Late last year, my husband and I bought an 1826 colonial in the Hudson Valley. As a first-time home owner, the learning curve was steep—there was plenty to be grasped about things like mortgage rates and down payments, real estate trends, and property investments.
I thought my degree in home ownership would be tangible and actionable, a suitcase packed with knowledge about how to renovate and then care for something that we gleefully sunk our savings into. Little did I realize though, that buying an old home came with a slew of less tangible—and perhaps, more important—life lessons, too.
There is no such thing as just “living” in an old home. The property constantly asks of you—more time, more money, more energy. It’s a relationship where there’s never not work to be done. Your weekends are sacrificed at the altar of home improvement, with endless to-do lists and a symbiotic relationship of give and take that is, while not always equal, ever-alluring.
Curious as to whether these lessons came to anyone who has called a storied property “theirs,” I reached out to several of my favorite old-home owners to inquire about the lessons they’ve learned while living in, renovating, and loving their old homes. My takeaway? Sometimes the best teachers in life have four walls and very creaky floors.If there’s one thing I’ve come to value from living in an old home, it’s how small it makes me feel.
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