Where the Wild Things Are: Sadie’s Eleven

So my thoughts today turned to a comment one of the showing agents made about her clients being “from the city.” It made me think that some people may like the idea of living out in a secluded, private, wooded country property in Loudoun County, but they don’t really understand the reality until they experience it.  The driveway is crunchy.  It’s gravel. It just is.

There might be a few more wild things here than in the average neighborhood (although there are foxes, raccoons, possums, squirrels, deer and rabbits in the Virginia suburbs too!) But consider the trade-off of wide open spaces for all the creatures to roam.  Everyone has a lot more space on nearly 11 acres, so the wild things and the humans don’t feel quite so crowded.

I think it’s difficult to convey in any description what it’s like to actually be here. There are sounds that are different here – in the gray pre-dawn hours and particularly at night.  Birds and crickets and wind rustling the leaves. Every door in the house (7 of them) also has a screen door to let in the fresh air and country sounds, and to keep the bugs out. And there are ceiling fans in all the rooms to regulate the temperature and keep the air circulating.  The wood, the tile and the stone alternately retain heat and provide cooling surfaces.  It is a house that was meant to breathe.

The sounds and the fresh air are rivaled only by the light. There are skylights throughout the house and even in the garage! And large windows in every room that frame beautiful views of all four seasons.  Electric lights are rarely needed, and when they are, there are small directional lights all over the house that can be pointed precisely where you want the light to shine.   Moonlight and lamps are generally sufficient in the evenings, and a fire in one of the stone fireplaces when the weather gets chilly.

Then there is the hot tub. A singular personal hot springs to be enjoyed in the twilight hours of  summer, or on a wintry evening with light reflecting off the snow covered lawn.  The music from the whole house sound system floats through doors and spills out on to the deck and lawn. Hmmm.  Descriptions aren’t quite sufficient.

I brought this subject up with Dennis Bruce (“the seller”), and suggested that understanding that wild things are part of the lifestyle was something we should address in marketing the property.

Dennis: You are totally off track with this Catherine!  People don’t want nature! You will scare them off.  Don’t go talking about mice and things like that!

Me: I wasn’t going to talk about mice! I was going to talk about deer, and geese and the frogs. They come with the house regardless of whether they are wanted here or not.  There are people who get that and people who may not.

Dennis: I think you are off track.

Me: Well let me write the blogpost and then if you hate it, I won’t publish it.  Okay?

[sound of crickets here]

Sadie’s Eleven is not a hulking brick structure off a circular drive in a gated community, nor is it remotely like other homes you will find elsewhere in Leesburg, VA.   It’s a one-of-a-kind property that derives much of it’s charm from being very close to nature – from the materials used to construct it, to the use of passive solar energy to warm it.  The lawn ornaments aren’t ornaments at all . . . they’re . . . ah . . . inhabitants!

There is a wide variety of birds, bees and butterflies.  And frogs.  True, the frogs will occasionally turn up in the pool filter which is not a big deal really . . . it’s just how things roll at Sadie’s Eleven.

It’s also a great place for pets, and Sadie has been very happy here as the dog large-and-in-charge.  Chai, the wonder cat, makes certain there are no problems with mice either.

The positive things about living here are what make it both winsome and tolerable to have a goose couple in residence on top of the shed.  They don’t pay rent, but they’re not bad neighbors all things considered.  Their goslings are cute and quickly depart the nest for homes of their own.  They aren’t noisy.

Wild things are not a bad thing.  They are a country thing.  And it’s all part of living out here.  So if the crunch of gravel is something you can learn to love, then Sadie’s Eleven might just be the place to raise your own wild things.