Creekside View – February 3, 2025 - "Two Houses and Their Stories"

Several years ago, I was out listing a vacant house on a dreary, cloudy day.

Maybe my mood reflected that because as I pulled out of the driveway after measuring the rooms, recording floorcoverings, taking still photos and video for the virtual tour, hanging the lockbox and installing the “For Sale” sign on the front lawn I couldn’t help but feel a little sad about the circumstances surrounding this particular listing.

You see I had sold this house to the owners about seven or eight years before.?

They were new to the community then, expecting a child, and excited about life in general.?

We looked at a half dozen houses before they picked this one, a modest three-bedroom bungalow, fundamentally sound but needing some TLC.

I would bump into them every few months and get a progress report.?

First came paint inside, then a fence, garden and deck.?

The basement was remodeled with the help of an uncle then one day I noticed a garage going up.

At the time I had chuckled to myself because on our initial tour the husband had badly wanted a garage for his quad and sports car.

Unfortunately, that wish had lost out to more pressing priorities, like a nice room for a nursery!

That fall he lost his life after a short battle with an aggressive type of cancer.?

His wife tried hard to keep living there but finally decided that she could no longer stay in the home they had created together. ?

There were just too many memories.

There is a story behind every house for sale.?

I was once asked to visit an acreage in the south part of our region by the elderly couple who owned it.?

You could tell as soon as you drove into the yard that every inch of the property was loved as it showed like a prairie Butchart Gardens.

Realtors sell land and buildings but, in this case, the first thing on the agenda was a guided tour of the flower beds.?

Now my mother had kept her farmyard the same way so to me it was like going back in time.

When we finally stopped for tea in the kitchen of the old 1? storey home, the man asked his wife for permission to speak to me frankly.? She agreed.

Apparently, I had passed muster because they proceeded to tell me that poor health was forcing them to move before winter and did I think I could find someone who would continue to care for the place like they did?

That’s a tough position to be put into for buyers have their own priorities and they may want horses or goats instead of flowers.?

I had no choice but to tell them the truth half expecting to be shown the door.

Instead there was a few moments of silence followed by a frank discussion about growing old and letting go.?

I suggested they let the community know of their intentions, and invite whoever wanted perennials for their own gardens to drop in.

When I came back to list the property in the fall, they proudly told me that about a dozen families had taken them up on the opportunity.?

Cuttings and rootstocks of their heritage garden were by now gracing yards in at least three provinces.

It made the transition to town life so much easier for them.

But the story doesn’t stop there.

A couple of years later one of their neighbours called and asked me to drop by for a coffee to talk about farmland.

By their front step was the most gorgeous of lilies blooming.?

The owners told me that the plants had come from that same elderly couple and served as a reminder every summer about the importance of sharing what inspires us.

I couldn’t help but agree.

Vern McClelland is an associate broker with RE/MAX of Lloydminster, founder of ProgressiveTender.com, and an active partner in his family’s livestock operation.? Comments on this article are welcome either by emailing [email protected]? or calling (306) 821-0611.