Meeting the Castle House

We never thought we would leave Prosper, TX when we moved from Norman, OK in 2012. Our girls had started school at their local elementary and we had wonderful friends in our very own neighborhood. We had recently moved into a one-story home and were absolutely loving it. Our pool was nearing completion and the new school year for our girls was on the horizon.The real estate market had gone crazy and homes in our area were going for a lot more than anyone had purchased them for and it started to make us think. My husband was also on Zillow too often. Not even shopping for a new home. It was just something he did while phone surfing. He sent me a link to a home in Muenster, TX. Let me just show you what I saw on that Zillow link that changed everything I thought I knew I wanted.

Now we loved our home in Prosper but this land, the lake, the space, the potential. It was hard to ignore the possibilities. The upside is this isn't a town we know nothing about. My husband has aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents all still in Muenster. It is a small town and the town you would do more of your shopping in is Gainesville. It is not comparable to Frisco which is what I had become accustomed to; where everything is at your finger tips. However, with all the shipping options we have now and Amazon I was pretty certain I could learn to just have to plan ahead if it meant living on a property like this. We took the leap and went with our favorite realtor to go tour the property. Here are some pictures from the listing we saw before arriving to the home:

What we didn't realize when we arrived was that the owners had not been living here for quite some time, possibly years. Birds had taken over the porches and it was hard to make it in the door with clean shoes. Wasps and dirt daubers had infested all the stone walls and peaks of the outside. If you know me this was already starting the process of a lot of anxiety for me. We were at least still in awe of the view and the quiet we encountered as we walked up the front walk. Inside the home appeared clean, but as we walked throughout the home there was dead bugs everywhere- spiders, wasps, crickets, everything. I am looking around the home thinking even though it is all extremely outdated, I can fix this. The amount of arches we encountered was insane. There were arches in the wood work, on the mantels, the windows, the doorframes, the tv cabinet, it just kept going. Many of the rooms were not shown on the listing. It actually took us a little bit to find the staircase to upstairs. It is through the door off of the living room. It was hard for the kids to envision living here because they cannot see past the paint and decor already here. Let me share with you the space upstairs that would be the kids rooms.

We didn't say much on the way home, but when we got home I turned to Lance and I said "I think I could do it". His response, "I can't see it". He was so taken aback by the amount of change the inside would need he couldn't see how I would be able to live there and not try and tear it down. We knew we would have to go back before we pulled the trigger. Fast-forward after our second visit now I was the one who was panicking over all the changes it needed and Lance was sold on the outside. We talked with the kids because honestly they were our first and greatest concern. Would they be okay leaving their hometown and school? They were all positive and ready for the adventure. We listed our home in the summer of 2021 and it was mid-construction of our new pool and decking. It was a roller coasting of emotion and our sweet realtor was put through the ringer. We all needed a vacation after that circus. We closed in October 2021. I had Covid and was trying to move us which was interesting. We officially moved in on a Saturday and my girls started their new school on Monday. That was a very stressful and emotional day. I couldn't wait to hear how it went. I hadn't remembered that Lance's cousin's wife worked there and bless her. She met us in the hallway and gave us all a hug. It was already feeling like we had made the right decision for our family. The kids in their classes knew they were coming and in a school that small new kids are a big deal! I picked up the girls after school and they were in a new school spirit shirt they were given and smiles plastered on their faces, HUGE relief. Even more lucky was that cousin of Lance's was a home contractor...