My friend Joan writes one of my favorite blogs, For the Love of a House. Joan's blog is about her and her husband Dan's "journey turning a once unloved antique farmhouse" into their home.
In a recent post, Joan beautifully explained how she and Dan moved from Texas to New Hampshire even though they didn't know anyone who lived there. As much as they tried to convince themselves that it was crazy to purchase an old farmhouse that needed a lot of work, they felt it was their destiny. This was their house. Many people may have thought that Joan and Dan were crazy, but I completely understood their passion.
Like Joan and Dan, Steve and I believe that things in our life happen for a reason....
Steve and I have always had a dream of living on a farm when we retire. The farm would include gardens and animals and room for an art studio. Unfortunately we never thought we'd be able to afford it. Then we discovered Ojai. Not only is Ojai beautiful (you can see some of the natural beauty of Ojai in my last post), but the land is a great deal cheaper than the property in the neighborhood where we live now.
For the past several months, Steve and I have been spending our free time exploring Ojai. At first we thought we would buy an older home and renovate it, but after doing some research we realized it would be easier to find a piece of land and build our dream home from scratch. That's when we found this...
During the weeks before we made an offer on this property, Steve and I spent our morning walks trying to convince each other that we were crazy. During the same walks we also shared our dreams of our future life in Ojai. Steve will paint. I'll take art classes, garden and raise chickens and a couple small horses (yes, I know. I'm crazy!). We will take long walks into town, and we will continue to design homes for our clients, of course!
For the past couple of months, we visited the lot on the weekends. Steve drove up the coast several times to talk to Sherry at the Ojai Planning Department to see if there were any issues with the property. During one of his visits, Steve sent me this photo. One of our neighbors was grazing his miniature horses on our lot. We both saw this as an omen. We were meant to live here.
Here is Steve's first sketch of Patina Farm...
The main living space of the house will be very open, with the living room on the left, the dining area in the center and the kitchen on the right...
The entrance to the master bedroom will be on the left, at the far end of the living room. There will be a garden outside of the master bedroom. Beyond the garden, a guest house, built out of an old barn, will sit here with a view between the trees.
Although it will take a couple of years to become a reality, Steve and I are so excited about our new home! We hope that you will join us on this new adventure as we dream, design and build Patina Farm!
xo
Brooke
If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.
To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.
To Become a Fan of Velvet and Linen on Facebook click here.
