I popped outside in my pajamas to take these photos on this very morning.
Because we moved into this cottage eleven years ago today.
What???
It doesn’t seem possible. Don had a very tough time as a kid, with several moves to increasingly less-than-welcoming places to live, then went on to live the life of an itinerant actor for many years, living a year or two here, a year or two there. When I met him, his possessions were contained within exactly two boxes.
I, on the other hand, lived in my childhood home for a long time, but once I moved out, I was also rather nomad-ish. The dorm, of course, then an apartment and then a house during undergraduate years. Then a house rental with friends after graduation. Then another rental until I moved away to grad school in Philadelphia. Five years in Philadelphia all told (three different apartments during that time), and five years in Boston (two different apartments), then a move to San Diego (one apartment, and a house rental – the house rental occurring when Don and I moved in together.)
I’d lived in thirteen different abodes, three of them the tiniest studio apartments you ever did see.
Then the big move out East and another rental for four years (that made fourteen for me) on the other side of the Hudson River.
We worked in the Arts. We freelanced. Our income fluctuated from month to month. Nonetheless, we wanted a house. We couldn’t even begin to contemplate how much money we’d sunk into rent over our lifetimes. We didn’t want to. So we started our search.
Then by the skin of our teeth, after looking everywhere north of pricey Westchester County where we had been renting, we ended up in a new-to-us area of the Hudson Valley. We found this cottage.
We had looked at countless houses – most of them incredibly disappointing, some downright scary. We had a tight budget – you’re not surprised by that, are you? We were discouraged. And then, one Friday, our realtor emailed us the listing for this cottage. We saw the wide plank pine floors. We saw the porch. The price had just been reduced. We wanted to see it right away. But we had to wait until Monday.
When we finally pulled up to the property (owned by a weekender) the grass was way overgrown, and a tree had fallen across the area where the corrals are. We made our way to the front door.
On the way to the front door was the wrap-around bluestone porch and I stopped in my tracks. An inveterate porch lover, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Don, on the other hand, had gone into the house, making a beeline for the kitchen where the high ceilings made his 6′ 4½” heart sing. Light was pouring through the windows.
We had a list of absolute necessities. Attic, three bedrooms, basement and garage.
It didn’t have an attic. It had a barely functional wet basement that was entered from outside. It didn’t have a garage, though it did have a shed. It didn’t have three bedrooms. It had two.
But we fell in love.
The cottage as it looked a couple months after we moved in – in 2005.
And now:
The fact is, we probably couldn’t have got that loan for the mortgage after the market crashed. We got in just in time. Our mortgage payment is hefty. And our house isn’t worth what we paid for it.
Those are things that can drive me nuts if I let them, but I don’t. Because we’re so damned grateful for this little haven of ours, this adored cottage that we christened Mockingbird Hill Cottage.
For Don, the very fact that he has lived in one place for eleven years is mind-boggling. For both of us, the fact that we have managed to come up with the mortgage payment every month for eleven years is nothing short of a miracle. And believe me, there were times when we weren’t sure we could.
So today, I offer up a toast to Mockingbird Hill Cottage, our home. (It also spawned this blog, by the way; I doubt I would have started a blog without it.) It has made my nesting heart very happy, indeed.
Happy Anniversary, MHC!
Happy Tuesday.
You and Don have created such a lovely home. The cottage appears so happy with the beautiful flowers all around her feet. Wishing you many, many more years in your sweet home!
Thank you so much, dear Karen!
Happy anniversary and congratulations. Your cottage is a very warm, homey and cozy reflection of what I believe a home should be.
Aw, thank you, Kathy!
A home filled with love, can’t get any better!
Best thing in the world, Doris! Thank you!
Lovely post for a beautiful home.
Thank you, Julie!
Your cottage is such a reflection of you and Don. It’s warm, homey, eclectic and somewhere you want to visit and feel free to put your feet up! I’m so happy you found it and have nested for 11 years.
hugs,
Linda
I am, too. What a gift to two itinerant artistes!
