Almost seven years ago, my husband, Frank, and I bought a old 1960 model concrete block fish camp located on the Tennessee River/Kentucky Lake, to transform into our forever home. We call it our Waverly River House.
My husband has been a licensed contractor for 34+ years and we have built, bought, and fixed up and sold, more times than I can count. The most dilapidated, repulsive property is usually the most desirable for us to redo. Some people cannot see the potential of a property, but we have vision, and we do like challenges. So, when we first saw this place, the condition of the building didn't scare us, but seeing the views of the water and the lay of the land, we knew we had found a diamond in the rough.
When the economy crashed and the housing market crashed, we lost almost everything and had to start over. We rented a friend's house and saved enough money to pay $22,500 cash for a poopy little house on a really cute lot. Needless to say, it wasn't livable. We got a loan to remodel it, and then took it down to the studs and brought it back, making everything new. We were living in that little house, when I found what would become, the Waverly River House.
I'm a realtor and showed the property to a potential buyer. I had never been seen the property or been there, as it's located on a dead end. My customer decided that it was too much work for him and passed on it. Secretly, I was hoping that he would, so that I could have the opportunity to show it to Frank. The very next day, I asked Frank if he could live anywhere in Tennessee where would it be. We have always talked about moving to Florida, but realistically, know that won't happen, at least not anytime soon. He didn't really know but then he asked where I would want to live if I could choose? I told him on Periwinkle Lane. He said where is Periwinkle Lane and who would live somewhere called that? I told him to get in the car.
From the moment I drove up and we got out, he could see the potential, and we knew that we had found a diamond in the rough. After going through difficult times in the past, we always pray on making decisions, especially big ones. We decided to take some time to pray and wait for an answer. The next morning, I was telling Frank about an app to get the fishing report and the levels of the river. As he was looking at it, he got so excited and exclaimed here it is! I prayed for God to give me a sign about what to do. This is our sign! Look at this, the property looks like it sits in God's hand. He was right. When looking at the picture on the map, the property looked as if it was in the palm of his hand. We made an offer on it that day. We closed in April of 2016.
We sold our little house in town and moved to a little apartment in the back of Frank's shop, while we started work on the river house. That's when this story starts. I initially started a blog for my kids, family, and friends, to keep them up to date with what we were doing. They shared it with friends, and it started to grow. While grocery shopping, I have had people ask me when I was going to do a new blog post or they would comment on something I had previously posted. We have always felt so blessed that God brought us to this place and made a way for us to be able to live here. I have always felt that we were supposed to share it and our story with others, to let them know that God cares about everyone and does answer our prayers. I hope that if nothing else, I can convey that to everyone that visits this site and blog.
I love decorating and designing rooms. We have completed a lot of projects at the river house, but still have many more to do. I will be sharing those, along with posts about crafts, recipes, and our travels.
Thank you so much for joining us on this journey.
