If You Could Talk to Your House, What Would You Say?
‘Pull yourself together’ or ‘thank you for transforming my life’? Notes to homes around the country hit us where we live
If your house could listen, really listen, what would you tell it? Homeowners and renters around the country spoke up when we asked them this question. Read what they say, then add your own love letter or plea.
barb4138: Dear House, thank you for transforming my life with your beauty and serenity. Thank you for the joy you have given me with your fantastic views and beautiful garden. Although we’ve only been together for two years, I feel more at home in you than in any other house since my childhood. I hope never to be separated from you.
dspayne5. I love u. You have been my serenity when I needed it. You have given me purpose in renovating u, and the gardens have given me peace.
dspayne5. I love u. You have been my serenity when I needed it. You have given me purpose in renovating u, and the gardens have given me peace.
jujohnson1955: Pull yourself together!
Fred S: Are your eaves dropping?
donnatu: Please stop shifting.
dallasgraduate: I’m leaving you when something better comes along (rental). I’m going to be seeing other options before the divorce is final (lease ends). It’s not you, it’s me. My sofa just needed more breathing room, and my ottoman feels the same way.
Fred S: Are your eaves dropping?
donnatu: Please stop shifting.
dallasgraduate: I’m leaving you when something better comes along (rental). I’m going to be seeing other options before the divorce is final (lease ends). It’s not you, it’s me. My sofa just needed more breathing room, and my ottoman feels the same way.
ripgirl2: I’d say thank you for being so well built and in such a peaceful spot. Thank you for making me happy to go home again!
normaprice2003: I loved you from the time I saw the blueprints. You sit in the country quietly listening to a river and the wind in the trees but have a clear view of wildlife to the south. It’s your small kitchen that is really annoying, and you certainly need to be decluttered and given a theme on the inside.
normaprice2003: I loved you from the time I saw the blueprints. You sit in the country quietly listening to a river and the wind in the trees but have a clear view of wildlife to the south. It’s your small kitchen that is really annoying, and you certainly need to be decluttered and given a theme on the inside.
Diana Barnett: Thank you for putting me in the Christmas spirit. You are beautiful in winter.
tipmax: When we first looked at you, I wasn’t impressed. You were empty and tired-looking. I really liked that newer little cabin on the hillside, but my husband fell in love with your basement, even though you had a little water problem down there. Now after four years and a lot of work, you are looking good, girl. You got that water problem licked with just grading the yard and new gutters. We got rid of all that nasty mold and wallpaper and linoleum. Fixed your bathrooms and kitchen. I really like you now and I’ll stay with you.
tipmax: When we first looked at you, I wasn’t impressed. You were empty and tired-looking. I really liked that newer little cabin on the hillside, but my husband fell in love with your basement, even though you had a little water problem down there. Now after four years and a lot of work, you are looking good, girl. You got that water problem licked with just grading the yard and new gutters. We got rid of all that nasty mold and wallpaper and linoleum. Fixed your bathrooms and kitchen. I really like you now and I’ll stay with you.
ljgardner: I walked in and I knew you were my home. I’m your second owner in 88 years, and we’ll be together for a long time. Thank you for your strength, warmth, and shelter for me and my boy.
atticorphan: Thanks for all the awesome memories. Grandpa built you when he first settled here from Germany. Dad grew up in this house. It was my home when I got married and the place where my son grew up. Not a day goes by that wonderful memories don’t come flooding back of family members that are no longer here. Grandma’s kitchen, Grandpa’s swing on the front porch, Dad’s library, my son’s favorite spot under the dining room table and the attic that I love to visit on a rainy day.
atticorphan: Thanks for all the awesome memories. Grandpa built you when he first settled here from Germany. Dad grew up in this house. It was my home when I got married and the place where my son grew up. Not a day goes by that wonderful memories don’t come flooding back of family members that are no longer here. Grandma’s kitchen, Grandpa’s swing on the front porch, Dad’s library, my son’s favorite spot under the dining room table and the attic that I love to visit on a rainy day.
tfitz1006: Please hang in there until the last one finishes college. I promise I will fix you up.
mramsey: I would say, thank you for letting us love you until you were Real: “Real isn’t how you are made. It’s a thing that happens to you. Sometimes it hurts, but when you are Real you don’t mind being hurt. It doesn’t happen all at once. You become. Once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand. Once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.” ― Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit”
lkropcho: Dear House, you are new and beautiful, shiny and polished.… Is it wrong that I miss our old creaky leaky house? I will love you more, I know, as memories are made, but you don’t need me like the old house did.
mramsey: I would say, thank you for letting us love you until you were Real: “Real isn’t how you are made. It’s a thing that happens to you. Sometimes it hurts, but when you are Real you don’t mind being hurt. It doesn’t happen all at once. You become. Once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand. Once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.” ― Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit”
lkropcho: Dear House, you are new and beautiful, shiny and polished.… Is it wrong that I miss our old creaky leaky house? I will love you more, I know, as memories are made, but you don’t need me like the old house did.
sugar125: I love you, “Shady Boreen” … my cabin on the lake in Maine. You have been my escape, my refuge in times of stress for 21 years. Although you are rustic and in need of some repair, I go to you to relax on the dock, the hammock, on the screened-in porch with my morning coffee while listening to the loons.
junecareyart: Old Man House, that is what I have called you. I bought you a year ago, and I have called you stubborn and hard, because you are! But I have loved you, because you are 92 years old, and beautifully built, a Craftsman-style bungalow like I always wanted.… Now just stop giving me a hard time and try to understand when I need to drill a hole in your plaster walls that it is for your own good!
rljoy: It was love at first sight, and after almost six years, the thrill is still there. Please let me know if you need anything else.
Your turn: What would you say to your house? Read more love letters and requests, then add your own.
junecareyart: Old Man House, that is what I have called you. I bought you a year ago, and I have called you stubborn and hard, because you are! But I have loved you, because you are 92 years old, and beautifully built, a Craftsman-style bungalow like I always wanted.… Now just stop giving me a hard time and try to understand when I need to drill a hole in your plaster walls that it is for your own good!
rljoy: It was love at first sight, and after almost six years, the thrill is still there. Please let me know if you need anything else.
Your turn: What would you say to your house? Read more love letters and requests, then add your own.
I have loved more than anything rebuilding you slowly and deliberately, peeling away the layers, hearing your story, learning of your prior owners from what they left behind.