More house-hunting

   Today, on Friday 10/11, we went to look at a few houses that we would consider for a temporary home. These houses had less land but we figured if they were not too expensive and had some of the features we were looking for, we would buy a house to live in temporarily until the perfect property comes on the market.
   We met a new realtor, Penny, at the first house on Sally Cove Creek Road. The house was almost new on about 6 acres but it just was not it. Afterwards we ate lunch at Lonestar in Elizabethon (expensive and not that great) and then met with Judy to see another home in Hampton. This house has been vacant for at least 6 months and smelled musty. From there we drove to another home in Johnson City. This house had some nice features but overall we did not like it. After this, we took a little drive (about 24 miles) to Flag Pond to look at an old farmhouse.
   Flag Pond is a small community just stone throws away from the North Carolina state line. It is in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains - a truly gorgeous place. It seems to be in the middle of nowhere but it is just about a mile from the interstate, about 30 minutes from Johnson City and 30 minutes to Asheville, North Carolina.
   The home we were looking at was an old farm house built in 1916. It was large and beautiful on 19 acres of land. But it also needed a lot of work - new floors, new windows, new electric wiring, new kitchen ... everywhere you looked there was work. Of course, it might have looked more enticing if we did not spend the last few years living in a home built in 1923. We thought about turning the house into a bed a breakfast. It was a really nice place with a lot of character but we do not really want to get into a renovation project like this.
   We met the current owner. His great grandfather built the home. The street the house was is called Sams Lane - it was named after his great grandfather. Back when he lived in Flag Pond, the population was 41 (from what I could find, today it is about 2,700). The family used to own a lot of land in the area and Sams Gap (the highest point on I-26 where it crosses from North Carolina to Tennessee) is named after him too.
   The family has done some good work on the home, including new plumbing and new roof. But over the years they also completely covered up 4 fireplaces that used to heat the house. There was a little outbuilding that had space to run water from the neighboring creek into a spot they used as a refrigerator. They would put the items into the cold water.
   The kids loved running around the house - there was plenty of space outside and lots of room for some garden. Here are some pictures of this lovely farmhouse.

Stevie and Hannah and are waiting in the truck 

while Daddy checks out the hills

   We drove the back roads home through Erwin and Unicoi. We stopped at Ole Barn for supper. The food was excellent. By far the best southern food we have had in Tennessee - ever. They also had a little playground and some animals for the kids to pet. We really enjoyed our evening there.