Oh guys, I remember the first time I toured the Merc. It was so cute. After we walked through the building we went into the backyard and I thought, “WOW, look at all of this property! It’s a dream!” *Sigh* I was so young and naive.
When my real estate agent told me that everything the light touches is in fact NOT my property I was a little bummed. But I thought, its ok we don’t need that part, we can just put a wall up here, tear out the parking lot there, and voila! a yard.
Still so young, and still so naive.
My realtor then informed me that there was an easement but wasn’t sure of the specifics and would get all of the title information in the morning.
Well the next morning came and so did the information about the easement.
For those that maybe don’t understand what an easement means, let me enlighten you. An easement is a legally binding use that another person has to your property. Almost all property has an easement on it for utilities (like when the gas company comes over to read your meter) but this was a whole different beast.
As I mentioned in this post, the property lines for the Merc are bizarre. Here’s a pic to show you what our property is (the yellow) and our neighbor’s property is (the blue). Tetris much?
When it was surveyed in 2009 they discovered an encroachment on the property to the west. The owner of the property signed an easement with the owner of the Merc stating that he would grant them rights to the portion of his property that the Merc encroached on (it’s 1-2 ft wide along the building line) and in exchange they would grant him the right to an ingress/egress easement through the parking lot to get to the back portion of his property (the gravel area behind the Merc.) The easement is the green part of the picture.
And ingress/egress easement means that he doesn’t have the right to do anything but drive through the property, but that meant no wall, no demoing the parking lot, no nothing. Its also very strange but the easement goes through the actual parking stalls, even though you can’t drive there. #why The thing with easements is that the city has no input on them, so we can’t say “This is stupid, you can’t drive through parking stalls, change this…” Its a private matter between 2 property owners and needs to be dealt with through the legal system. At this point we’re not going to contest it, I don’t know if that will change but for now we’re not worrying about it. The only way for an easement to go away completely is if the property owner that uses the easement dissolves their rights or if at some point both properties become one. The thing with easements is that they are forever. So 150 years from now, the easement will still be in effect unless it has been dissolved.
Obviously not ideal.
The thing is, the Merc has been neglected for so long that a lot of stuff just hasn’t been important enough to fight for. Of course the neighbors use it for storage and parking and dumpsters, why wouldn’t they? We’re hoping that we can respectfully take back control of the way people use the property. The whole thing is a little stressful for me because we’re the new kids in town and we’re completely changing the way that the building is used. Its never been an issue to use the parking lot, because it was the store the Merc, but now its our house the Merc. Ya know?
The easement also states that the neighbor can paint the wall of the Merc that is on his property as long as its approved by the Heritage Committee. Which is why one side of the Merc looks like this:
And the other side looks like this:
If I’m being completely frank the easement was almost a deal breaker. We went back and forth on it for months and really genuinely almost walked away multiple times. I was frustrated because I knew the Merc was supposed to be our house in my heart of hearts and we had to decide if we were willing to move forward with faith, knowing it was, or if we were going to let something that didn’t work out perfectly from the beginning derail us.
After lots (and lots, and lots) of prayer we decided to move forward, not knowing how it was going to work out, (heck we still don’t) but trusting that it will.
Sounds nuts. I know.
Trust me when I tell you, I get the judgy baffled vibes you’re feeling. I wrestled with it for months. I just keep coming back to the thought that it doesn’t have to be perfect right now. If everything works out from the word go then that doesn’t leave much room for creativity and miracles now does it?
Obviously the most stressful part of the easement and the thing that we worried about the most were the kids, especially the baby. We came to the conclusion that even if the easement didn’t exist he wouldn’t be allowed outside alone anyway because of the main road. Parental supervision is non-negotiable in any situation.
Have any of you dealt with an easement? Do you think we’re even more crazy now? How are you feeling? Tell me everything.
Also, I just wanted to drop in a quick thanks for being so supportive of all of my nitty gritty detail sharing on the boring behind the scenes stuff. I know its not the funnest to talk about (can we get to the design stuff already?!!) But its really important for me to share that there are actual real life issues that we had to deal with and overcome. That way if you ever find yourself on this journey, you won’t be discouraged by the quirks and roadblocks that come from saving an old building. Because man alive are they worth saving. There is almost 100 years of history here and its safe to say that none of the previous owners thought “I shouldn’t sign this easement because in 20 years someone might want to buy it and rip out the parking lot and turn it into a yard.” and guess what? Thats ok.
