Sometimes a good old-fashioned letter and a little bit of persistence can get you far in life.
For Bob and Teri Hodson, it got them their dream home.
The Hodsons raised their three sons in an older, family neighborhood in Hilton Village in Newport News. As the boys got older and entered college and the military, Bob and Teri began thinking about where they’d like to retire. There was also the promise of being able to decorate a home for the first time without worrying about there being a lot of spills or breakage of valuables due to tiny fingers.
After setting their sights on building a home in Historic Yorktown Village in 2010, the couple realized it might be harder than expected — there were no lots for sale.
But the Hodsons didn’t give up — Teri began writing letters to lot owners letting them know of their interest in living in the historic area. These weren’t simple emails, but typed letters and hand mailed in envelopes.
Finally, someone called.
“It took a few months, and initially we got no response, but when the landowner found out Bob used to teach at Christopher Newport University, where his daughter is a student, a connection was made that opened up a dialog, and he eventually decided to sell us the lot. It was truly a miracle,” Teri said.
Fast forward two years, and now a remarkable Craftsman-style home sits on the coveted lot just down from Main Street. The four-bedroom, two-bath home with detached garage is exactly what the couple wanted, well maybe better.
“We just love being able to sit outside and watch the ships on the York River,” said Teri, who also takes advantage of the nearby Battlefields, running and biking the historical landscape.
Adequate outdoor space was a major part of the design of the home. The large Southern-style front porch is where they chat with neighbors and passing tourists and enjoy breakfast on the weekends. The screened-in back porch gives them a distant view of the York River and is where they are able to watch the Fifes and Drum Corps march up Main Street to the Yorktown Victory Monument.
The back porch is decorated like an indoor space and affords the family additional room for dining outside and entertaining guests, which they do frequently. They would much rather host a home-made pizza Friday night with friends than go out — if the weather permits.
Besides the beautiful architecture of the home, the décor is chic, yet welcoming.
Teri works part-time at a consignment shop and draws inspiration from the pieces she sees coming in and out of the store, and some of those pieces wind up in her home. Many of them, if you ask Bob. But, not everything comes from a store.
They incorporated their previous home’s garage ladder into their living room space.
“The new owner was just going to throw it away,” Bob said.
The rustic, French-country look is consistent throughout. Old farmhouse doors found at an antique store near the Eastern Shore slide open to reveal the laundry room. Mirrors and metal fixtures dot the interior of the house in almost every room, giving it a cohesive feel.
The couple did a lot of the work themselves, from refinishing furniture, building trellises and installing beadboard.
“We were given this unique opportunity to design, build and decorate our home just how we wanted it, and we couldn’t be happier,” said Bob.
Teri agreed, adding that the neighborhood is the “icing on the cake.”
“It’s such a great community,” she said. “We have impromptu dinners, we get together for concerts at the waterfront and neighborhood socials at the Hornsby House Inn. This is just the perfect second phase of our lives.”
Where We Live is a feature looking at the homes and unique places to stay. Do you have a home, on or off the market, that our readers may be interested in seeing? Let us know at [email protected].
