When Grant Wood painted American Gothic in 1930 -- it was the cottage in the background that he was obsessed with, not the couple in front of it. The small frame house in Eldon, Iowa was built in the Gothic Revival style. Wood decided to paint the house and the kind of people he imagined would live in it. To this end, he got his dentist and his sister to pose as the stern twosome.
When I first saw the house that Brad and I live in it was on an autumn morning almost 15 years ago. I spied the For Sale Sign as I drove down Main St. on my way to run errands. Moments later I was creeping through the overgrown yard to peer in the ground floor windows. The house was a red brick monstrosity in horrible repair. And it was love at first sight.
Over the years, we have restored the house with painstaking care -- a task that continues to this day. In doing so - we have tried to create the kind of home where people want to spend time - a warm, inviting and happy space. And hopefully we are a "match" for the house -- just as the couple in Iowa was so many years ago for the house Wood was enamored with.
Lisa
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