A Mystical, Cosmic Story From My Kitchen

Well, I meant to get this post written much earlier today, but things just 

seemed to get in the way.  It's noon so now I better say ~ good afternoon!

If you look out the window over my kitchen sink, you can see the dark

gray trunk and some of the huge limbs of our pecan tree.  I can see the

side street from this window too.  Our house is a big U shape and the

family room, the breakfast room, the guest bedroom and the master 

bedroom all look out to the backyard.  The dining room looks out to

the side street,  the living room looks out to both the side street and

the front yard along with the foyer and my office (studio).  The guest

room has four big windows and French doors too.  That room looks

out to the front yard, the other side yard and the backyard.  I have now

filled you in and have probably either bored or confused you :-)

The other thing that is unique about this house is that the U shape is angled

a bit at both sides.  For example, if you imagine yourself standing at the

kitchen sink, looking out the window and then look towards the stove,

you will discover that the wall where the range top and double ovens are

is actually angled outwards from the center of the room.  This makes the

area in the kitchen quite a bit larger.  This house was built back in 

1948 and I think that the owner was enchanted with two kinds of

architectural styles, southern colonial and Cliff May's ranch style 

homes in California.  

This is where things get really strange.  When we were living back in

Boise, Idaho, we were looking for another house.  I am a student of 

residential architecture, and love two types of style.  I love the 

rambling midcentury modern ranch houses of Cliff May, but I have

also always loved traditional colonial homes.  You can find that combination

in some areas of Southern California, but Boise didn't have any.  I thought

we would have to buy a lot and build what I wanted.   When we found

out that we were going to move back to Texas,  I started looking online

before we came down for a visit.  This house was on the market and

it was well within our price range.

From the photos on the real estate site, I could see that the house had

the very elements and style I was looking for.  When we arrived for a

visit and had our realtor show us the house, I realized it was even 

better than the photos conveyed.  

Here is when the story gets even more interesting.  The owners of the house

were the son and daughter-in-law of it's original designer and owner.  The

house had remained in the same family from 1948 to 2013.  The son and

daughter-in-law loved this home, but the son's mother was elderly and

becoming frail and they decided that perhaps it was time for them to

move in together and considered building a new home to meet her needs.

They had the house on the market for a while and then pulled it back

off for several months.  

The owners were so undecided about whether to put the house back

on the market or not, and so they prayed about it with their fellow

Bible study classmates.  The conclusion they all reached was to go ahead

and list it once again.  This decision occurred at about the same time

we decided to move back to Texas.

I didn't learn about this story until a month after we moved into this

house.  We were at a party at our friend's house and were introduced to

a lovely woman and her husband.  This woman was so pleased to meet

us and she was anxious to look us over because she was in the Bible 

study class.  She said that they all prayed together and the message

they received was clear that the house should be sold.

It seems that we were always meant to live here.  

This is not the first time this sort of mystical, cosmic experience has

happened to us.  It has happened before.  The first time it happened

everyone involved was astonished.  Y'all will have to wait for another

time to hear that story because Bentley is anxious for me to take him

for a walk and is not taking no for an answer!

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley