… and that is the question. What is the more-likely thing that a person might say: “I took on a historic house that needed a lot of work as a new chapter in my life, and it’s the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done,” or: “I bought a historic house that needs a lot of work and it was the worst decision I’ve ever made.” Should my next chapter in life come with a challenge? Or should I take an easier road and find peace and relaxation?
Let me back up a minute, and explain where I’m coming from with all this. My girlfriend and I saw an intriguing Mission Revival home on Zillow, but that’s not even an accurate first description – it’s really an “estate,” with a historic house, an old barn, a second house, and several sheds on 2 acres. I don’t want to get into specific addresses or locations quite yet, because I just saw it a little over a week ago, and it’s still on the market, and I’m still thinking about it. A lot.
This is the quandry – this property needs a LOT of work. It’ll probably cost a lot of money and I’ll have home improvement projects for the next ten years of my life. Do I really want this? The logical answer is no – it sounds like trouble. Do I really want to wake up every day with another home improvement project to do? But there’s something about it: there’s a historical aspect to the house (it’s on a registry of historic places and even has its own Wikipedia page). There’s the charming details of an old farm house which was turned into a “country estate” by a successful NYC businessman in the early 20th Century. There’s the income potential of a second house, and a glorious barn (which is old, beat-up, and maybe ready to fall over) that could be used as the future home of McKinney Arts. This barn could be my next art gallery exhibition space, and I’d probably want to integrate some antiques and home furnishings, or – if I didn’t want to pursue a commercial endeavor, it would make a fantastic studio to make big paintings and sculpture. The barn could be a performance space, an event space for rental, it could be all sorts of cool things.
I mean, this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, right? Or this could be a bad decision caused by Zillow-induced intoxication leading to financial ruin and a sore back.
A couple other things to consider – it’s upstate New York, in an agricultural district with farmland, but also close proximity (approximately 15 minute drives) to 4 or 5 different hip upstate towns, filled with restaurants, antique stores, art galleries, boutiques, and other interesting places filled with people who might be very interested in what McKinney Arts might bring to the area. But it would be a drastic change in lifestyle – I’ve grown up in Minneapolis, lived in NYC, and had a comfortable suburban lifestyle for the past 25 years. Do I see myself ready to get on a tractor mower to cut 2 acres of grass? Do I see myself fixing a barn?
Granted, I could hire people to do those things, but part of the challenge, part of the allure, is the question of whether I can do any of this myself? It’s a question of whether – after 20+ years of sitting in front of a computer making websites – can I use my hands to build and fix things? Am I kidding myself? Or can I YouTube video tutorial myself into a rural handyman?
Just for fun, here’s a glimpse of my vision … first we have the barn as-is right now … followed by the same wall of the barn as a finished art space. What do you think? Can I create an arts destination next to a field of wheat?
I should add as a final note here, my consideration of this property is not all about creating a new McKinney Arts space – I would see that as a bonus, not the sole focus. My attraction to this property is primarily the charm and excitement over a grand, historic house, plenty of open space, a new lifestyle, and the potential of multiple structures … and did I mention that there’s also a pool?