The Bend: An Introduction

Beginnings

Before we moved back to Starkville, we looked and looked (and looked) for a piece of land with a reasonable price tag, a manageable acreage, and a drivable distance from town.  Our search was unsuccessful so we settled on buying a house in town while we continued to look.  Shortly after we completed our first year here, we were driving down Highway 389 north of town and saw a For Sale sign on a property that was about 5 miles from the bypass.  Hmmm, we thought. Maybe we should check that out.  It had a little house on it that was in decent shape to have been built back in the 40s or 50s.  It had a small pond, some open field and some hardwood timber--all of which were on our wish list.  So in November of 2012 we signed the papers and bought it.

Highway 389 heads north out of Starkville towards the Pheba (Feebee) community and makes a big Z-curve before generally heading west then north to Highway 50 in Pheba.  In the northern bend of this Z-curve our property is situated and thus we refer to it affectionately as "The Bend".  Naming the property is a throwback to our days in Charlottesville, Virginia, where any property over an acre was given a name--like Jefferson's Monticello.  And they had a cute little sign at the mailbox saying what the name of the place was.  Anyway, naming it makes it seem like a homestead and not just an address. So, for now at least, "The Bend" it is.

For the last few months, we have been in the process of transforming the little house into a home where hopefully our family of 6 will fit and thrive for a few years until we can figure out what sort of house we want to build.  I've been saying the house was about 1200 square feet, but I found out yesterday it's actually 1050 according to my sweet friend Macki who lives in our house's twin a few miles up the road.

We have big ideas for what we would like to do with this homestead through the next years and decades.  We'd love for you to stay tuned to our progress.

The Bend House.  It ain't much to look at, but soon it will be home.
Three Bedrooms.  One Bathroom.  Six people. It's gonna be cozy.

In the back yard we have the pumphouse (left) and the outhouse (right).
I should have spoken more plainly: there's only one bathroom IN the house.
The other one is outside...and it's a two-seater!