The Hohenwald Adventure

We packed ourselves into the van this morning and drove the hour and a half to Hohenwald, TN to look at a property that Chris saw for sale online.

It was a nice, peaceful drive, past fields of corn and soybean, and one small field of tobacco. I wondered how much of the corn was genetically engineered by the infamous Monsanto corporation. We stopped at a gas station in Hohenwald to use the facilities before meeting the realtor.

The property was about three miles out of town. We drove past several small houses and a lot of broken-down vehicles before we turned past a set of rusting household appliances. We then crossed a dry, rocky creek bed and found ourselves on the property we had come to see. Just on the other side of the creek was a level two or three acre field with fairly rocky soil.

Broken-down lawn tractors, parts, tools, toys, the ever-present trampoline, and beer bottles greeted us as we approached the house. The house was much smaller than I expected (it was hard to know what to expect from the photo), and I won't bother to tell you what it was like inside the house, other than to say I would have been afraid of jumping for fear of hitting my head on the ceiling. I love old houses, and have a pretty good eye for potential, but the only redeeming quality of this house was the redecked front porch.

After touring the house, we all piled into the realtor's nice, new, 4-wheel-drive, crew-cab Chevy to see the rest of the property. The majority of the property sat behind the house on a hillside and top of a ridge. From what I gathered from the sales history and the state of the land, someone bought the property three years ago, had it clear-cut to make money off the timber, then resold it to the current owner. A few old oak trees were left standing on the ridge, and there were a few big trees around the house itself. Here and there, pines and tulip poplars were attempting to make a comeback. It all seemed incredibly unnatural. There was a 'pond' below the house, but there wasn't much but some slimy sludge left due to the dry weather.

The best feature was the 200 foot livestock/horse barn.

As we drove away in search of some place to eat lunch, we discussed things... Chris trying to point out all the 'positive' aspects of the place as I tried to bring him back to reality.

All afternoon, I have been asking myself what it is I am looking for. I am wrestling with the reality of what we can afford, what I am envisioning, the sacrifices I know we would/will have to make. At least we know that this wasn't the place.

I only hope that whoever buys it will let the trees grow back.