The Beginning of a Homestead

How we got here...

I started looking at real estate online months before we moved to Bellingham, Washington.  I started looking as soon as Nate even thought about applying for the new job!  I guess I am just a perennial homemaker – always thinking, dreaming, planning, and learning about how I could turn a property into a home - my home.  I looked at little houses, big houses, old houses, new houses.  Some out in the country, some right downtown. 

If you’re like me, and your heart is in the country while your life has to be in the city or suburbs, looking at houses can be a heart ache.  I came across BEAUTIFUL turn-of-the-century farmhouses on several acres.  White porches, red barns, four-board fencing… an hour away from town.... and $50K over budget.  And I saw houses right outside town in the suburbs.  Newly built, granite counter tops, walk in closets, luxurious master bathrooms, beautiful backsplashes... and not a single feature that inspired me to actually go look at them.  They sat on teeny tiny lots with the compulsory ornamental tree and a few boxwoods in the front and a perfect square of lawn hedged in by four or five neighbors’ houses in the back.   Stifling.  

I tried to like them.  I really did.  I thought, “Well, maybe this one since there is a park down the street.”  Or “Maybe I’ll like being inside this house so much I won’t mind what is outside.”  Some of the kitchens were tempting.  I have always wanted a big kitchen.  A HUGE kitchen.  Somewhere to roll out pie and pizza doughs, to make breads from scratch, and host large gatherings.  Space to roast my Thanksgiving turkey and still have the pumpkin pie finishing, with green beans, glazed carrots, and stuffing on the range. 

But, as I tried to imagine living in one of these cookie-cutter American dream homes on a little manicured lot in suburbia I realized that all the appeal of these “chefs kitchens” with granite and double ovens and stainless steel was completely lost on me without the property to grow my own food and the space to live and play outside.  

A kitchen counter is a place to spread out the bounty of the morning’s harvest from your garden.  A stove top is where you splatter homegrown tomato sauce and fill a cast iron skillet with backyard quail eggs and freshly picked veggies for an omelet.  A pantry should be full of root vegetables, freshly dug in the fall.  A fridge should be bursting with brilliant greens: chard, lettuce, arugula, green beans, cucumbers.  

Eggs from our backyard quail in Kentucky

And an HOA telling me I can't have quail or grow tomatoes in my front yard?  No Thanks!!  So we passed on all the new-build neighborhoods with reasonable prices and told our realtor “charming older home on property, near town, quirks ok.”

And we prayed!  I prayed that God would bring something onto the market where we could grow, play, dig, garden, raise animals, and explore in our own backyard.  I prayed for a place where Nate could ride his bike to work – his perpetual dream.  I prayed for a place near town so we could be involved in the community and access all the great things about our small, fun city.  I didn't think we could have location and property, but we held out hope.  

And God answered!     

We now have a 1940’s cottage-esque cape cod on .6 acres 2.5 miles from downtown and Nate’s work!  It is in an established and friendly neighborhood with all older homes on large lots – most between ½ and 1 acre.   It has all the convenience of being close to downtown and tons of shopping (i.e. there is a Starbucks 1.2 miles in every direction, four grocery stores within 1.5 miles, and the mall - not that I ever go to malls - is 1.5 miles away) but the immediate area gives you the feel of a small country town with picket fences and chickens meandering down the sidewalks.    There is a park down the street that connects to a walking trail  that takes you one mile to a public beach on Bellingham Bay!

It has its quirks as an older home.  It’s smaller than the house we had in Kentucky, even though our family will only be getting bigger.  The dining room is literally a room.  With a door.  Not attached to the kitchen.  And the kitchen is in the back of the house quite separate from everything else.  That’ll take some getting used to.  All the rooms are pretty closed off… a far cry from our newer very open floor plan home in Kentucky. There is one full bathroom, and then a little “water closet” attached to the master bedroom (which is very tiny).  Walk in closets? Not a chance.  (Actually the closet situation sort of makes me have a panic attack so we’ll talk about that later. )  But the house and property just grabbed our hearts and imaginations right away!    And I love it.  

I love the white cabinets and bay window in the kitchen!  It is separate from the rest of the house, but it does have tons of cabinet space, a big sink, and cool built-in storage.

For now, we’re trying to make this smaller, older house into a functional home for our family.  With four bedrooms, a living room, and a den we have plenty of options.  There could be two bedrooms (a master and the boys sharing one), a guest room, and/or an office, and/or a play room.  Perhaps a library/study?   It has a basement that looks like it will be easy to finish.  A homeschool room?  A home gym?  A craft room?  Storage?   I'm sure it will evolve over time.  We have the feeling that the more closed off rooms will lead to more possibilities.  It will be easier to designate space for studying, for projects, for watching tv, for playing games, and for eating, etc than if it all existed in one large room. 

In between the house and the garage is what we call the "front backyard."  Behind the garage (shown here) is another 1/4 acre or so designated the "back backyard" lol

The yard goes way back behind the house, with plenty of room for a large vegetable garden, an herb garden, raspberries and blackberries on trellises, a strawberry bed, fruit trees, and of course a pen for quail.  My plan for next year is to get ducks.  They seem like the perfect fit for our wet weather and the constant barrage of slugs.  Eventually I’m even hoping for a dairy goat!  A huge garage sits behind the house with room for two cars and a shop.  Or a goat stall and milking parlour?  Or an indoor seedling growing area?  Or a chick brooder?  All three!?  

The "front backyard" between the garage and the house. I think from the street to the garage makes up about 1/4 acre.  From the garage back to the fenceline is a little more than 1/4 acre of grass and a few trees.  I love Hudson's ears flapping at the bottom of this picture!

The "front backyard" and the garage/shop taken from the second story window.  That odd-shaped patch of grass is destined to become 100% vegetable garden! There is too much gravel for my taste, but both our parents have or are getting RVs so it is a perfect set up for them to come stay. 

 So many possibilities!

This is the beginning of a suburban homestead.  Keep checking out the blog to follow along as I dream, design, plan, implement, mess up and try again in the home, the garden, and the farmyard!


In all things, to God be the glory
soli deo gloria
Lauren