Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Twelve Years

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Our list of Must Haves: 3 bedrooms, attic, basement, garage

What we got: 2 bedrooms, no attic, no usable basement, no garage

After endless visits to houses all over the Hudson Valley, all of them ‘not quite right’ and in some cases, terribly wrong, we were steered toward a little town that we knew nothing about. It was a very hot and humid day and we were sweaty, but we’d seen this listing, you see, for a little house with a bluestone front porch that wrapped around two sides of the house, with pine floors, and lots of windows.

We got out of the car. A tree had fallen nearby and the grass was way overgrown. But we looked past that and headed to the house. Don went right in the front door. I lingered on the porch, which I had fallen in love with via the listing and now was seeing in person. I was a porch girl through and through and I hadn’t had one in several years. Don, almost 6′5″, walked into the kitchen, which has a slanted ceiling that is very high at its highest point, and saw the sun flooding into the room.

I eventually went inside.

It was small.

Don was won over because of that kitchen. I started to thaw when I saw the kitchen and the den, which was two steps down from the living room – a cozy sunken room. A bath and a half, which was more than we had in our rental.

But no attic. The basement, carved out when this 1891 cottage was built, held the boiler, the hot water heater, the oil tank, the well pump, and cobwebs galore. Not usable for anything other than that. No garage. A shed, which was nice, but no garage.

We walked through again. Don was immediately won over. I took a bit longer.

But, here’s the thing. It was so light! There were windows everywhere on the first floor. Don said it was the first house we’d seen that didn’t hold any negative energy. Just light and positive energy.

I eventually caved because of those pine floors (now scratched from the dogs) and that porch and the light and the look of the cottage, of course, which was utterly charming. There was a large garden bed with about two plants in it. I immediately imagined filling it up with flowers and adding more beds along the front and sides of the cottage. There was room for the dogs to run if we fenced in what is now the corral.

We moved in 12 years ago today.

Two life-long renters, working in the arts, no money to speak of. Two people in their fifties, who dreamed of having a home of their own, finally.

Hurricane Katrina struck as we were moving, but we had no access to cable for two weeks and couldn’t see the footage everyone else was seeing. I remember how shocked we were when we finally saw what had been happening. And now – 12 years later – Hurricane Harvey and unbelievable devastation.

Sweet and bittersweet.

In those days, it was just our house. Mockingbird Hill Cottage didn’t really evolve until 3 years later when I started this blog.

Happy Anniversary Mockingbird Hill Cottage! We love you. Thank you for shelter, for being, as a cable guy once said to us, “…a happy house. I could tell this is a happy house the moment I walked in the door.”

And welcome to Stella who is now cooking with gas! Here she is, courtesy of Don, nestled in her place in the kitchen:

Happy Wednesday.

 

Comments

  2. Does Caroline know about Stella? Stella may have had past-kitchen lives, but this her First Real Home! She looks like a happy girl.

    • Caroline, if you remember, has a very high-end AGA in her kitchen. So if she’s jealous, she’ll have to cool it!

      I like to think Stella is very happy in her new home!

  4. happy home-anniversary to you and don! sometimes when we don’t find exactly what we want, we find what we need and love and make the other stuff work somehow, huh?!

    and sometimes we find exactly what we want and we get it … like stella the stove! she looks like she’s original to your home … perfect.

    also, what a sweet (and lovingly told) story of your house-hunting and home. thanks for sharing so much goodness through this and your other posts – especially when posting takes so much time and you are extra-busy right now.

    kathy in iowa

    • Exactly. What we thought we wanted (and still do, in terms of space) pales in comparison to the reality of our lovely cottage.

      Thank you, Kathy!

  5. Stella looks perfect! That photo makes me smile. I believe I’d smile every time I walked down to the kitchen as I bet you do adding more good vibes to your “happy house”. Love it!

    • I do. But now I’m away working and I have to be content with photos until I get home on Saturday and can see her in person again.

  6. Stella looks right at home, as though it was meant to be. Thank’s for sharing the story of finding your sweet cottage.

  8. You, Don, your lovely cottage, and the amazing Stella were just meant to be! Happy anniversary!

  9. Happy home anniversary!! Stella looks amazing in your kitchen!! Wishing you all many more happy years at MHC!!

  10. Stella, now, in her forever home. Welcome home Stella. If you haven’t already shared. Could you tell us how you come to name your home Mockingbird Hill Cottage?

    • Simple! To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite novel. My last name is Hill. And our cottage is on a little hill. There you go!

  11. I love your house. It not only looks happy…..it looks warm. I told my Stella about your Stella and she thought it was a hoot! This is a strange day for us in Springfield…..#45 has for some reason (large contributors) decided to visit us. It’s made for much stress for many. Hoping we all have a happy Wednesday!

    • Oh no! Hang in there, Jan.

      I’m glad your Stella likes our Stella! Too bad they can’t meet someday!

