The "The Old Homestead" Story

944 Janet Ave., long time home of Dottie and Paul Woods.

It was an ordinary day.  Just stopped for a photograph at one of the houses I lived in as a teenager and young 20 year old.  Day was cold, but there was  a bright sun shining on the property at 944 Janet Avenue when I snapped the photograph.  My mom and dad purchased the single home on October 23, 1964 from Miss Frances A. Coventry.  The house was in the Grandview Heights development of Manheim Township on a beautiful tree lined street.  At times it was tough to find a house for sale in Grandview since it was, and still is, one of the nicest and most desirable developments in which to line in Lancaster County.  I grew up in a row home on North Queen Street in Manheim Township, just one block over the city boundary to at the north end of the city.  Mom, dad and I moved into the Queen Street home when I was about 4 years old and made the move to Janet Avenue when I was a junior at Millersville State Teachers College in October of 1964.  These two homes were the only homes that mom and dad ever knew.  They liked their home on Queen St., but when they found they could afford the place on Janet, they were ecstatic.  The house on Janet had a fairly brief history to it being that it was built sometime in the very early 1950's.  I found documentation that the tract of land for the house was conveyed from Grand View Heights to John Smith for $1.00 on October 23, 1950.  

This is a miniature reproduction of mom and dad's home
at 944 Janet that Carol and I gave to them when they had
finished paying off their mortgage in 1978.  This, along with
all he old Deeds, will be given to the current owners.

I assumed John Smith was a builder and sold the home he built on the tract of land to William and Eleanor Van Horne on March 6, 1951.  I could not determine the sale price for the home at that time.  Then, on September 23, 1957 the Van Horne's sold the house to Stanley and Barbara Welty Jr. for $16,000.  They in turn sold the house to Frances A. Coventry on June 2, 1961 for the sum of $16,750.  They must have wanted out real bad or the housing market was very weak at the time, since they only made a $750 profit after living in the house for four years.  On October 23, 1964 mom and dad bought the 944 Janet Ave. home for $17,500, $1,000 above the sale price in 1961.  How do I know all this?  Well, recently I was going through the last of mom and dad's belongings, discarding what wasn't necessary and either filing or passing on that which wasn't discarded.  I found all the old Deeds and history for the home on Janet Ave. which was mom and dad's pride and joy.  The small single home had a living room with wood burning fireplace, dining room that was small and a very small kitchen.  The second floor had two medium sized bedrooms, one very small bedroom and a small bathroom.  What was the selling point of the home when mom and dad bought it was the large screened-in porch which was used most every day, weather permitting.  The grounds around the home were landscaped very nicely with large, mature trees lining the street and an apple tree in the back yard.  Along the boundary between the neighbor to the rear was a row of bamboo which caused my dad many problems because it's growth was hard to control.  All the deeds as well as the original mortgage that mom and dad took out on the home were in an envelope which I found.  But, the letter from the National Central Bank in Lancaster, PA was the pride and joy for mom and dad.  It stated that they had satisfied the payments on the house and it now belonged to them.  Dad drilled a hole in the top of the post of the railing at the bottom of the stairs and placed a stone or jewel of some sort in it to show to all that they owned the home outright.  I'm not sure, but mom, dad, my brother Steve and I probably celebrated with a party on the back porch.  I have now decided that I will make one more stop at 944 Janet Ave. and drop off the Deeds that give the history of the house to the current owners.  I could see them gathering at their living room window when I stopped in front of the house this morning to take the final photo.  Probably scared them that I was taking a photo of their home for no good reason.  I'm sure they will enjoy reading the history of their home they purchased a few years ago from mom and dad.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.