Living in Fairfax, Morgan and Conor Dibble were busy young professionals and newly engaged.
When they started thinking of where they wanted to settle down, Williamsburg immediately came to mind.
Morgan, who is from Newport News, was familiar with the area but not as much as her parents – who are both local Realtors – were. So, when they could, Morgan and Conor would drive down from Fairfax to look at houses with them.
“We looked at dozens and dozens,” Morgan said.
While there were aspects of several homes that Morgan loved, they – as a couple – hadn’t fallen in love with any of them.
If moving wasn’t stressful enough, the couple was also planning their wedding.
On a mission, they even went to look at houses the morning of their rehearsal dinner since they were in the area.
The last house they looked at in Ford’s Colony that day proved to be the winner.
“We just fell in love with it when we saw it,” Morgan said. “We loved the open floor plan, all the trees and this amazing unfinished space on the second floor.”
The backyard was also an immediate draw. Situated on nearly a half acre lot, the yard was big, lush with greenery and trees, so their beagle Paisley would be happy.
The morning after the rehearsal dinner, Morgan woke up to a note from Conor that let her know the house was the one.
They closed on the home in December of 2016.
Following the wedding and honeymoon, the couple moved quickly to transition their lives to Greater Williamsburg. They were planning to move the first Saturday in January of 2017, but a major snowstorm forced them to pack up everything quicker and drive down on Friday – ahead of the storm.
“We got in around 11 p.m.,” Conor said. “We packed up our entire lives and moved in one day and we were unloading the truck when it started to snow.”
“It was an all-nighter,” Morgan said, adding they probably didn’t get to bed until around 4 a.m. Boxes were everywhere and the snow was getting deeper.
“But when we woke up the next morning it felt extremely right,” Conor said. “We walked out and saw all the snow, and it was such a great feeling.”
“Even amidst all the chaos, it felt like home,” Morgan added.
Since they moved in, the couple has been busy making renovations and taking full advantage of the 1,600 square feet of unfinished attic space.
In the short time they’ve owned it, they’ve replaced carpet with hardwood and repainted walls downstairs and completely transformed the upstairs into an entirely functional extra living space.
In addition to a wet bar and family room, they added two large bedrooms, a sitting room, full bath and half bath as well as a small workout area. Fresh paint and interior decorating finished off the space well.
“I know we are young, but this is our forever home,” Morgan said.
