Post a photo of your humble beginnings aka childhood home

[AprilBaby]

A lifetime ago and very humble beginnings! Gotta love google street view!

 

[AprilBaby]

My grandmothers house

 

[Matata]

We lived in 3 rooms on the 2nd floor. First floor = mafia members; 3rd floor = pedophile.

 

[Missy]

How do you guys copy the picture from google maps? LOL I am so technologically challenged!

This is what I can share easily however. Front and back of my childhood home.

In 1966 with my Uncle in front of my first home.




with my sister and grandparents.


In my backyard with our first dog celebrating his birthday party.




LOL @Matata

We lived in 3 rooms on the 2nd floor. First floor = mafia members; 3rd floor = pedophile.

We had mafia in our neighborhood yes but pedophiles I dont know..sure hope not given the short dresses my mom dressed us in...it was the 60's/70's after all (short dresses).

A lifetime ago and very humble beginnings! Gotta love google street view!

Very pretty house @AprilBaby!

 

[Dee*Jay]

I had forgotten all abt that giant telephone pole in the front yard!

 

[YadaYadaYada]

There used to be a garage in the back but it's gone now as is the huge pine tree that was in the front yard. We lived on the third floor, my aunt lived on the second and random people on the first floor.

I still remember the taste of the lead paint on the window sill

 

[Matata]

How do you guys copy the picture from google maps?

On my mac, I use Shift-Command-4 then a small icon comes up that you can drag over what you want to copy.

 

[TooPatient]

Will have to see if I can find pictures of the old chicken coop (literally!). The owner of the property turned the chicken coop and horse barn (early 1900s or older) into little one bedroom rentals. Seemed like a luxury after spending some months in the back of a cargo van!

 

[redwood66]

How fun! I love row houses @AprilBaby! Great pics @missy! Dutch barn styles are one of my faves @StephanieLynn.

We didn't have this fancy fence in front 35+ years ago and it's been painted but other than that still looks the same. Two big barns in the back with 45 horse stalls and 160 acres out beyond. We always had 200+ horses here. That is actually a double wide mobile home from the 70's but my dad added onto the front of it. I always thought the silly half roof around the outside made it look like one of the old Taco Bell buildings.

It had trees and two huge irrigation ponds on it but I can't see any in the aerial. There was a mobile in that top right corner that my great grandparents lived in but it isn't there anymore.

 

[Sparkles88]

This is a fun and interesting thread, thanks @AprilBaby.
My humble family home in Sheffield, UK. I’m sure that house was haunted as there was strange, unexplained things going on. We used to hear the TV switching on and off in the middle of the night and mum said she used to place her slippers facing the bed when she went to sleep and they would be facing the other way in the morning!

 

[TooPatient]

Managed to get a Google image! I grew up in the little "house" in the middle. It has fresh paint and new windows now. When we lived in it, it had the original wood frame windows with the glass starting to droop. It was the chicken coop for the house on the right side.

One bedroom, one bathroom. My brother and I shared the only bedroom until we moved as I went into middle school. The house is far smaller than my first apartment was.

I LOVED the greenbelt behind the houses except when it was windy and you could hear trees falling right near the house.

 

[Missy]

On my mac, I use Shift-Command-4 then a small icon comes up that you can drag over what you want to copy.

Thank you Matata!

OK so here is my very first childhood home. Lived here until I was one or two.



and then we moved here where I lived till I went away to college never to return to my parent's house except for visiting that is.



aerial view...love google maps. So cool.

 

[soxfan]

Florida- used to flood after every thunderstorm.

 

[OoohShiny]

We didn't have this fancy fence in front 35+ years ago and it's been painted but other than that still looks the same. Two big barns in the back with 45 horse stalls and 160 acres out beyond. We always had 200+ horses here. That is actually a double wide mobile home from the 70's but my dad added onto the front of it. I always thought the silly half roof around the outside made it look like one of the old Taco Bell buildings.

It had trees and two huge irrigation ponds on it but I can't see any in the aerial. There was a mobile in that top right corner that my great grandparents lived in but it isn't there anymore.

Here in the UK, with strictly defined areas of urban development and strong greenbelt protection, and with high demand for housing, 1 house on a 160 acre plot in an (sub)urban area would be bought up and replaced with something crazy like 500+ dwellings, all overlooking each other, with tiny gardens and huge prices!

You are blessed with all the space in the US!

 

[Missy]

Here in the UK, with strictly defined areas of urban development and strong greenbelt protection, and with high demand for housing, 1 house on a 160 acre plot in an (sub)urban area would be bought up and replaced with something crazy like 500+ dwellings, all overlooking each other, with tiny gardens and huge prices!

You are blessed with all the space in the US!

That is true but it is a mixed blessing.

There is such a thing as too much space. I grew up in a 1350 square foot raised ranch for a family of 4 humans and one dog and various guinea pigs, gerbils and hamsters. And while it was cozy it was also perfect for us. Just enough house to live in.