Side note: Random grammar question. If the word The is always going to be in front of the word Merc, does that mean that I need to capitalize the The (The Merc) or do I keep it lower case (the Merc)? I have googled and am coming up with mixed results. Grammar police I need you!!
PSSST! New to the series? Get caught up with all of the posts to date here!
Oh, no Mandy. No. This is a deal breaker. The first time that toddling boy of yours is trying to get your yard and the neighbors come zooming through your parking lot it’s going to be scary and annoying. The 400th time they do it, you’ll be furious and hating life.
The 3 different egress easements I deal with all suck and they’re at least a small part of the way from the properties (i.e. along the back fence, etc.). The Merc is surrounded. You’re effectively are an island surrounded by no safe space. I realize you’re already in it and this is in no way uplifting, sorry.
I agree, this would be a huge stop, do not pass go, abort sign for me. I can see working around a small easement, but this is huge and effectively blocks off the the entire house. I dont see how you enjoy your backyard at all with this.
Me too 🙁
I can understand that you are very emotionally drawn to this space and will likely make it look amazing inside but there are so many negatives concerning the outside that would make this a NO for many. I can’t wrap my head around why you’d spend so much for a shell of brick but I’m interested to see why you did.
Oh my, I don’t know if you have such a program in the US but in the Netherlands there is this TV show called ‘de rijdende rechter’ (the judge who’s driving around) and half of his cases are of this type: neighbors who have old agreements or even not real agreements but how a property has been used for many years (like the dumpsters on that parking lot). By the time the judge comes by, they are really not on speaking terms anymore. It’s enjoyable enough to watch but I hope you will be on better terms with the neighbors!
I don’t think it matters if you capitalize the “the” or not personally.
As far as easements go, I do have unfortunate experience. When my dad passed away a few years back he divided our family farm into three, and put an easement on me for my younger brother’s septic tank (it’s underground, not a big deal) and another through my part of the farm for ingress/egress for my older brother to his (3x larger) part of the farm that has a creek running alongside the road that complicates his ability to access his property. Well my brother would’ve basically been driving through half of my property to get to the gate, which if nothing else, is annoying. The fact that easements are forever means that if my brother were to sell his part of the farm (as he totally plans to do…) that some rando will be driving through my property and could legally be on my property whenever. I was NOT down with that, so in order to dissolve it, I forked out 6k to build a road over the creek and onto the opposite side of his piece of property. 6k is a lot of money to me, but worth it to keep my farm private for the duration of my life.
Would something like driveable grass be useful in that space? Still able to honor the terms of the easement, but would give a more residential feel to the property, which might work as a quiet indicator of the need for other people to rethink their interactions with the Merc.
I found this link which shows what I’m thinking about: https://www.riograndeco.com/bmd_soilretention_drivable_grass.aspx
That’s a great idea! A cafe in our neighborhood has this stuff in their parking lot, and it is awesome.
Capitalize “The” because its part of the name;) Love your blog!
I’m with Laura. Cap both words. Also, I love that you’re sharing all the nitty gritty. It fits so well with your theme of ‘fearless diy’. Keep it up!
Be like The Home Depot and capitalize it ?
Our neighbor has a completely non-sensible easement along part of our property line. It’s an ingress/egress easement as well but for a shared driveway. The driveway is partly on our property near his house where he would clearly need permission to enter/exit but his easement runs along the WHOLE driveway. The half of the driveway closest to the road is already on his property but he still has an easement 25 feet inside our property line. Not a deal breaker for us but we’re still not sure how to approach any fencing/landscaping without sowing any ill will between neighbors…
Oh wow! What a tricky situation, I understand the situation from both sides, hopefully you’ll find a middle ground for both of you. I still love the property though, and if you know the house was meant to be I’m sure it’ll all work out.
Capitalize “the” as part of the name!
My grammar observation: if it’s the White House or the Eiffel Tower, then it should be the Merc. If you open a business there and you put “THE” in the name, then you capitalize it. I’m no grammar expert, but that’s my opinion?
Agreed! I’m a Communications professional and this is how we do things.
My husband is a licensed surveyor, and I can say from his stories that you’re “don’t worry” approach is the best you can do! Some people are just absolutely crazy and won’t work with neighbors, some are happy to do whatever! You know this is supposed to be your house, so something will work out, especially with how creative you are. Cannot wait to keep following along with the progress.
