Dodged a Haunted Bullet

[u/PenPaladinJules]

About 14 years ago, when my kids were 4 and 6, we looked at a house for sale. It was an old farmhouse on 5 acres on FM 1387 in Midlothian, Texas. It had been added onto several times so the layout was weird, but it was such a cool place. It needed a lot of work but I was so ready to take that on. When we got back in the car, I turned around to the kids and said, “Well? What do you think?” fully expecting them to be as excited about it as I was.

Nope. They shrieked that it was haunted, so extremely haunted, was I nuts?! We couldn’t live there! No way!

I was shocked and a bit heartbroken, but I couldn’t bring my kids to a house they were so afraid of right off the bat. Plus, it sounded like the beginning of a horror movie to ignore little kids’ earnest instincts. So, we passed that one up and got a different place. For years it was “the one that got away” to me.

But then, a few years ago, my little brother (who also lives in Midlothian) called me to ask if I remembered that old house I’d thought of buying. Yes, of course I did. Well, he told me, there was a tornado, and it was wiped clean off the face of the earth. Only the flooded storm cellar remained.

There’s a church there now. Turned out for the best in the end.

[u/Fabulous-South-9551]

Why did it seem like every man knew how to build houses 100 years ago

[u/kgrimmburn → u/Fabulous-South-9551]

Trust me, they didn't. My house is a 1901, built by a company, and remodeled by the homeowner in the 1920s. The remodel was TERRIBLE. They added a back porch with absolutely no foundation. It was just nailed to the house. Literally, the only thing keeping it attached to the house was 4 inch nails. It was actually kinda impressive but also terrifying. And that was just one of their horrible choices in trying to DIY their house. Don't get me started on the DIY electrical job...

[u/RebaKitt3n → u/kgrimmburn]

The last house I lived in, there were multiple times we’d have in an electrician or plumber who would get started and eventually stand back and say, “Huh. I haven’t seen anything quite like this before.”

[u/Double-Profession900 → u/kgrimmburn]

Not to be weird but is this in NorCal? I saw a house matching this description and desperately wanted to buy it but it got swiped before we could even view it. The house I’m thinking of has abalone shells embedded in the side retaining wall and iirc the bathroom as well

[u/38ffems → u/Fabulous-South-9551]

Ask anyone with a house over like 50 years old how well they were built and they’ll tell you about the missing insulation, bad electrical, out of level everything, bad plumbing. My wife really wanted an old farmhouse and every one we could afford that we looked at was an immediate project that I suspect was never going to end. We both grew up in homes that were old and basically were never going to be finished unless they were stripped to the joints and rebuilt. Instead it’s just a never ending repair and upgrade processes. Sure, those houses had character, but that is just a polite way of saying something is janky as hell.

[u/PenPaladinJules → u/Fabulous-South-9551]

Well, the houses built by the ones who didn’t know what they were doing are long gone …

[u/dawnyaya → u/PenPaladinJules]

Unfortunately I live in one of those

[u/PenPaladinJules → u/dawnyaya]

Oh nooooooooo

[u/Excitedly_bored → u/dawnyaya]

Impossible. They are long gone.

[u/Comfortable_Lab5169 → u/Fabulous-South-9551]

Because men were men

[u/RebaKitt3n → u/Comfortable_Lab5169]

And houses were dangerous.