Now we see McMansions all over and I’m like who cleans that and maintains all that house and who needs so much space? I am only generalizing and don’t mean to offend anyone. I want to make that clear. Yes, some people really need that space and more power to them for being able to enjoy and maintain that much space.

Where my DH and I live in Brooklyn we have the perfect amount of space imo for us. Which is about 2600 sq feet. Now that might to too much for some and too small for others because of course YMMV and everyone has different requirements but more is not necessarily good.

My dad always said it is best to have just enough space where you use every part of the house. And I agree.

 

[rodentman]

I visited my childhood home in 2002 in NJ. Looks pretty good after all those years. On Google now it is quite run down. The land is worth far more than the house. Buyers in such areas usually level the old house and build a new one. Current Google streetview shows this in my old neighborhood.

 

[BlingDreams]

Here's mine, in a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida.


It's amazing all of the memories that flooded back when I saw it again. When we lived there it was avocado green and had two trees right beside the front porch, blocking the view of most of the front of the house, and a rusted chain-link fence to enclose the tiny patch of backyard. It was roughly 1,000sqft and there were five of us plus two cats that lived there. It was pretty crappy on the inside too, as you might suspect. But it was home and all we could afford given that my dad was enlisted military and my mom stayed home with us. We knew we were somewhat poor, but there was always food on the table and clothes on our back. Fast forward and my Dad stayed in for 20 years then retired, worked another job for 18 years and retired, and is now living like a fat cat living a wonderful life and doing whatever he pleases .

Meanwhile SO (who also grew up in an 800sqft home with five people) and I are building a McMansion tucked away on 5 acres of woods; we both crave tons of space and don't care about what it takes to keep it clean, heated, or decorated . We know it's excessive but don't care .

 

[Missy]

Here's mine, in a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida.


It's amazing all of the memories that flooded back when I saw it again. When we lived there it was avocado green and had two trees right beside the front porch, blocking the view of most of the front of the house, and a rusted chain-link fence to enclose the tiny patch of backyard. It was roughly 1,000sqft and there were five of us plus two cats that lived there. It was pretty crappy on the inside too, as you might suspect. But it was home and all we could afford given that my dad was enlisted military and my mom stayed home with us. We knew we were somewhat poor, but there was always food on the table and clothes on our back. Fast forward and my Dad stayed in for 20 years then retired, worked another job for 18 years and retired, and is now living like a fat cat living a wonderful life and doing whatever he pleases .

Meanwhile SO (who also grew up in an 800sqft home with five people) and I are building a McMansion tucked away on 5 acres of woods; we both crave tons of space and don't care about what it takes to keep it clean, heated, or decorated . We know it's excessive but don't care .

Rock it girl!!! Your home is BEAUTIFUL! And I am looking so forward to seeing more pics! TDF gorgeous!

 

[redwood66]

Here in the UK, with strictly defined areas of urban development and strong greenbelt protection, and with high demand for housing, 1 house on a 160 acre plot in an (sub)urban area would be bought up and replaced with something crazy like 500+ dwellings, all overlooking each other, with tiny gardens and huge prices!

You are blessed with all the space in the US!

We are lucky to have so much space in the US for any kind of living one may like. Our place was definitely not even suburban. The nearest town was 30 mins away and our "town" only had a post office and an elementary school and they were 3 miles apart. My grandfather bought the ranch in the 60's and it was a part of the family business as my parents ran it as their living. They did not go to a job away from home, but there was more than 8 hours of daily work for all that's for sure. The house wasn't much but if your business is in the animals then the house and humans always come last.

 

[Tekate]

My house in upstate NY, lived there till 17 then moved to the city. Where the left bush is was a HUGE tree, gigundo!!! my dad finally cut it down as it was hanging over the street. Used to play on the front stone wall, everything from princess to army.. the house on the right was my grandfather's house, my dad's dad. the house looks better than when I lived in it as it's painted nicely, but it's basically the same.

 

[AprilBaby]

Isn’t it fun to look back? But no way would I go back and live there! My grandmothers house is probably late 1800-early 1900. I bet new it was gorgeous!

Edited to say I looked up houses for sale in the neighborhood on Zillow and they were built in 1910!

 

[LJsapphire]

My parents' first house - we had a front garden when we lived there (30 years ago), not just paving. But most people have paved over their front gardens/lawns now, including the house they live in currently. Its necessary when you have to fit 4 cars on.

 

[Bonfire]

My childhood home in Iowa. I lived here until I left for college. My parents moved right after. Built in 1924. I still have dreams about it. So many happy memories here.

 

[BlingDreams]

So many happy memories here.

I love this

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Aww, this is a sweet thread! The first house we lived in until I was 8 and the third child was born. Then my parents built a house a couple of blocks down the same street, and my aunt and grandmother built a house next door! I lived there until I went to college, and they lived there for a good many years later and made one final move to a one story house when they were around 70. I still vividly remember my room in that first little house. It was pale pink and had built in cabinets and drawers around the window on one wall. These are in SC.