Obviously none of that is ideal, but maybe you can work with this. This idea only works assuming part of the easement is your own driveway. Can you just make the space along the building your driveway, and then it makes it so they can only drive on the small driveway to get to their portion of the property. Maybe this doesn’t work, not legal, or you’ve thought of it- but an idea anyways.
This might be an utterly ridiculous suggestion, but would it be possible to move the exterior wall that is encroaching on the neighbor’ property back a couple feet, and thereby eliminating the need for the agreement that included the easement?
Also, still loving reading about all the nitty-gritty. Thank you so much for sharing and I totally suppport you buying your dream home, no matter the challenges!!! Can’t wait to see how you make into your family’s fabulous home.
I remember nearly balking when I purchased my last house, and the easement was much simpler than this, just a shared driveway. Although, actually there was also one on the other side because my house was actually built across the property line. What settled me down was realizing plenty of previous owners had been through it and no one got hurt.
Looking at the pics, what if there was a gate around where the blue and green areas meet, so a driver would have to slow down and wait for it to open (if automatic) or even stop and get out of the car (if manual).
The key will be to charm those neighbours and get them onside.
This is how the easement behind my house works… to access my drive way I have to go through an apartment complex’s private parking lot. I have a remote to open the gate when I’m coming through and it certainly helps ensure people are driving slowly and can also keep the babes out of the busy road.
And as a reporter, I would say “the Merc.”
“There are two choices here-
Faith versus Fear.
Neither is present
When the other is near.”
I can understand why you had such a hard time with this decision. But I admire your trust and faith in the answers you received along the way. Best wishes!
For the grammar question: In sentences, don’t capitalize “the”, so it would be “the Merc”. In titles it depends entirely on what style you are using, but a quick glance at other titles on your blog tells me that you still wouldn’t capitalize the “the” unless it was the first word in the title. Source: I do this for a living. I wish I could solve your easement stress as easily as your grammar questions!
I was just going to say it should be “The Merc,” but the comment before mine says the opposite. I too edit for a living, but while I’m pretty hard-nosed about it at work, I don’t think you should be. I’m happy to cede the resolution to Sarah M.
Good luck with your easement issue. Did you not get anything resolved legally? I wasn’t sure from your post. I happen to be a very lucky easement holder (I guess that’s what they’re called? – meaning I’m a beneficiary). Our driveway continues beyond another person’s home. We use their driveway and then continue on to our house. The owners have never had small children there, but I sometimes have to caution myself, husband and son to drive through very slowly. For what it’s worth
I have had dealings with easements but not here in the USA . My dealings were ( in England ) with a right of way completely through my property . In England if the easement has not b en used for a number of years then you as the owner can legally get it re routed . They only way I would purchase a property with such invasive easements is if I knew it could be re routed so it didn’t distrupe my property . Sorry , not a positive post but we are all different and look for different things in our properties . Good luck
I am loving your story, and this whole adventure. Thanks for bringing us with you!!
I think that you already spoke of your answer to everything. You pray and pray and pray. Together!!
We once bought a farm with a 150 year old limestone house, that was a complete gut job. Family and friends already knew that we were crazy, so that didn’t matter. When we finally sold it, three years ago, it was a beautiful diamond, like we always knew it would be….
One day at a time.
I love this post Cathy! Diamonds take time to polish up:) And Mandi, I’m SURE that whatever you come up with will blow all of our minds…you have a way of making the very best lemonade out of the worst lemons. Saying a prayer for this process for you!!
Linguist here! (Not that that counts for anything. Haha.) Don’t capitalize “the.” Obviously, if it’s the first word of a sentence or it falls at the beginning of a title, go ahead and capitalize it.
Regarding the easement: agh! We have a similar situation at our house. Out neighbor currently uses a portion of our property for her driveway and it totally drives me nuts. It shouldn’t bother me so much, as it’s just a few feet, but it does! I guess it’s a good practice in patience. 😉
I don’t think the easement is a deal breaker, but rather, like you said, a great opportunity to get creative! Whether you’re buying or building, no house will be perfect. I’m sure the reward of living in a beautiful historic home with tons of character will make up for the the stress and drawbacks.
Good luck!
Elle
heydandelion.weebly.com
Our* (And after I told you I was a linguist! ?)
