Happy New Year!

In 2011, I started this blog in honor of my childhood home. I'd just seen it for the first time in many years, and was overwhelmed by what I found. The current owners had walked away, leaving behind a dark, cold, empty house in desperate need of maintenance and love. Outside, shutters were loose, gardens were overgrown, and once lovely porches were sagging and splintering from the weather.  

It was beyond depressing. Bringing this 14-room Colonial Revival mansion back to life would be very expensive, and the economy and the housing market were still struggling to bounce back. Even the listing agent seemed to have given up on it. 

But what bothered me the most was how alone the house felt - this house that had sheltered me as a child, taught me to understand and love architecture and design, and inspired my creativity in countless big and small ways. I needed to help, to give something back.

So I decided to tell its story, hoping that somehow, the right buyer might stumble across my blog and fall madly in love with the house and rush off and buy it. Of course, life isn't a fairy tale, and although I worked hard on research and photos and ideas I hoped would inspire prospective buyers, the house was not an easy sell. Months and then years went by, with few showings and even fewer offers. It was hard to watch.

But I never stopped believing there would be a happy ending. I didn't know how or when it would happen, but I knew in my heart that 920 Cedar Brook Road would sparkle again. And now it does - more brilliantly than I ever could have imagined. 

Today, my beautiful house (yes, it will always be my house) is home to a wonderful young family. They moved in following a dazzling top-to-bottom restoration by a local architectural and design firm in 2015. And last month, they opened the house to the public for the Plainfield Symphony Medley of Plainfield's Finest Homes tour. My sister was able to attend, and took the photos you see below. 


It turns out that life can sometimes be a fairy tale after all. 



 

Thank you to everyone who has shared the Once Upon A House journey with me, to the architects and contractors who brought the house back to life, and most of all, to the new owners for choosing this extraordinary home and filling it with their own special warmth, light and love.

Happy New Year, 920 Cedar Brook Road!