A new job as a tenure-track art professor at a university in the Upper Cumberland region of central Tennessee meant I’d be selling a 1960’s ranch in Denver, Colorado during a global pandemic and searching for a forever home in a place I’d never even visited – quite a leap of faith. Initial searching turned up a few interesting prospects; an A-frame by the lake, a cute little 1930’s craftsman bungalow, an abandoned quaker school and church… but none would hold a candle to Meadowsbend. All of these houses would have been entirely out of my budget in Denver which has gotten astronomically expensive, but rural Tennessee is an entirely different economic picture. It was actually my mother who lives a few hours away in Greenville, South Carolina who found Meadowsbend listed as a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sale just outside of my search area about 25 minutes from the university.

I had the great privilege of restoring an 1876 Italianate style house – the Orr Centennial House – in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. It was a massive undertaking, from basement to attic and my ex-wife and I did the bulk of the work ourselves, hiring out only a few things like roofing and some floor refinishing. Having done that project gave me a lot of insight into what I was seeing in the pictures of Meadowsbend and also a leg up on doing the research into the house’s history. It wasn’t long before I was on the phone with the realtor trying to figure out what the catch was.

An inspection and some digging into the historical real estate listings revealed some things to worry about. The plumbing wasn’t holding pressure – which might be as terrible as burst pipes from freezing or simple as a drain left open. The parlor had been ripped apart to treat termite damage and repaired in the 1980’s. There was water damage from what looked like an open window in east bedroom. Some of the foundation bricks were bowing or missing. Non-trivial concerns certainly, but all things that could be addressed with enough time.

And so, with after some financial shuffling and with the help of a very gracious family member to bridge my financing while I sold the house in Denver, I put in an offer slightly above asking which was accepted to by HUD and last week closed on a house I’ve never seen in a state I’ve never visited.