I’m sure if you explained to the neighbors how you planned to use the property and then maybe offered to pay for a nice fence with an automated gate that opened that some solution could be made to first make it look better. And as long as the easement is drivable I don’t see why you couldn’t take out the concrete and change it to something else
Let me clarify I would put the automated gate at their property line so that you don’t have to see the back of The Mercedes or the junk that they’re keeping back there plus it would keep your kids off their property in the future
Sorry to say that I have heard that you have a difficult neighbor there to your right. 🙁 I hope you can work things out.
Can you put up a long gate that they would have to get out of the car to open? It would still allow access but might be a major pain in the *** So they would stop using it?
I bet you guys could come up with a cute and functional overhead walkway, like they have for busy streets so your kids can get to the backyard! 😉 And I agree, “the Merc” is how I would present it!
Love the idea of the driveable grass! Why not install driveable grass and some edge planting that in the area of the easement & create some kind of ‘courtyard’ garden feel in the far, South part of the property? It could be your own secret garden, tucked away from everything.
Who owns that huge empty lot behind neighbor’s? Looks like he could access his property that way.
that’s exactly what i was thinking – but, some people can be remarkably unwilling to reach any type of deal.
and i absolutely love, love, love the nitty gritty legalese details etc. they are so important!
(i’m kind of an easement beneficiary side because my driveway crosses a neighbor’s lot and there has been some issues, but not in the us US so no useful input here)
I seriously love these posts. I’m fascinated with the behind the scenes aspect of really anything. Keep them coming, and good luck with your situation!!!
P.S. I LOOOVE my letter board, it’s the best thing I’ve bought in a while. Thanks again!!
Mandi, I can only imagine the back and forth you’ve gone through about the easement – it’s a big issue. You didn’t mention whether you’ve had any type of discourse with that neighbor. Do they seem like reasonable people? If not now, perhaps as they see the metamorphosis of the property, they will come around. BTW, I love reading the nitty gritty about your journey – thanks for bringing us along. 🙂
Not an expert, but I agree with “the Merc” comments.
Linguist here: Definitely don’t capitalize “the,” unless it’s at the beginning of a sentence, of course.
No. This purchase is a huge no. I think saving an historic building is admirable, worthwhile, and is something that should be done for this building – but not for it to be your home. A non-residential preservation is appropriate, and hopefully the right buyer comes along, but you guys are not the ones unless you are not purchasing it for your home. I’m sorry to be such a downer, but all of the posts in this series have given me the same reaction – this building is still not the home that you’re seeking for your family, just as the pioneer home and Stucki Farms were not.
The Merc looks big enough inside to make a whole indoor play yard for your kids.
The easement would be a deal breaker for me too. I thought you were going to say this whole thing took so long because you had to work out the easement issue with the neighbor first. I would not be able to leave that for a future resolution. It doesn’t sound like you have any idea what kind of people you’re dealing with next door. This could turn into a nightmare. Still wishing for the best outcome for you, but I can’t say that any of these posts are making this seem like a good idea. 🙁
I am hopeful you will have wonderful supportive neighbors who are thrilled to see the property being worked on and cleaned up instead of sitting empty and for sale and slowly falling apart and bringing down all *their* property values, even if that means they lose out on spare ‘parking.’ Or at least one supportive/compromising easement neighbor who is chill with a pair of gates as long as they have a remote/key for them. Realistically, how much do they even use that easement? Maybe twice a day if they have a garage back there? And there is all sorts of neat stuff you can do with an expanse of blacktop with a very occasional car driving through it. A basketball court! Street hockey! Rollerblading! Learning to ride a bike! Learning to parallel park (there’s already lines and everything!) Either way I have faith that things will work out eventually. *Meant to be* doesn’t mean *easy* or *free of problems.*
Fabulous plans Mandi! I do love your new adventure and thanks for taking us along with you.
However, I couldn’t finalize or sign on the dotted line unless I knew the easement issue was worked out prior to the sale. Don’t hope for nice neighbors or hope for a resolution. You’re moving into a community with deep roots, pioneer stock that goes back and newcomers aren’t always welcomed with open arms. If your neighbor (or their kids who stand to inherit their property) decide they don’t want to be as cordial as you or disagree with your plans for the Merc, they can hold your family’s happiness & well-being hostage with the easement issue.
I’m quite curious about how all this plays into opening the boarded / bricked up windows. Especially since many of them are right on the property line. That could certainly impact the painted fresco on the one wall. And I would definitely not want to look out on all the junk in their little gravel parking area haha. Wondering what the neighbors think of all this 🙂 Good luck!
