Need Your Opinion…
by Jenners • 06/08/2009 • My Take On... • 26 Comments
So I just finished this book, Do-Over!, by Robin Hemley that is all about doing over parts of your life that didn’t go so well the first time around. The book got me to thinking about my childhood home as one of the “do overs” in the book was the author going back to live in one of the houses he grew up in.
I would LOVE to revisit my childhood home! I don’t live that far from it now, and I know it is still there because I’ve driven past it a few times just to see what it looked like. This is the house that I still dream about and spent the most time living in during my childhood. I told Mr. Jenners that I was thinking about writing to the current owners and asking them if I could stop by and visit the house. Mr. Jenners thought I was NUTS and said “You just don’t do that. The people could be psychos, and if I was asked that, I would say no.”
So, just out of curiosity, I wanted to get your opinions on this topic.
Would you let someone who used to live in your house come back to “visit” it?
Would you think someone asking to do this is nuts?
Is there a house that you used to live in that you wish you could visit again?
Have you ever visited a place you grew up after you moved away and other people lived there?
People do this all the time. I was at my brother's house last summer when a woman who grew up there stopped by to ask if she could look around. It was 10 p.m., which was a little weird, but it was fun. I totally wish some of the people who used to live in our house would stop by; it would be awesome. Mr. Jenners is whack.
I would totally let someone into our house if they had lived here first. I think I'd want to clean up a bit…hide the porn and what not…and I SOOOO want to go back to my childhood house!!
I would definitely let someone who lived in my house come visit – what interesting stories they could tell! And I would definitely ask someone if I could re-visit my childhood homes. Definitely! Go for it!
In fact, my parents were once asked this and they let the people come round and re-visit old memories…
I moved around so much so do not have a childhood home.
this has actually happened to me. a few years back, a lovely young lady and her kids showed up on my doorstep. she asked to come in, as she had grown up in my house. i showed her around, and there had been a lot of changes since she left. she had wanted to show her kids where she grew up. a few weeks later, i got a letter from her asking that, should we ever want to sell the house, would we consider selling to them.
i thought it was sweet, not weird. and hopefully, when we are ready to move, i can take her up on her offer one day!
I would do it- and I would let anyone who wanted to do it with our house. My parents still live in the house I grew up in, though, so I guess I won't need to.
As Ghandi said, "You never know what result will come from your actions, but if you take no action there will be no result." What harm is there in contacting them. Include photos of you in and around the home. Say you would love to just see all the "improvements" and bring Mr. Jenners with you and leave little one at home. It is better to be safe than sorry. Oh..and yes, I would love to look around the house I grew up in
We went back to Virginia years after we had lived there. My mom walked right up to the door of our old house and asked if we could come in…and without any advance notice, the current owner let us right in!!
The house that I grew up in, from age 4 to age 8, has always been really special to me. It's only 20 or 30 minutes away from where I live now, and I've driven by it a few times just to see what's changed.
I don't think I would ever have the guts to ask someone to see inside their house, but if someone asked ME to see the inside of mine, I would definitely be okay with it! Especially if I was written in advance so I could prepare… it would be weird to have someone just knock on my door and ask to come in (though my grandparents have done that with their old house before…).
I think you should do it!
Oh one more thing. What have you got to lose? You're only asking… the worse they can do is say no. Then if they ever sell, you could go to the open house and see it!
Oh yes. There are two houses in particular that I would love to visit if I could. I lived in each house for exactly 9 years. The first house is where I spent the 70s… the second house is where I spent the 80s…. And I would be so curious to see how the first house looks now because it was SO out dated when I lived in it. And the second house was HAUNTED. The Second house… broke up my parents marriage and the next two owners' marriages as well. That is so weird. And yes, I would let you in, because I would HOPE that if I ever asked someone if I could visit my childhood home, that they would let me.
I would let someone in…if they looked okay. But I am way too trusting of a person. On another note, I always want to stop at the house I grew up in. I don't live far from there and am always tempted to stop. They have totally ruined the yard, though. So, I can't imagine what the inside looks like.
I'm not sure how I would react if someone knocked on my door to see the house. I guess I would go with my gut if I thought they were "safe" and not psycho. Like that's easy to tell! I did have a young woman stop me outside to tell me that she grew up in my house. We had a nice conversation about the neighborhood and then off she went. She didn't ask to come in. Maybe I should have invited her?
