hobbs house

Thomas, Micah and I live in a 100-year-old mill house in Pineville. It is teeny, and sweet, and takes a lot of work. But we love it. So much that we bought the one across the street.

Mr. Hobbs moved to Pineville to work in the mill down the street lots of years ago, or so we think. The first time I met him, he shuffled to the middle of the street. I said, "My name is Emily." He said, "My name's on my house." Which is true. Haley W. Hobbs. Right there where most people put their address. He told me his life story of working this job and that, being married to these people, living this many years here and there. The total added up to over 95 years, which I'm sure he was not. But I'm sure parts of the story were real.

Mr. Hobbs lived alone, except for about 15 stray cats under and around his house. He always let his car "warm up" in the driveway for about 20 minutes before going anywhere. He always wore a hat and glasses while driving. Occasionally his daughter would visit, but never stay long. Always all of his blinds were drawn, but there would be one light in his front window.

About two years ago, Mr. Hobbs left one night and never returned. We heard he was found on the side of the road with a flat tire, out very late and rather disoriented. From that point he was moved into an assisted living home and passed away. His house sat quietly vacant since. Just as he left it, except the light was turned off. Eventually it was condemned and fell into foreclosure.

For months I have sat on my front porch wondering what was inside and what stories the house had to tell. Thomas sat on our front porch frustrated about the state of disrepair. We hoped that someone would enter the picture and restore the scene. It turns out it's us.

In July, Thomas got a phone call out of the blue from the Historical Society. They had purchased Hobbs house in order to preserve the historic value of the street. And they wanted us to buy it (for a ridiculously low price) to fix it up. Originally we thought the house would need to be torn down and rebuilt. But even at that, the price was so amazing that it seemed like a good investment. Thomas got to work researching costs, building codes, and restrictions. We talked to the Historical Society in multiple meetings, and they kept telling us "We just have to make this work." As the process went on, Thomas realized that we might be able to salvage the house. So we went before the Town Council to request that they reconsider the condemnation order. They agreed to give us 18 months to meet minimum housing standards before they would require it to be torn down.

So on September 13 we closed and officially own the opposite corner of Park Ave, and everything in it. Our first step will be sorting all of Mr. Hobbs' belongings and, as Thomas puts it, searching for "treasure". Next I'll post some before pictures and share some of our plans. We hope to honor Mr. Hobbs and the history of our mill village, while staying happy with our little family life :) So here we go...