Happy anniversary indeed, to a beautiful house and a charming couple. Click your heels and repeat “there’s no place like home” :-)
I’m going to do that right now, Martha!
And when you finish clicking your heels, drive to your favorite bookstore for A Great Reckoning! :-)
I just got back and it’s in my hands, Martha! xo
Happy Anniversary to you, Don and your home! I’m so glad that you found your dream home. I think it’s funny that it didn’t have all of your prerequisites but you knew when you walked in, it was the one. Funny how that happens, isn’t it? I love the home you all have made it.
Judy
It is funny – you think you know what you want and then you find it’s all turned upside down when you see the perfect place! Love you, Judy. Thank you.
Congratulations on 11 years in your own sanctuary. It’s wonderful to have a home – I moved around a lot too – my parents lost our childhood home to bankruptcy and we were farmed out to live with friends for a time. Many many apartments later Stephen and I bought our current home 15 years ago. There truly is no place like home.
There sure isn’t, Karen. I’m glad you have your home!
Congratulations on the last 11 years! Your home is beautiful.
Thank you so much, Tana!
Happy Cottage Anniversary to you and Don. Your place looks so inviting Claudia!
Thank you, Vera. That’s just how I want it to look!
I don’t think I’ve ever heard the story of how you found MHC! Sometimes you just know that you know…right? You have a beautiful, welcoming home. You have definitely put down roots! ;)
That’s right – you just know that you know. Thank you, Donnamae!
Home, there’s absolutely nothing like it. When we bought our home 26 years ago the down payment took every penny of our savings and we were afraid we couldn’t make those payments every month. But we had it paid for in 15 years and we both still love it. Having great neighbors who have become like family was a bonus. We are grateful every day. I’m so glad you and Don have experienced the joys of having such a lovely home. May you both continue to enjoy all that a comfortable home can be.
Gosh, I wish we could pay ours off that quickly, Janie! But homes are so expensive now! Thank you for your kind words.
Happy day!
Thank you, Margaret!
Your cottage is adorable. Happy Anniversary!
Thank you, Ann!
Happy eleven years! How wonderful for you both!
We moved into our house 28 years ago today. The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter every month when we will finally be mortgage free! Maybe then I can afford to tear out the Formica countertops and particleboard cabinetry!
Yay for you! I wish we were in the same place, but buying later in life does make that difficult. Thank you, Kim!
Happy Home Anniversary, the place is so sweet. I understand where Don “is coming from” I loved in nine place until I went off to college, and then my parents finally bought a house. It was tough, but I still never had that attachment to a house. My Mother always said” the best way to clean is to move”, as I child I thought that was funny. I know she was trying to make it easier for us. You should be very proud, the gardens look so lovely. I am sitting here waiting for UPS, came once no book though!
I’m crossing my fingers that you get that book today, Mary. Thank you!
congratulations to you and don for finding and making such a wonderful home … your hard work and hopes have paid off! may you all enjoy many, many more wonderful years there!
kathy in iowa
Thank you so very much, Kathy!
Happy Cottage Anniversary, Claudia. How wonderful that you and Don are so evidently content, happy, and in love with the house you’ve made your home.
We are. And we never, never take it for granted, Wendy. Thank you!
Happy anniversary, Claudia and Don. I love your cottage. It is all the things a home should be: warm, welcoming, well-loved. I wish you many more happy years in this lovely abode.
Thank you so much, Dottie!
Congratulations! I grew up as a military brat and then military wife, so I can imagine how a house can make a heart sing!
Maybe someday for you, Jan? I once thought it would never happen, but it finally did. And I was no spring chicken! Thanks so much.
Happy Anniversary, Claudia and Don!
Thank you, dear Donna!
It’s a beautiful home and it’s almost like you can hear it saying, “I’m loved! I’m loved!”