Is it possible to purchase the gravel area from them that way they don’t need back there and you have a yard area much closer to your home?
You are much braver than I am. For me, this would be a huge ‘no’ as a house. I think it would make a really cool Vintage Revivals studio though. The fact that someone else decides how to paint one side of your house seems so bizarre to me….and to have such complications for your kids to be outside would be a deal breaker for me. Good outdoor space for the kids has always been a top priority for us. Maybe Utah kids don’t spend as much time outside because of the heat? (Just trying to understand :). Are you sure this isn’t ‘meant to be’ a business space for you? That would be fantastic I think.
I’m still so excited on how freaking BRAVE this undertaking is. As soon as I read “easement” I thought OH NO. But I’m still excited.
Love following your blog and all the ups and downs… because I know it will be a good ending! ☺
Maybe you’ve thought of this while you were going back and forth with your decision – pervious pavers? You can change that drab asphalt section to a softer landscape while maintaining the drive in access!
i was curious about easement experiences other people have had as well, and as i read through these comments i was surprised by the strong negative reactions/opinions people have. the three properties we own luckily don’t have any easements on them, so maybe i’m just being naive, but i also have a history of “rose colored eyeballs” (my husband actually calls mine “the uncannny ability to polish a turd”…) but even after reading all your posts about the Merc, i still would have “signed on the dotted line” as you guys did. i have no doubt that you guys will either learn to live with the issues because you enjoy the benefits the house has, or come up with creative solutions that solve the issues for both parties. good luck! can’t wait to see how it all turns out!
Mandi you crazy lady I’m so excited for you! Here’s my thoughts: I’d extend a garage right off the side of the house (knock a doorway out too) to make it easy to come and go with kids and groceries. Then I’d put a gated fence around the far backyard (including the old garage). The old garage becomes your workshop and the rest of the backyard is your own private park. In a few years time the kids will be old enough to go to the “park” all by themselves. Sure you’ll have to walk them across the driveway for a few years, but it’s not like you wouldn’t have to supervise them outside anyway. Plus the driveway would be super cool if it was lined with trees. Eek – I’m just so excited for you! xx
Geez people, it’s like nobody ever grew up in a big city and turned out ok! Many, many kids grow up with funky or little outside space (or none)! I grew up in public housing in south Los Angeles, where the playground was not an especially safe to play unsupervised, and even I have done okay for myself. I imagine Mandi’s kids will not be deprived or unsafe.
Totally agree with this!!
Miracles DO happen. I have found that my faith in my Higher Power looks a lot like crazy to other people, when I know, without a doubt, in my heart it is what I am being led to do. Good for you for following your God given inspiration/intuition. I cannot wait to see all of the miracles you are being led to! You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers!
Have you approached the neighbor to ask about how they feel about the need for the easement? Maybe they will completely understand your dream and be willing to just dissolve it? Fingers crossed!
Love following the story of your new home. Crazy suggestion but the top of the house is flat right? Can that be turned into an outdoor play area?
love this idea!!
What a wonderful idea! You could put some sort of fence around it (I’ve seen it in super modern homes) and have a rooftop garden
My assumption would be that unless they did a bit to sure up the structure of the building it wouldn’t be sound enough for people to walk on. But they could still do a green roolf, just not a terraced roof.
Wishing you the very best and much happiness!
That said I think you need buckets of good luck too. Not for the renovations as you can do anything you put your mind to! Good luck for dealing with the people you are forced to deal with over the easements. My tummy went in knots when I read your scenario. Now I have not had the best experiences with some people. Perfectly sensible people can quickly turn into your worst nightmare and over something much simpler than what you are facing. I would expect you are going to have unpleasantries and more than likely ugliness, but I am seeing the glass half empty from recent (many) experiences as of late and you have rose colored eyes. lol.
Again, wishing you well and hope to goodness I am way wrong!
Hi Mandi! I am here to let you know easements aren’t that bad, at least in my experience. I live in Seattle, and it is SUPER common here to live on a subdivided lot. People take cute old homes, then basically build a set of condos in the backyard. This is what I have with my house. We have a tiny porch area, but not much a of a backyard. There is also an easement on the side of my house with a walkway so the three condo units can access the main street and the shared mailbox. I haven’t had any issues with it, and we have lived here for six months. My philosophy is that although it is a shared space, if I take the burden of caring for it, i get to make the decisions. So i have planted my own flowers etc alongside the path and no one has said a thing. I can also completely relate to your yard issue. I really wanted a yard. Although we have a small front yard,it def isnt’ private. Our solution is going to be removing the back half of our long paved driveway and making a longer skinny hard. There is also a fence that divides the condos behind from our home. I attached trellis to it and planted clematis, so it will look more like a garden and less like a fence. I also have hung hanging herb gardens from it from repurposed old pallet wood. Good luck! I know with your imagination it will be great.
