see, our landscaping is scant. This is our second Christmas here, and this past summer we finally had a landscaping plan, but most of the plants dwindled quickly due to August heat and free range chickens 😑

The rule of thumb if you want to have green in front of your house on a farm is to NOT allow your chickens to dig, scratch, and peck at all your plants 👍

Since the house is white and set far off the main portion of the property, I wanted to paint the door a warm, inviting color. This is Fall Leaves from Valspar in high gloss. The wreath is a fresh one from our local tree farm, and I’m loving the gingham ribbons.

The home was renovated in the 90s, as far as we know, though these are the original 100 year old floors. We painted every room of the house, and I chose a color pallet that reflects the tones and shades of surrounding farm life.

My husband and I began looking for properties while renting in a nearby town. We knew, even when we were dating, that we wanted to live a quiet hobby farm life; we enjoy working with our hands, building projects, and wide open space. After our daughter Heidi passed away, we didn’t have the heart to stay in our little gingerbread town house. We had to get out.

We heard of this property but my husband wasn’t interested for various reasons. He wanted heavily wooded land, a larger house, and more seclusion from neighbors. I convinced him to tour the property, and after a two hour visit he was sold, smitten, and determined to buy it no matter what.

We fought tooth and nail to get this house. We had a VA loan, which had particular requirements that an older property did not meet, as well as cantankerous owners and multiple closing dates. It was a nightmare!

Our property backs up to a family-owned orchard, which allows us the privacy we desire, and we don’t ever see the neighbors we do have on the other side of the fields. It’s a truly quiet country life.

You may have seen my post about the painted couch. It’s still in tact nearly a year later and pretty much the same color! Those throw pillows were a little holiday pick-me-up from Home Goods.

The Little Person’s teepee is also highlighted in a post with basic instructions for assembling your own. I threw mine together in a couple of days when I had time to work on it. The festive pom poms are made with wrapping paper and twine.

It can be difficult to imagine what to do with all the furniture in such a tiny house. But it’s actually been easy and a pleasant surprise how comfortably guests fit into our nooks and corners.

You may have seen in a post last Christmas that we use Heidi’s stocking to fill with gifts for grieving families. Having that tradition has helped us cope with the reality that Heidi is only with us in spirit; we feel her life is still worthwhile as we give to hurting people in memory of her and what God has done in our lives.

I have a real thing for plaid, especially at Christmastime. Did you notice my large stack of cook books? Still don’t have the shelves for storage. That is probably the number one draw back to living in an old old house- few options for storage. But check out that old dining room door. All the doors and hardware are the originals, too! It’s very convenient having that door whether for keeping in warmth or for quarantining the baby. 

Our tiny kitchen doesn’t house a dishwasher or provide much counter space, but for some reason that wasn’t a particular drawback for me when we looked at this house. I don’t mind a messy kitchen or having to wash the dishes by hand… if I get to have an incredible view of our pastures and get to watch wildlife pass by and get to see my dogs romping about then I’m a happy housewife in my kitchen.

Across the hall from the kitchen is our cozy master suite, which isn’t really a suite since it doesn’t have a walk-in closet or its own bathroom. But it’s a suite to us because it fits our king size bed that we love! When we first moved here, the bed didn’t fit because a closet had been built into a corner of the room; we knocked those closet walls down, redid the electrical in order to have a ceiling fan and sconces, and utilized the underside of the steps for storage. Now our room suits us and our baby bassinet when we need it.

There is just one bathroom that was added on, not sure when, to the back part of the original 1926 house, and it’s adjacent to the kitchen and master bedroom. (That old beat up blue dresser will get a makeover this spring!) It still has a short and stout 1940s toilet, which will eventually be nice to replace, but for now it gets the job done 💩

The guest room is upstairs and it might be my favorite room in the house. The color I chose is a brownish reddish plum, called Thorny Brush, and in the summertime it’s a beautiful contrast to the lush green rolling hills outside the window. I love the library feel of it, though I have yet to install upper shelves for all the books I am addicted to collecting.

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That’s pretty much it for the holiday tour! But the last picture I want to share with you is this one…

Two years ago after my husband and I first visited this house and made an offer on it a week later, we strolled the property with high hopes and big dreams that one day we would belong to it. We loved the white farmhouse, the open pastures, the giant maples, the blackberry bushes, the sunrises over the orchard and the sunsets by the mountain. We wanted it all so badly. So there on that side of the house we stood, holding hands, and we prayed a blessing over our hopes and dreams. We asked God to bless it, to provide, to guide us.

And here we are. Home.

Merry (belated) Christmas & Happy New Year! 💙

-BBM

In the hands of the potter,