The "Beach House" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was out cutting the grass, riding my Sears lawn tractor. I enjoy doing this and sometimes do it twice a week. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm nuts, but I've had quite a few of them as students in my class in high school, and they already know that I'm nuts. Our next door neighbors are former students who met in my class. When my cousin, Susan, who is a realtor and helped us with the purchase of the house, showed us the house for the first time, we were standing outside in the front yard when Keith, the neighbor and student, saw me and yelled, "Mr. LDub, is that you?" Yep, still remembered me after all those years. I love looking at our beach house. Wooden walkways and deck, modern architecture and a big, no REALLY BIG piece of driftwood hanging on the side of our garage, facing the front of the house. Carol and I found it in Betterton Beach, MD after we moved in to our new house. We had stopped during the winter to see the ice on the Chesapeake. The beach was covered with all sizes of driftwood. We found the biggest piece we could carry and would fit on the roof of our van. A few neighbors told us they love the driftwood. Looks like the beach!! This all started in the late 90s when all the kids were out or almost out of our house on Janet Ave. We decided maybe we would move to the Chesapeake Bay. Maybe somewhere near one of our favorite vacation destinations. We wanted a waterfront home. Well, the prices were astronomical for water front homes and property so we gave up. Then one day Carol saw a picture of a home in an ad in the newspaper. She said that it looks like a beach house. Only about two miles from Janet Ave. Hopped in the car and headed for a visit. House was really neat...and empty. Looked in all the windows. Now, this is Lancaster County, home of the Amish. Farmland. Conservative views. Early American. This home was CONTEMPORARY!! And, we found out it had been for sale for over two years. It's CONTEMPORARY, in Lancaster County, remember. Couple who owned it separated, stop payments, foreclosed and it was eventually bought by Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac really wanted to unload it after all that time. We were willing to help them. Former owners totally stripped the house of anything of value so they could make some money on it. They took the garage door opener, central vac system, sump pump, towel fixtures and toilet paper holders. We first moved into the garage while we repainted and recarpeted, then moved into the house. Inside flows from one room to the next with very few interior walls. We now have all the remaining wall space covered with the artwork fromour travels as well as some of my photography. We added a pond with a waterfall behind the deck and a palm tree in the yard. We have been here for over 10 years now and it still feels like we are on vacation every time we walk through the door. I don't think I'll ever tire of the house. Maybe the mowing! It was an extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Photos are from the top: Our "Beach House", piece of driftwood recently photographed with snow on it. back deck with waterfall and garden, front entrance showing stained glass window panel I made and suitcases covered with decals from vacation locations, and recent photo of outdoor palm tree covered in snow and decorated for the holidays. By the way, it isn't real!