The undertaking of our life…our last home, precious cottage, which we renovated from top to bottom over nine years; never, ever thought we’d sell it. But at 90 years young, its constant maintenance was killing us, even with a whole-house renovation which cost three times more than we’d anticipated, nothing fancy having been done, but merely the important stuff like roof, wiring, plumbing, plaster, wood floors, yard clearing; paint; fixing foundation issues (never did get to the chimney/fireplace, needing $25,000 in repair…or the crumbling stone patio, etc.). Was it our choice to take on something so big? We didn’t go out looking for it; it was handed to us ‘renters’ by a relative with good intentions…but it had been untouched, not to its health. We sank the equity back into the dwelling. A half acre with a lot of hillside here in Southern California; small house and a lot of yard that needed professional maintenance, regularly, if anything just for wildfire protection. Trees from the 1800s which messed with the plumbing. Constantly fighting rats in the attic (a big problem for that whole hilltop subdivision in an area backing up to a canyon, lots of wildlife and plantlife). Much-needed central air conditioning conversion that fought with portions of the roof which could not be insulated (so I would get so hot, in the hot house; very large electric bill). Too many break-ins in the neighborhood because it had some ritz in it (although we personally were far, far from ritz ourselves). “Under water’ in The Great Recession to where, had we had to get out (my husband’s job security at one point was iffy; layoffs), if we could have even found a buyer, we’d have walked away with a deficit and I really don’t even know where or how we’d have lived. Knowing that on a future fixed income (looming in a mere half dozen years; and a spartan retirement with no pensions or 401K) that the large property taxes, too-big mortgage payment and ongoing maintenance of an old home would get harder and harder for us…well, it’s like the accountant told us, if we were a little younger, BUT…
…and so we sold the place three years ago, when prices weren’t great (house is worth much more now) but we had to downsize our life to a more manageable situation. You have to do what you have to do sometimes; cut your losses. We slashed our monthly payment in half and reduced property taxes by thousands in the house we’re in now, which isn’t glam and the neighborhood is bordering on crummy. I guess you trade one quality of life for another sometimes. I, for one, just got scared; just got too uneasy about our situation. We’ve got no back-ups, no kids, no rich relatives; I’ve never played the Lottery! My husband can’t work forever and I’ve had health issues. We left such a nice, desirable neighborhood in a signature, unique and custom home…but we had to do what was financially sound and practical. (Just tell that to my heart. Hardest decision of my life to leave that house. I don’t know how such a thing can be, because I’ve faced some real life & death decisions…but it WAS hard.) You win some; you lose some. Can’t go back. Can’t be the kind of people who married young, stayed in one house, paid off the mortgage at Year 30 when still in their 50s. For some of us, things don’t fall into place in a conventional order. We married late and my husband’s jobs took him all over the place. But I always say thank you to Heaven for a roof over my head. And there’s the old saying, “Wherever I hang my hat, it’s home.”
Yikes, I got too much into the me-me-me. What I’d meant to do was offer congratulations! I love that you remember the actual day you moved in so that you can always celebrate it (many more of them to come!) just like a birthday or anniversary. It’s wonderful, to hug a house!
We celebrate most everything, I think! Certainly all the special milestones in our life: the day we met, the day we got engaged, the day we got married, the day we left CA to move East, the day we moved in here. It’s important to celebrate – it was hard won!
We’re happy where we are and have made peace with our mortgage. When and if it’s time to move on, we will.
to vicki …
i am sorry you had those troubles and tough choices. i hope you have peace and joy wherever you are!
to claudia …
i agree with you … it is important to celebrate! each day brings reasons to say “thanks” and smile, if only for “little” things and a little while. and eleven years of hard-won home ownership is one of them. congrats again.
kathy in iowa
We always try to practice gratitude and celebrate our blessings!
kathy…thank you for your kindness…
Happy Home Anniversary! There’s no place like home, and we nesters work tooth and nail to hang on to our abodes, no matter what. My own 25th anniversary here comes around in September, and I still love this little house. And big yard that I wish I had a pony for. Celebrate! You’ve put heart and soul into MHC and it shows! And every house needs love, no matter what condition we find them in.
