Part 1 - The Kindness of Strangers

Today will be a two part adventure.

When I published the last post about the beginning of the carriage house I realized that I forgot to give credit to the teams that have helped us on this journey so far. And I will make sure to include them moving forward.

But before we get to that...

We moved to Southern Illinois knowing absolutely zero people. We get a couple of responses to that tidbit. 1. Why did you leave Colorado for Southern Illinois? 2. How did you move somewhere knowing no one? Both valid questions. To answer the second one - we believe in our vision, ourselves, and each other. Our philosophy is very simple. Be kind. Be honest. Act with integrity. Those values are solid and work anywhere, so why not try something scary?!

So here we are. Strangers in a new town trying to navigate, integrate, and innovate. Hmm, that came out catchier than intended. And as humans do, we bring our own bias - some conscious, other subconscious. It has been enjoyable peeling back the layers of assumptions about small towns and being proven wrong. And I am sure that we get the side eye more times than I have noticed because our faces are new and unknown and nobody really knows our intentions. It's totally fair.

There have been moments of kindness that stick out in my head and I know that Matt has a whole other list of his experiences - which we will talk more about in future posts. It feels awkward to call out individuals by name but I wanted to share that as a new person in a new town the smallest gestures feel infinite. Reach out to a stranger and invite them to dinner, or to a chamber meeting. Introduce them to the local historian or help them find the Benton Gazette. Brainstorm business and education ideas and suggest restaurants. Teach them the history and share your memories. Wave at them when you see them out and about. These things do not go unnoticed.

Which brings me to the first business I want to call out and thank. As a footnote...the reason that I am calling out businesses specifically is because we are all looking for help we can trust every single day - you see it all day on Talk Benton - and these are my 5 star reviews!

Andrew Casillas and Andrew's Roofing - Andrew and his team have helped us so many times from repairing the roof of our main home to replacing the roof on the carriage house and has even stopped by to help with leaks. He is a man of his word and his work is thorough. I was lucky to find out about Andrew through Tina at CASA of Franklin and Hamilton Counties. CASA is near and dear to my heart as I used to be an advocate in Colorado and believe in the work that they do to my core. If you do not know what CASA does please check them out and, if you have the time, consider volunteering.

Check out this hive!! Removed from home during roof repair

Coming up next....Clearing the property

The Carriage House - The Beginning

The carriage house was a major draw to this property, only second to the spider room. There was only one picture of the carriage house on the listing and it is tucked quietly on the back corner of the property. With the years of overgrowth and deterioration to the outside it is easy to overlook this gem. View from main house before clearing View from main house after clearing As we toured the inside of this dilapidated and wet out-building, all I could see was the opportunity to bring this building back to life. We are excited that the previous owners left gifts throughout the years. A couple of the glaring issues with the state of the carriage house was the bowing wall and a leaky roof. The carriage house was surrounded by large trees and we didn't realize how much rain they diverted from the building until we had a bunch of them removed and it rained. We needed to get the building sealed quickly! We found out during the roofing quote that the original roof was slate and covered ...

Why Southern Illinois?

March 2020 - Matt and I were sitting in the Denver International Airport, with my two best girlfriends, waiting to board a plane that was going to take us to a haunted plantation in Louisiana to celebrate my big 40. We ate in cautious silence in the terminal listening to the passengers that were getting off planes that had been diverted home from their vacations cut short. Between Matt reading us blurbs from Reddit and eavesdropping on confused travelers, we decided that it was not the right time to travel, grabbed our luggage, and drove back home. Quickly following, the schools locked down and started 100% remote learning. We were some of the luckier ones who were able to easily shift into working from home during the 2020 pandemic, as we both worked in software, and Matt had the wherewithal to setup networks and monitor web traffic to curb the kiddos from watching YouTube all day. This new way of life was different, and the change was refreshing, even if the world was in a state...

Blueprints to the Past

The events that unravel in Benton seem like they could be right out of a book or movie - and we are loving every twist and turn. Around the middle of August, I received an always welcomed message from, Bob, the local historian. This message was to let us know that he was having lunch with friends of the son of a previous owner of our home, the Eovaldi's. It turns out that while owning the property, the Eovaldi's had the south wall collapse leaving a mess of bricks on the property. By the truckload, the bricks ended up with a wonderful lady in town named Biki. She used them for various projects around the house, and had recently decided she was no longer going to use them, and was wanting to get rid of them. Luckily, through the power of coincidence and local conversations, Bob was able to reach out to us and let us know we could get the bricks if we were willing to pick them up! After a quick introductory call, we got to meet Biki and Caesar and learn more about the to...

Locke Lee Manor

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