  14. Just picked up my copy of Glass Houses…I will forever be grateful for your descriptions of Louise Penny’s writings. I had never heard of her before reading about her here, and now she is one of my favorite writers. (In addition, she is a divine person, I think.) I even wear a funky silver necklace of 3 pines…

  15. Congrats on your 12-year home-aversary! Pretty weird that it was Katrina then, and Harvey now, but let’s just chalk that up to the time of year. August is definitely hurricane season here in the Northern Hemisphere. And Stella! Stella looks so perfect in that photo – it looks like she grew there. So much better than a contemporary appliance would look there. She was Meant-To-Be-There. PS – that yellow is just yummy. Even on a overcast day your kitchen will be sunny. Heck, even at night! Have a great one. Peace.

    #Resist

  17. Happy Anniversary to your “Happy House”!
    Stella looks like she’s always belonged in that spot, in that kitchen.
    Thank you for your wonderful blog, as well.
    Cheers!

  18. You have transformed something as mundane as appliance shopping into something else entirely. What a beautiful lady! I see delicious fruit pies in your future for sure!

    • I do, too! I can’t wait to bake. Of course, I could have baked with the old stove – and did – but doing it with Stella will be something else entirely!

  19. Happy Anniversary!
    Your love affair with your cottage reminds me of another theater couple and their cottage. Charlotte Walker was born to a prosperous couple in Galveston in 1876. After her father’s death, when she was 11, her mother took Charlotte and her brother to her family’s ranch near San Antonio. She made her stage debut in London when she was 19. Soon after, she married a Galveston doctor, John Haden, and returned to the island where she had two children. The pull of the stage was strong, and she returned to the theater shortly after Galveston’s 1900 Storm. She and John Haden were divorced and he retained custody of their two daughters. Charlotte – the role of June in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine was written for her- enjoyed a long career on the stage and in films. She visited Galveston over the years, both to see her daughters and in road companies. The local matrons welcomed her half-heartedly at best; she was beautiful, charming, divorced from one of their dear friends, and an actress! One of her girls was Sara Haden, longtime character actress (Aunt Millie in the Andy Hardy movies, bishop’s secretary in The Bishop’s Wife, etc.). Sara was known to the family as “Queenie,” and her sister Beatrice was “Bitza.” Bitza was disabled in some way, and used a crutch. She lived in New York and worked as a freelance indexer for publishers. In middle age she met an English stage actor named Bernard (sorry, but I forget his last name) and they married. Pooling their resources, they bought a small house on Long Island, within commuting distance of New York, where they were deliriously happy. They named it Rabbit Track Cottage and sent their friends watercolor Christmas cards they painted together of the cottage with rabbit tracks in the snow. Sadly, Bitza and Bernard both died within just a few years of their marriage. For the time they had together, they were so very happy with each other and with their cottage, that I often think of them when reading your posts.

    • Love that story! I immediately recognized Sara Haden’s name. She’s in The Shop Around the Corner – one of my absolutely favorite movies. Thank you so much for sharing this with me!! But so sad that they died so soon after marrying.

      • Sara Haden is in so many of my favorites, and I always love seeing her. For years I was archivist and, later, curator of collections at a house museum here in Galveston. Both Dr. Haden and Charlotte were close to the family whose house it was, and there are many letters from Charlotte, in very large, very dramatic handwriting, dating from the early 1900s until her death in 1958 (she’s buried here, as is Sara, but at opposite ends of the cemeteries-Charlotte is with her father, Sara with hers.) there are also a great many letters from both Sara and Bitza, which is how I know Bitza’s story.

  21. Stella looks like she is where she was always meant to be….as I think do you and Don
    Happy Aniversary
    Siobhan

    • Thank you, Siobhan! A good anniversary and the addition of Stella just makes it even more perfect!

    • Don’t be jealous! Believe me, I never thought this would happen. Ever. And it did! Thanks, Gayle.

  23. Congratulations on multiple counts. Stella is a grand gal. We all need positive news in these quite troubling times. Some of the first words out of the menaces mouth “what a turnout” and his references to the “biggest” response and an “epic” event.. taking credit for neighbors helping neighbors and the scope of the event instead of the tragedy of the event. and sellling his flippin’ hat.
    Hurry Mueller Hurry!

    • Boy, you’re not kidding. Hurry! Yes, crowd size and EGO seem to rule the day for him. And he also talked about the head of FEMA (I think it was FEMA) becoming popular on television because of the Hurricane. Completely tone deaf.

      Thanks for liking our Stella!

      • Interesting since the new Director of FEMA is a WOMAN! she doesnt do those kind of things she is strictley behind the scenes.And Interesting considering, HE JUST BLINDLY JUST CUT A HUGE CHUNK OF FEMA MONEY Equaling at least a third of the money normally available to FEMA. In fact he better get home and figure out how he’s going to pay for all he promised!
        EEEEEWWWWW Makes me MAD!

        • I know! But don’t hold me to the designation that it was directed to the head of FEMA. I think it was a guy, so it might be another title we’re talking about.