There. 2 sentences ending in prepositions, all for you.
Oh, I end a sentence with a preposition more than you know! And sometimes, I just say, the hell with it! I’m going to do it!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Dana.
Happy Cottagversary!! All the years I worked, and people talked about retiring, I remember I always said I just wanted to be able to stay home and be in my house and yard. People laughed and said I would be bored in 2 weeks……. never happened. I think some of us are just born to be happy in our house people. Or, for you and Don, happy in your cottage people. Life is good!! ♡
We love staying home! We love our house. So we totally understand. Don just said “There’s no place I’d rather be.”
Thank you, Chris.
Happy Happy Anniversary MHC!!! Your home is beautiful inside and out. Wishing you many many many more happy years there! I hope there is cake on the dessert menu for celebrating tonight :-)
More likely a little bite or two of a double chocolate klondike bar! Thanks, Jeannine.
When I imagine what a charming, sweet and cozy nest of a cottage would look like, I immediately think of your lovely Mockingbird Hill Cottage – Happy Anniversary – you are well loved by many!!!!!!!
Thank you so very much, Liz!
Happy Anniversary Mockingbird Hill Cottage..I just love the way you two celebrate her every year…it truly does show how much you love her…I’m thinking you and Don deserve some cupcakes for dessert tonight!…
“Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble there’s no place like home!”
Hugs, Nancy
There is no place like home. We’ve just come back from our walk and Don is snoozing in the chair. I’m reading “A Fine Romance” by Susan Branch. Life is good. Thank you, Nancy.
Happy house anniversary! Your flowers look beautiful! Jen
Thank you so much, Jen!
Happy anniversary Mockingbird Hill Cottage! Claudia and Don, may your year number twelve in this beautiful, happy place be the best yet!
Thank you, Shanna! Here’s to number 12!
So glad you and Don found your way home eleven years ago. Your cottage brightens every one of my mornings too.
Thank you so much, Kaye!
It’s a beautiful home and you can feel the love just by looking at the picture. HOME SWEET HOME, it is!
Thank you for your kind words, Cathy!
I turned 60 a month ago but have only lived in 6 different places – 3 before the age of [independence] and 3 afterward. So MANY congratulations on your house anniversary and here’s to 40 more happy, healthy years of them! Yes, 40. When so many other things that at first didn’t seem possible DID actually happen for you, I say – why not this as well? Hope you do something celebratory today too. Cupcakes!! 🏡
We had ice cream, Janet! Thank you so much!
Your cottage is so charming…I can easily see why you and Don fell in love with it. I moved a lot as a kid, too (13 places by the time I got married at barely age 22.) And when Brian and I got married, we lived in three different places before we bought the home we live in now. We’ve been here 26 years and have no plans to move. May you and Don be blessed with many more years together in Mockingbird Hill Cottage!
Thank you so very much, Melanie!
Happy 11th Anniversary to your charming cottage, Claudia and Don!! I love everything about it…. It is so cozy, inviting and filled with everything you both Love and cherish and I hope that you are blessed with many, many more Anniversary celebrations of Mockingbird Hill Cottage!! your Home and Haven….
Thank you, Debbi!
Happy eleven years in your delightful, charming, cozy, beautiful cottage. Thank you for sharing MHC with us Claudia :)
You are most welcome, Debbie!
What a lovely anniversary to celebrate! I love how you both love your home so much. Sharing it with us is a such a pleasure for your readers. I had a darling little cottage (not very convenient, but I thought it was darling) in Maine for many years. It was where I lived and brought up my daughter. Then life brought me to Nebraska and a loving husband. He has encouraged my transformation of his house to our home together – from Southwestern decor to New England – from vertical blinds to tab curtains and Friendly Village dishes and so much more. Home is where the heart is…..for sure!
Thank you so much, Liz!
I was away on vacation, so I’m first reading this today, but I didn’t want to miss leaving my congratulations on eleven years in your charming cottage. Yay!
Thank you so much, Sylvia!