Do You Love Old Houses?

My lifelong dream to live in an old house was realized in early 2013 when we moved from the suburbs south of Kansas City to Historic Northeast Kansas City.

Before that, I had lived in a house built in 1990 and it was cheap, cheap, cheap - in every sense of the word.

Ironically, the area I moved into is considered an "area in transition" which is code for the HOOD.

And we do have our unique flavors of residents - junkies, homeless, mentally ill, and impoverished. We have a melting pot of Africans (as in straight from war-torn Congo, etc), Hispanics, and dozens of languages from dozens of countries are the first language of many of the children in our local elementary school.

Our house was built in 1899 and I even found the advertisement for it when it was in the process of construction. There have been five owners (that includes us) and only three of the owners have lived in this house, all of them writers.

Christine Shuck is a writer, artist, and general malcontent living in Kansas City, Missouri. She has written six books, five of which are published on Amazon. You can learn more about her by signing up for her newsletter, visiting her author website or one of her blogs:

The Deadly Nightshade - covers diy, sustainability, gardening, cooking, crafts, community and more

The Learning Advocate - touches on parenting, education and more

The Cottages - focuses on our renovations of two bungalows in Historic Northeast Kansas City and their future as Airbnb properties

How cool is that?

Moving into this house meant exchanging a quiet life in the suburbs in a small 1,000 square foot house for a slightly more noisy life in the city in a nearly 4,000 square foot house.

I love the history of our home and think often of the people who lived in these rooms and walked these floors before me.

What about you? Do you love old houses?