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| Vanderhorst St., Charleston, S.C. |
I'm packing up, moving on. Someone wants to buy my home. It's been for sale long enough in this unlikely market that despite the occasional inconvenience of real estate agents traipsing through, I'd almost forgotten that I'd actually have to move out. After all, being stuck in a historic downtown Charleston house two blocks from the Farmer's Market ain't all bad at all.
It is bittersweet but for the best. I am alone now with family grown and gone. The dingo moved out with my daughter and Frisky cat King of the Neighborhood grew blind and died. Through the years I've hosted a caste of characters as tenants; rickshaw drivers, art professors, jugglers, coastguard and navy gentlemen. I had an exotic dancer in the basement for years. Two sets of tenants matched up and get married. This has been a full service operation! I've been the keeper of the link between the descendants of the early owner of my home which was built around 1840 and welcomed his grand daughters and great grandsons back into his home last year.
So, it's time to go. I won't have to laugh every time I make my gps pronounce Van-der-horst Street anymore.
The little cottages that I had my eye on when I first put it up for sale have long since sold so I'm kicking my son out of the little West Ashley rancher he has been sharing with roommates since they got out of Clemson. They have cleared out the poker table and packed up their video games for me. A friend is freshening up the inside with a coat of paint and we'll deal with the outside after I get moved. It will be a nest to move to for the time being while I decide if I can survive off of the Charleston peninsula where I've pounded thousands of miles into the pavement.
If all works out I'll be a West Ashley girl by May. Amazing.
Some might say you may as well be moving to China. Not me though.
ReplyDeleteIt feels as foreign to me as moving to China!
DeleteSort of sad but exciting as well. Good luck in your new digs, Joan.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad. This is just getting to be too much for me to handle alone. I would get depressed every time a tenant left and I had to clean their toilets and spackle all the holes they left in their walls.
DeleteGood luck with all that, Joan. Maybe lots of new photo opportunities?
ReplyDeleteDWright1
Charlotte
Thank you! I have a sneaky feeling I'll still come downtown for a lot of my walks. The new area isn't quite as photogenic.
DeleteJust think of it as a new, grand adventure. I think you'll find your life will be much less demanding. What will you do with all that free time? ;)
ReplyDeleteS
Yep! You are my role model! I've been getting rid of things left and right. Feels good.
DeletePerfect! Cannot wait to see the new incarnation of Joan. SO happy for you. xo
ReplyDeleteIt will be different. Feels good to downsize already.
DeleteBless you Joan, I know it is bittersweet.
ReplyDeleteIt is Doug. Thanks much.
DeleteJoan, it is very exciting and scary. Let me know if you need to hire a few Honors College students for the move and I can help find some students to hire. Also, don't discard those notecards with pictures of CofC! I would love to take them off your hands. I'd love to meet you for breakfast at the Farmers Market one Saturday. Is there a yard sale in your future? Good luck! Maria
ReplyDeleteI decided against a yard sale. I have given so much away already. I sent you a message about the cards and I'd love to meet at the market after this is all settled!
DeleteI love your description of your various houseguests and tenants, Joan, there is a novel in there! But change of any sort is hard and moving stirs the pot of memories - just don't throw out or give away anything you'll regret (I have managed to do that every single darn time I have moved!).
ReplyDeleteI have got rid of a lot. It is sad but feels good in a way. Cleansing.
DeleteMy parents did the same thing a few years ago (moved from the peninsula to West Ashley) and have done a good job of keeping up their walking and biking ways. My father often walks from West Ashley to Broad Street on the weekends when it isn't too hot out, just to stretch his legs a bit!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your move, I'll be thinking of you!
Wow! I am impressed. He walks from West Ashley to Broad St.? That is quite a hike! I hear someone is planning shuttles from Avondale but I think it is more for the drinking crowd.
DeleteI'll ask him about the route he takes, but from what he says it isn't the distance as much as finding the safest and most fun paths. They live close to Avondale, which is handy to South Windermere and the Greenway as well.
DeleteBlank canvas - and you're good at things like that. Can't wait to hear about all your new adventures. xx
ReplyDeleteYou did it in an even bigger way!
DeleteSweet sister - gosh what a ride!!! Take care of yourself in the middle of all this. Drink lots of tea and sit down every once and a while. Don't turn down help. Laugh, cry but most of all take care of your precious heart.
ReplyDeletelove Shirley
Shirley, sounds like we are both on the same track, downsizing. At least we won't leave the mess for our kids, eh?
DeleteLooking forward to hearing about the big move to West Ashley Joan, exciting and scary all at the same time I bet!
ReplyDeleteYou will and I won't be far. I'll still come to town to walk often I think. It is the most interesting.
DeleteMoving is bittersweet. But the time you give up on working on your old house is time gained for walks in new neighborhoods (or old neighborhoods).
ReplyDeleteWe'll expect photos of the new neighborhood!
It is bittersweet but in this market I feel lucky to have sold at all.
DeleteI wish we could have been the ones buying your house. I still dream of your back yard. Best of luck in West Ashley!
ReplyDeleteSee - you know how long it has been for sale! Hope all is well for you.
DeleteWelcome to the right side of the river! :) I know it is bittersweet and hard for you but you will always have your memories of your house. No one can take them away from you. I agree with the person above who mentioned a novel. What a great plot with the house as the "central character" with an interesting owner and lots of diverse tenants! Think about it ...
ReplyDeleteHoly cow, Joan! All this stuff happening! Keep us posted on what's what, and here's to a sale that's smooth sailing.
ReplyDeleteI am obviously reading this late but holy cow, I don't think I'm prepared for this!
ReplyDeleteNo worries. Last night downtown tonight and move my furniture tomorrow. Ill give it a try!
ReplyDelete