dianeschlicht
<font color=blue>DVC-Trivia Contest, Apr-2006: Hon
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2000
- Messages
- 36,449
This isn't really DVC related, but it is a part of what we were when we first joined DVC 12+ years ago. I'll understand if it gets deleted or moved, but I'm so upset about this, I needed to post somewhere.
Today we drove past our old house. Back in the late 70's, Dick and I designed and built a 5000 sq. ft English Tudor style house on 40 acres. We attached a 6 dog kennel to one end, and it was to be our dream home for the rest of our lives. We moved into it on Memorial Day 1980. This was the second house we had designed and built, but the first one where we did ALL the work. We personally poured the footings, built the basement, pounded every nail etc, etc, etc. A lot of very hard work and sweat went into that house over the course of 3 years. It was still not completely finished when we moved in, but it was easier to work on it once we were there. The only part of the construction we did not do ourselves was the stucco and brick work.
Our son was 5 and our daughter 11 when we moved in (the are 34 and 40 now). We saw them both to adulthood in that house. It was their childhood home. It was in the middle of a 40 acre woods, and was going to be a perfect spot for many years of our dog activities.
Fast forward to about 2000 when the county and city decided to re-route the county highway that ran in front of the property. The new route took 30 of the original 40 acres and left us in a little island of woods. In fact, the money they gave us when they first took the property back in 1998 paid for our second OKW contract.
At first it wasn't so bad because we were isolated enough from neighbors etc. Then they purchased the horse farm across the way and built the new high school on the property. That was when we decided it was time to look for something farther out from development, so we also thought it might be a good time to build a log home that we had dreamed about but never expected to build.
We spent 25 wonderful years in that house, and we often drove past the property to "check" on it. The city purchased it from us back in 2002 so they could annex it to the what was left of the original 30 acres they acquired before building the road. They had rented it out for 4 years. This spring we noticed that the mailbox was gone, and that it appeared to be empty. It was hard to know for sure because of the woods etc, so today on our way back home from my dad's house, we decided to drive by and drive up the driveway. Imagine our shock when we arrived to find the driveway full of emergency vehicles and smoke rising from the woods. They were just hauling in the hoses after burning it in a "practice burn". We were devastated (especially Dick). We just stood there in shock when the firemen told us about it. One of them had been the tenant for the past 4 years and he told us how sad his family was today too. They thought it was a great house too. It just hurts so much to see all that hard work and all those wonderful years reduced to a pile of rubble.
I dont' have any pictures of the outside on disk or a computer, and I haven't located any to scan just yet, but here is what it looked like today after the firemen left and the smoldering embers were left.
And this is what the fire did to the copper pipes left in the house...It just melted them around the beams in the basement.
Today we drove past our old house. Back in the late 70's, Dick and I designed and built a 5000 sq. ft English Tudor style house on 40 acres. We attached a 6 dog kennel to one end, and it was to be our dream home for the rest of our lives. We moved into it on Memorial Day 1980. This was the second house we had designed and built, but the first one where we did ALL the work. We personally poured the footings, built the basement, pounded every nail etc, etc, etc. A lot of very hard work and sweat went into that house over the course of 3 years. It was still not completely finished when we moved in, but it was easier to work on it once we were there. The only part of the construction we did not do ourselves was the stucco and brick work.
Our son was 5 and our daughter 11 when we moved in (the are 34 and 40 now). We saw them both to adulthood in that house. It was their childhood home. It was in the middle of a 40 acre woods, and was going to be a perfect spot for many years of our dog activities.
Fast forward to about 2000 when the county and city decided to re-route the county highway that ran in front of the property. The new route took 30 of the original 40 acres and left us in a little island of woods. In fact, the money they gave us when they first took the property back in 1998 paid for our second OKW contract.
At first it wasn't so bad because we were isolated enough from neighbors etc. Then they purchased the horse farm across the way and built the new high school on the property. That was when we decided it was time to look for something farther out from development, so we also thought it might be a good time to build a log home that we had dreamed about but never expected to build.
We spent 25 wonderful years in that house, and we often drove past the property to "check" on it. The city purchased it from us back in 2002 so they could annex it to the what was left of the original 30 acres they acquired before building the road. They had rented it out for 4 years. This spring we noticed that the mailbox was gone, and that it appeared to be empty. It was hard to know for sure because of the woods etc, so today on our way back home from my dad's house, we decided to drive by and drive up the driveway. Imagine our shock when we arrived to find the driveway full of emergency vehicles and smoke rising from the woods. They were just hauling in the hoses after burning it in a "practice burn". We were devastated (especially Dick). We just stood there in shock when the firemen told us about it. One of them had been the tenant for the past 4 years and he told us how sad his family was today too. They thought it was a great house too. It just hurts so much to see all that hard work and all those wonderful years reduced to a pile of rubble.
I dont' have any pictures of the outside on disk or a computer, and I haven't located any to scan just yet, but here is what it looked like today after the firemen left and the smoldering embers were left.
And this is what the fire did to the copper pipes left in the house...It just melted them around the beams in the basement.
I am so sorry. I can relate to your story in two ways. We have also built our current home and the one before. We did it all from having the plans drawn to laying the tile. I can only imagine how heartbroken you are.
I hope that provides some small level of comfort. 
Just like loosing a part of your life!
( I'm sorry.