  25. Claudia, I absolutely love your range. That is a beautiful cooking stove….they sure don’t make them that nice any more. Sending many good wish to you and Don. Enjoy your lovely home many more years. Blessings, xoxo, Susie

  26. Many great future wishes for the four of you!…Oh dear…make that five…I forgot Caroline..lol….

  27. Happy, happy homeiversary! Since, “Hey, Boo” is my greeting to everyone I love most dearly, I am happy to know the origins of the name of your cottage. (well, that and my admonition to my kids that we would NOT become the Radley house of the neighborhood when I was tripping over bikes and skateboards). Love Mockingbird Hill even more, knowing that.

    Stella has taken up pride of place in your kitchen and manages to look as if the house were built around her. Cheers to the first meal you and Don share together in that room—I know it will be lovely.

    As a New Orleans girl, this date will always, always be Katrina day, even though the hurricane hit years after I had moved away. Many, many mission trips back home drove home the lesson that so many will learn in the months and years to come—-that that kind of devastation lingers long after the TV cameras have moved on and the preening president has sold his stupid hats and gone. People are good and can be trusted to do good, and many many hands will turn to the work that will be coming, but my heart grieves for all of the horrific moments these families will face soon and late.

    Today, though, I wish you many more magical years in your ‘house of dreams’ (as Anne would say).

    Peace and peace and love,
    Leslie P.

    • It will be a long, long road to recovery, Leslie. My heart goes out to every person impacted by this storm. Thank you.

  28. When I look at sweet Stella, it seems as if she is smiling. And as I started typing, I realized that I, too, was smiling!! And we surely could all use some smiles……

    I bet you simply can’t wait to get home this weekend. Congrats on your houseaversary. Sometimes the Universe seems to know what we need even after we make lists and decisions and all kinds of declarations. Somehow it works out. I am putting a lot of faith and trust in the Universe right now………. your cottage find and coming across Stella so serenadipitously (I know it isn’t a real word, but the idea makes me happy) add fuel to that belief. Somehow it works out.

    • Somehow it does work out. Wise words for us to remember as we move through the next few months, Chris. Thank you!

  29. He can’t know how his own federal agency works ,because FEMA does NOT go in and rebuild houses or pump water from basements, The money from fema is used for critical infrastructure.
    to put Cities and towns back together as soon as possible!They don’t search for missing people or try to
    buy everyone groceries. That is all done by Local City, and County, Government. Charities and churches. Not a lot of people know that ,But the President of the USA should! OK I think I’m done . for now.

  31. Stella is just beautiful and the new yellow paint is so flattering to her! She is perfect in your kitchen and I know you and Don will enjoy her so much!

    As always, I so enjoy seeing photos of your lovely cottage both inside and out. The lyric from the Stones song ” you can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need” comes to mind. That is also exactly how I feel about my own home too, and some other things that have happened in my life over the years.

    Happy Anniversary Mockingbird Hill Cottage!!!

    • Thank you, Jane. When I get back home, I’m going to start painting the rest of the kitchen to match!

  36. Happy House 12 Years Anniversary……I am in love with your place and all you share..And Stella is so lovely. Continue to enjoy and love your adventure.
    May your day be Blessed.

  37. Claudia – so much to celebrate over the years! And now that beatiful “new to you” stove – she is a beauty and is certainly in the right place! Enjoy.

  38. Happy Anniversary, Mockingbird Hill Cottage!

    And boy does Stella look like she was meant for your cottage. Just perfect!

  39. We call him the talking Director.
    I’m probably talking out of turn I don’t even know if she has been sworn in or even announced.
    Be that as it may, unless it runs contrary to tradition,there is the (director)s PIO* and the less public director. *> *
    0

  40. Congratulations on everything–especially living your best lives in a happy home. Your blog has been the catalyst for much change here in my own happy home. I’ve made the leap to working from home as a freelance writer and editor, and my health has improved so much since I’ve done so. We’ve decided to leave Florida at the end of our lease next summer and move back North–possibly the Hudson Valley region, or perhaps somewhere in Central New York. We’re looking for a cottage to rent. We’re making plans, and making progress. And every time I read one of your posts, I realize it can be done. Thank you–we may never meet, but you have been, and continue to be, a great friend.

    • Wendy, I just read your comment to Don over the phone. You brought tears to my eyes. I am so moved by your words.

      Thank you.

      All I can say is that is my profound pleasure, my friend.

  41. You are a stunner Stella and you are so fortunate that the right people wanted you
    in their happy home. Here’s to my favourite blog couple. Enjoy!

    • It was! 39 inches wide. When I measured that space and found it was 40 inches, I knew it was meant to be!

  43. No basement, no attic means you don’t clutter to much, which is another positive thing to add to your already long list of positives about the house. You have a real treasure here. :-) Now the stove! :-)

    • But the shed! It’s packed and overflowing, Regula! That needs to be dealt with sometime next year – a dumpster and some purging is in order.

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