The Dream Home

I remember driving through a brand new subdivision on the outskirts of a neighboring city. It was a lovely area, gorgeous homes, rolling hills, beautifully landscaped with bright colored flowers and well groomed shrubbery.

As we wound through the picturesque addition, a rambling, one story, stone ranch home caught my eye. It was covered in Brown County stone, that flat rock that you might find in a creek bed. The stones were all shapes and sizes, varying in color from light shades of tan to pale caramel and soft rust tones.

I loved the unique windows. Two long narrow glasses, side by side, made up each one. There were no lines to break up the long, softly flowing shears that hung behind them. In addition, all the trim and siding was painted a medium shade of olive green, a very popular color in the seventies. The green trim and the limited amount of wooden siding, provided a stark contrast to the light sand colored stone.

I truly loved that beautiful home. I remember telling the Lord that I’d love to live in a house like that, someday. I gave it no more thought. I was coming out of a very difficult period of time in my life. Several years before that, I had gone through a divorce and was now in the midst of putting my life back together. I met a Marine who rode a motorcycle, sang and played a guitar, and looked like the “Marlboro Man.” If you don’t remember the “Marlboro Man,” I’ll bet your mother will. The rest is history.

We had been married six months and thought we might be ready to buy our own home. We decided to relocate to the town where I had been employed for the past two years. Our realtor and friend, Russ, showed us only one home. It just happened to be in his neighborhood and was perfect! We were so happy with the sunken family room with the stone fireplace at the far end. It was so homey and warm. We wanted to make it ours as soon as possible.

We had lived in the home for two months when I remembered the house I’d seen in Valle Vista years before. Oh my gosh! I was now living in a beautiful stone home, trimmed in olive green, which provided a lovely contrast to the sand colored stone. It had long, narrow, thermopane windows and couldn’t have been more perfect. God is so good. I had forgotten the request I had made to Him years earlier, but He hadn’t.

The Dream Home 1977