I've driven by my old houses but never asked to go in. Not sure why you'd want to, really, as it will look nothing like it did when you lived there. I can tell you that if someone showed up at my door and asked to come in, I'd say no way. But if I got a letter, I might let the person do it. Again, though, I'd wonder why.
I haven't gone back to visit a house that I used to live in although I've driven by. I'd like to visit the house my husband and I lived in when we first got married. It was less than 1000 square feet and we paid $54,000.
I would let someone in – particularly if it were a woman or a family – not so much if a strange man showed up at my door with that story. The people who used to own my current house came by recently and asked to see it because they heard we had done some re-modeling. It was fun.
I think it's totally fine to revisit the home where you grew up or have the most identity with. It is not nuts at all. But once inside you may realize that the home you knew only exisits in your memory. The new owners may have moved walls and the layout won't be the same and the renovations won't spark any "remember instances". And that makes it sad.
I would let someone who lived in my house revisit too. Of course I would not want them rummaging around in my closets.
I think I'd probably let them come in and look around. We've been back to visit our old house in Mobile – the people were pretty friendly (if I remember correctly. It's been several years.)
I say it's worth a shot. The worst they can say is no. (Or they could get a restraining order, I guess! Haha – kidding. I think…)
I'm kinda paranoid, so I'd probably be looking for a little proof that this past resident of my home was on the up and up. (Like describing the pattern of the bathroom wall paper when they lived there, or the location of the laundry closet… Batty, I know…) But, yes, I think you should try to get in.
I once returned to a childhood home to check on a concrete step my father had made. My siblings and I had left our handprints in the step and a date. The impressions were faded, but still there twenty years later.
I have mixed emotions about visiting my most favorite house. On the one hand, I'd love to walk through it and sit on the back deck overlooking the bay. The house was beautiful, and I put so much into making it unique. Ironically, it also marked the beginning of years of difficulty and sadness. Tough call.
I would let somebody check out my house as long as they weren't a huge man and I was home alone.
It can't hurt to ask right?
I've driven past my childhood home on several occasions. It amazes me how the little stick that we planted in the ground when I was a little girl is now a HUGE oak tree.
I'm not sure I would want to venture back inside unless it was completely uninhabited. I would be worried about going into a house that may be occupied by serial killers. I'm a little on the paranoid side.
Oh, and are we still on for Tuesday??
Oh yes, yes and yes…
And I would totally let someone come in to have a look around.. course I'd have to run and clean the toilets first!!
I think it would be ok to at least contact them and say "hey, you may think i'm a lunatic, but would it be ok?" lol
I will be honest. If I was the resident, I don't think I'd allow someone who said they once lived there into my house. It really isn't safe to be honest. You are a cool person of course but to the new owners, they don't know you and may find this a bit odd. Anyway, you should email them or send a letter first with photos of the house included so they know you lived there. Best of luck : )
I would TOTALLY allow someone. I think it would be so fun to hear about their stories of living in the home I live in.
I actually have visited a home I moved away from and I plan to visit again in the future. I went up to visit the house of my childhood when I graduated high school. It was depressing because they'd changed so much in the house, but at the same time it was good that they'd kept it up so well. I think I may have freaked them out with my horror stories about their basement though. Hey- I was a child!
I would totally allow someone who lived in the house previously to visit it.
My hubby still visits his grandmother's house – the folks that live there now are really cool about letting the grandkids stop in – always announced, of course.
I'm not much help either. I grew up in rental homes… we moved every 3 years or so (all within the same city, and in some cases the same neighborhood lol) and I can't imagine that anyone would want to come back and check out this house, it's not exactly a dream house, although when we had our yardsale a couple years ago someone came to our yardsale and told my husband that they lived here once many years prior. (I think our house was a rental for a while)
As for "do-overs", oh goodness, there are so many things I'd like to do over just to see if the outcome is any better. But at the same time, I'd hate to miss out on some of the good things about my life.
I am not much help with this at all. My parents built the house that I grew up in and we built this house. So there is no one to ask to come back to it.
But I think that its a cool idea.