Welcome! I’m here to tell you the story of Our Hammock House. It began in the summer of 2016 when my husband and I, along with our two boys, moved back to Gainesville, Florida. (My husband and I met while attending the University of Florida.)
Actually, scratch that, the story began a couple years earlier. Once we had kids, the walls in our starter home felt like they were closing in on us. We dreamed of living in a two-story home, with a front porch, on a couple acres. Oh, and on a lake. We really wanted to live on a lake.
The problem was, the homes that fit those parameters were way out of our price range. One night, in frustration, I started looking at real estate listings in Gainesville, really just to make myself feel bad, since we had no intention of moving to another city at that time. I stumbled upon a house that was listed as a short sale. It was a two-story home, with a front porch, on a couple acres, and on a lake. And it was within our price range. I showed the listing to my husband, who was trying to sleep, “See, see, look at this house! Look at the porch! Look at the lake! Look at the price!” He grumbled and rolled over. I saved the listing.
Fast forward a couple years, and a new job was bringing us back to Gainesville. Out of curiosity, I checked back on the house I had saved. Turns out, the house had not sold and had gone into foreclosure after all. The foreclosure judgment had just been entered the month before, and the house would be up for auction soon. I couldn’t believe the timing!
The next time we were in Gainesville to prepare for our move, we drove by the house. By the looks of the overgrown lot, the house was unoccupied – and had been for a couple years. After peeking in the dirty windows, we jiggled the handle on the front door and, as luck would have it, the house was unlocked. We went inside, and I fell in love.
I saw wood floors, crown molding, chair rail, high ceilings, and tons of light pouring in the windows. Now, my husband might say that he saw dust, dead bugs, outdated appliances, tacky wallpaper, dingy carpets, a caved-in ceiling (!), puddles of water on the floor (!!), and a rotten back deck. But, he also saw the beautiful acreage full of oak trees and magnolias that were over 100 feet tall. And, past the vines and brush that had overtaken the yard after years of neglect, we both saw the lake. I had to have this house.
A few months later, the bank re-listed the house. As soon as the listing hit my inbox, we visited the house again with our realtor. We made an offer the next day, which the bank accepted. We closed on the house in August 2016 and became the proud owners of a fixer-upper on a lake.
I’ve always been the type to believe that everything happens for a reason, and this house really is an example of that. Or serendipity or coincidence or just plain good timing. Whatever you call it, I think we were meant to make this house our home. This blog is the story of how we did just that. Head on over to the Home Tour to see the before and after. I hope you enjoy our journey!