Pray that the bordering property goes for sale and you get to somehow combine the properties to make the other house into your ‘mixed use’ aka a store for all your brilliant, hand-crafted ideas. If you’re going to dream, dream big. Also- I vote ‘the Merc’ as it’s just more visually appealing than ‘The Merc’. With both capitalized, it seems too formal and stuffy for such a property.
Maybe you could offer to buy the land that the Merc encroaches on (like 3 feet or so) from them and in trade see if they would give up rights to the property access and end the easement? If not, my next thought is you could tear out the asphalt and put in a driveway that is more narrow, not the entire size of that area, but it still leads into their land and then your garage could be placed near there as well. Then it would just look like the driveway leads back to your garage (which it would) but also it would connect right there to their land. As long as they could access their land, maybe they wouldn’t care what happened with the rest of it. Hopefully they could be respectful and drive carefully through there. Then you could make a great yard behind it and maybe even fence that back area in with a little gated entrance so your kids can play back there and you can entertain back there in private. I’m sorry you have to deal with that, it sounds like a mess. I hope it will all work out for you! I think that would have been a deal breaker for me.
I’m sorry you got comments that were so negative – I certainly would’ve fallen hard too. You’ll get through it and you’ve got time to deal with it – you have so much to do inside first, and you can fix up behind your old garage, and then you can deal with it. there are parks for a reason! 🙂
Capitalize “the” if it’s part of the title. Is the whole name “The Merc” or “Merc”? No capital unless part of the title.
The miracles will come. I believe.
I’m Sure you’ve likely done this, but have you approached your neighbor about purchasing the small square of land behind the Merk as well as the encroaching land the building wall sit on?
Many cities will allow for new property lines if owners agree and the cities approve it. I’ve seen it happen in Southern Utah many times when I have buyers wishing to purchase adjoining properties and also once when a buyer purchased 1/2 an acre from his neighbors property behind his.
In Santa Clara I can’t imagine if both parties agree that the city would say no? Seems worth a shot! Good luck! I would have walked away unless they were willing to do that. We had a family friend have their daughter get run over when a neighbors husband was late for work. They had an easement similar to this but it was two homes using the same driveway. Best wishes!
The ‘the’ is part of the title, so you capitalize it. ? So excited to follow along!
I’m an editor. If “The” is part of the name, you should capitalize it always.
Good luck! Sounds like a terrible situation to me.
Hi Mandy! I am super late to the game but had to hop on here after reading so many negative comments. First of all I think so many of your commenters are coming from suburban backgrounds and aren’t considering what it’s like to like inside city limits. While the easement is not ideal and I hope it will be gone for you in the future it’s not like if you were living in a city apartment building in any city around the world this would Ben your reality. I know it’s different because you technically own this property but I guess what I’m getting at is the way of living and most that commented acted like having green space right outside your front door was just shocking and wrong. I’m actually a landscape designer so I recognize the irony in me saying this but maybe it’s because I’m a landscape designer that I can see so many ways that this space can become more appealing and none of those ideas include a green lawn. You’ve got this – I am familiar with Santa Clara (my oldest is named Tobler), I know it’s a very small city, but it’s a city and this to me is kind of just part of living in a city. Proud of you for taking on something like this – and if you need any landscaping advice in your girl!
Sorry, realizing I misspelled you name! Sorry Mandi!
So why don’t you do what the Guatemalan’s do? Build a living space on your roof…seems like the Merc has a flat roof, so why not? We went to Guatemala 3 yrs ago to build a play ground on top of an orphanage’s rooftop because they too were land locked. It’s something to think about…and I would absolutely keep going forward with this place. God must have His hands all over this and you must trust in Him!
New here! I found your blog yesterday, as I was lying on my couch sick. 16 hours later, I have binge read MANY years of your blog. You have a great writing style, although it’s getting a little dry right now , I enjoy you so much! Best line to date?
If everything works out from the word go, that doesn’t leave room for creativity or miracles! Amen sister? Keep on keeping on.