Home(s), Sweet Home

Childhood home
Wild Licorice Road
approx. 1960
Throughout my life I have lived in multiple houses, a dorm, apartments, a trailer house, and a BOQ. Each was unique and most were comfortable, but all were home for at least a year.
Spanish Walk Apartments
Wheatland, WY
approx. 1976
I lived and worked in Wheatland for six years, and while there lived in a motel room (for a month until my apartment was vacant), a basement apartment in an elderly lady's house (for one year), an apartment (for a year), a house with a friend (for six months), and a trailer house (for three years).

The Spanish Walk apartment was a great place to live - one block from the school. The living room had a Murphy bed in the wall that could be used for guests. This apartment was memorable because of the steam radiators that sometimes went ballistic and poured massive amounts of steam into the apartment, resulting in the exterior doors swelling. I had to climb through the bedroom window once in order to go to work.

Card's Trailer Court
Wheatland, WY
approx. 1977
I loved this trailer and purchased it in 1977. It had a kitchen with windows across the entire front of the trailer, a small dining area with a built-in china hutch, an large living room, two bedrooms, and a full bath. I especially liked that the hallway did not go through the bedrooms. The master bedroom was at the rear of the trailer and also had window across the entire wall. The only problem was that the wind often howls in Wheatland, and sometimes the windows would actually bow under the pressure. I slept in the spare bedroom when that occurred. The bathroom had space for a full-sized washer and dryer. The trailer was sold when I moved to Japan. Photos of my house in Japan can be found here.

Pavillion, WY
approx. 1982
This small house in Pavillion belonged to my brother, Rich. I rented it for a year or two. It was tiny but comfortable. The front door opened into the living room, two small bedrooms were on the right, next to the bedrooms was a bathroom. On the left of the living room, another small bedroom had been converted into a dining room (part of the wall was cut out to open up the room. The minuscule kitchen and a laundry room were behind the dining area. I enjoyed living in this house, but the water pressure was terrible in town and it took nearly 40 minutes for the washer to fill enough to wash a load. Doing laundry took all day.

My brother purchased the house from the school district in the 1970s. At the time, the district had several houses that they rented to teachers. When I was in high school, Coach Frost lived in this house.

farm house on Teacher's Road
north of Pavillion, WY
approx. 1983 or 1984
When the renters of the house on my brother's farm (Over North) moved, my brother asked if I wanted to move to the farm. I rented this house until 1993. This house had been moved to the farm in the late 70s or 80s. My brother purchased the house from our cousin. There had been a fire in the basement, but the house itself was still in good shape. While I'm sure this was a good deal, the house always smelled of smoke, especially during the winter when all the windows and doors were closed. I liked living in the country again and being able to see all the wildlife. I liked the openness of the country. When I first moved into the house, a young couple lived across the road, but eventually they sold the farm and after that, no one lived in that house. The nearest neighbor was about a mile away. The roads to this house could be a nightmare to drive everyday to get to work. I fought snow drifts, mud, and a "lake" that a neighbor created with his unmanaged irrigation water. My little Toyota Tercel was a real warrior on those roads - it was a car with a lot of heart. It pushed snow with its front bumper many times, it climbed a mud-bog hill, and it dodged massive ruts, created by vehicles with a wider wheel base. I loved that little car.

The farm house had three bedrooms, two baths, a laundry area, a large living room, a dining room, a large kitchen, and a two-car attached garage. Surrounding the house was a large yard. I planted a lot of trees in the 9 - 10 years that I lived in the house. I planted lilacs, currants, apple trees and pine trees. The year before I moved, I harvested a few small apples.
house in Riverton
Spring 1993

I purchased my Riverton house the Spring of 1993. It is hard to believe that I have lived here 21 years. The house is very comfortable with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a front room; however, the part that sold me on this house was the kitchen, dining, and family room combo.

The house hasn't changed in appearance too much other than the addition of vinyl siding. The split-rail fence was also removed after I lived here about five years. It's amazing how much the trees have grown in 20+ years.

Do you have photos of your homes through the years?


Comments

  1. Wow, you moved often! I have pictures of all the places I lived, although so far there has only been my parents' house, my dorm in Vancouver and the apartment I live in right now.
    Your house looks lovely - I'd love to live in a house that has a kitchen / dining room / living room combo one day :)

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  2. I probably have photos of all the houses I've lived in since I've been married, but not the apartments. I'm not sure about the houses I lived in as a child--Mom and Dad would have taken those.

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  3. We haven't had too many homes. In Pennsylvania Steve and I had two apartments. One was a tiny one-bedroom near his work. It was brand new and functional, but had NO personality. Later on we moved to old Navy barracks that had been turned into apartments -- brick construction and no "extras", but the rent was right. Then we moved to Florida -- lived over by Disney for 6 months until we found a house in the "country. --- 3 bd., 2 bath in a huge stand of oaks. Loved it for 11 years. Then the city found us. We moved further out 3 bd, 2-1/2 bath, pool, heated spa and not much land, but we love it here. This August we'll be in this house 19 years.

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  4. What a fun post Nancy! I loved it. Interesting that they were all ranch style homes ….is that correct ???

    Two childhood homes for me. One apt with Fireman and one house….

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  5. I lived in the same house my whole childhood - until moving into the dorm in college. Except for some short times when I lived with an aunt and uncle. Sadly that house is standing empty now and looks pretty forlorn.

    Since being married I've lived in an apartment, a house in Iowa, on a farm in South Dakota, in a small town in SD, and now in a small city in SD.

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  6. I didn't realize you have lived in so many houses. Your Wheatland stint certainly kept you moving; oh my goodness! I think your present house is my favorite; plus, you've made so many beautiful improvements to it. My history of homes is very boring in comparison!

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  7. I wrote a whole comment and it disappeared. I hate that!! Anyway, as I was saying...heehee
    You are so good about keeping beautiful memories close to your heart with photos. I wish I had pictures of tall the houses we have lived in, especially the ones where the children grew up. I am so bad about remembering to take pictures. I hope your wonderful photos will help remind me to keep my camera close at hand! Thanks for sharing Nancy.

    BTW I love the rail fence!

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  8. I do, I should look for them, they are somewhere in the boxes in the basement...I think :)))
    I love your top house.

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  9. My folks moved around a fair bit when I was a kid, and we moved 4 times in San Diego, but we've lived in our WA house for 37 years as of this Feb.

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  10. What a cool post on your different homes! I don't have photos of the different places I lived. Mainly urban shared apartments. I do have many of the interior of my first apartment with my husband. Youthful days... with no toys in the background!

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  11. I have a few photos, but none with the house as the subject. What fun it would be to look back... I may have to see what I can do.

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  12. I enjoyed reading this post! You have lived lots of places:)

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  13. You were as lovely as a college girl as you are today! You have lived in as many houses as we have while moving around the world with the Air Force.

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