Ever drive by your "old house"?

[minniecarousel]

Have you ever driven by (or visited) a house you used to live in? My brother drove by the house we grew up in in Oakland and took a picture. It is a 1940's stucco with a Spanish tile roof. It was white when we owned it, and they've now painted it a rose/terracotta color, with blue trim! It truly looks hideous!

When we visited Ohio many years ago, we drove by the house we lived in just before we moved to California (when I was 6) and the "hill" that was the front lawn was a gentle slope - not a hill! I remember rolling down that hill.

 

[froggygrrrl]

I've done that! I think it's part nostalgia, part voyeurism that makes it seem so appealing.

 

[momrek06]

When we moved to MA (1990) we lived in that house until 2005. We built our new home about 4 miles away (stayed in the same town). I rarely drove back to look at the old house. The few times I did, not just my old house but the whole neighborhood seemed to have changed.

Now I have been in CA almost one year and am going back to our MA home in August to visit family.....I am so thinking allot has changed in my town in one year. I will stay in my home and definitely plan to drive by our old home.

The MA town I grew up in, is an hour away and in the past I would be in that area maybe once a year.....last time we drove by the house it was DOUBLED in size. It looked AWESOME.

 

[NotUrsula]

You can do it right now. Look up the address on Google maps and go to street view. I lived in 6 different homes growing up, and only one doesn't show up on Google street view.

 

[m&m's mom]

Our last home is a mile away so we drive by it every now and then.
I recently went to the town I grew up in and my parents and I drove by every house we lived at and took pictures. That was fun.

 

[KAMLEM]

The house I grew up in is about 40 min. away from where I live now so I have been there a few times over the past 15 years. Each time I can't believe how small the neighborhood seems. I remember our yards being so huge, but they're really not! The house itself has been completely done over because they had a fire but the other houses all look so small!

 

[justjudy]

I currently live about an hour away from where I grew up and out of curiosity drove back to see the old neighborhood. I honestly didn't recognize either the street or the house -- I thought I was lost! Everything seemed so much smaller. I remember all kinds of trees on the block -- no more -- just plain old sidewalk. Yuk!! The old house looked entirely different. The front picture window was replaced with a bow window and it was sided in a pale yellow. Not bad, I like yellow houses. However, my parents had a beautiful dogwood tree and a number of shrubs and bushes (azaelas, etc.). All gone -- nothing but grass in front of the house. I never told my mother; she would have been heartbroken.

 

[MushyMushy]

My dad's still in the house I grew up in, but we do still drive by a few of the ones we've lived in since DH and I got married.

There's this one house that has always just felt like "home" to me and I don't know why. We rented it -- a two bedroom with this tiny little kitchen and no bathroom upstairs. There was really nothing special about it. We loved that house so much. It's been up for sale for several months now for less than $50,000!!! I can't tell you how much I wish we could buy it. I have no idea WHY I am so drawn to that house.

Two others have been torn down and are empty lots and a couple of others haven't changed at all.

 

[SamRoc]

Me and my Dad drove my old house in Montclair New Jersey. I was born in Montclair and lived there until i was 4. It was so beautiful, a big colonial. I only lived there for a few years and spent more time in Bridgewater New Jersey in another big house. Thats the one i still dream about. I was 4-15 when i lived there. Then the next one (my parents moved alot!) was at Greenwood Lake where i still have family. Thats the house I was married from and took my kids for summers until just a few years ago. Its actually kind of sad to go to this one, had alot of great memories there.

 

[Fintastic]

We sold our house in Louisiana and moved to Utah in 2008. About a year later we were visiting the ILs in Louisiana and we drove past our old house. It looked about the same, a few plants added or removed, stuff like that. I loved that house so we couldn't NOT drive past it while we were there.

I'd never ask to go inside, though, unless I was good friends with the new owners. That's kind of creepy.

 

[mickeyboat]

I have driven past old houses, and asked to go into one, once. It was my grandparents' house and I was probably in my very early 20s. The people let me in and I think after the initial shock, they enjoyed hearing about my memories of the place.

ETA - I would love to have the former residents of our house come by to see what we have done to the place.

 

[KristaTX]

Yep. Everytime we go back to my hometown (which is rare since no family lives there anymore), we drive by our old houses to see how they are looking and to reminisce.

 

[suejai]

Yes, I have. We lived in a house built just after the war, we bought it from the original owners in the early 70's and my parents added onto it. When I drove by in 2000 they had it roped off and were in the process of moving it. I'm glad they didn't just demolish it, it was a very well constructed house.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

I love to go past our old house in NJ where I grew up. It's funny how small the yard looks to me now. Would love to go in and see what they've done; I know they updated the kitchen (we moved 36 years ago). I'll keep an eye on it and if it's ever for sale, I'll go take a look. It's also on Google Street View, so I look at it every so often.

 

[r1lissa]

I live in Texas, but grew up in Alabama. Every time I go home to visit family, I go see my childhood house. Sadly, it has been empty for several years now.

I also go by the first house that my husband and I bought together. It is only about 15 minutes from our current house. The people that bought it have decorated the outside so beautifully, that I can only imagine that they keep the inside just as nice.

 

[RadioNate]

Yep - i cried like a baby when I drove past our old place in Texas. That was home!

When I was last at my mom's I drove past the house I grew up in. The new owners ripped out all my mom's landscaping and put in horrible evergreen bushes. Little do they know that is exactly what my mom took out when she had it professionally landscaped. Her landscaping was beautiful and required little care. I'm not sure why they took it out.

I haven't been passed our house in Memphis since I haven't been there since we moved. Last I heard, they had painted it PINK! I just googled it. It is definitely not the color we left it. I might be a pale pink or off white. Can't really tell. I liked it better blue!

 

[Cindy B]

We drive by our first home (a condo) quite a bit.. it's right near a Trader Joe's we go to.

We have lived in other houses in other states and if we are near there we do drive by and say "hi" so to speak...

 

[ozarkmom]

Well if I'm out in the backyard and it's fall I can see a glimpse of the first house we built after the birth of our 3rd child. Also every once in a while I drive my mom to see the house she and my dad bought when he first retired from the Navy. We're always appalled at the way the owners have let it go.

 

[englishteacha]

My mom still lives in the house I grew up in. We sometimes drive by DH's childhood home. The house I lived in till I was 4 is near my mom's house, so I drive by it sometimes. It looks the same...I just remember it being bigger!

Before I was born my family lived in a house that is now a quilt store! My brother went in and said it changed a lot. He talked to the owners and they were pleased to hear about what it was like when my family lived there.

 

[MerMom60_94]

I grew up a couple of towns over from where I live now and lived in the same house from the day I was born until the day I got married. A few years back the house was for sale and the owner was having an open house so I went in and introduced myself and asked if I could walk through. They had it fixed up really nice on the inside and outside. Also, they had made a nice bright playroom in the basement. It was nice to see another little family being raised where I had such wonderful childhood memories. My only disappointment is that my DH's late cousin was a carpenter and he had done some work in the house when we were getting married. His work was torn down and I was sad to see that.