Photo by Rebecca Emilson of Becca's Pics

Virginia Dream Home on Rose Lane Farm

Rose Lane Farm. A 145-year old homestead.

The number 5 resonates with us in 2019: Colt and I will celebrate our 5th year of marriage; we are the 5th family to own Rose Lane Farm; and, we have lived in Virginia for 5 years. Colt and I had big plans when we first got married, but God’s plans for us were bigger.

Colt and I grew up living on opposite sides of the same neighborhood. We began dating in the summer of 2009 and we overcame a lot in our first 4 years as individuals and a couple. Most importantly we learned through the trials and tribulations what our next chapter should be. In August 2013 we got engaged and then in January 2014 Colt accepted a job in Roanoke, Virginia. Leaving our hometown in Davie, NC was a very difficult decision because we both grew up in families that were close knit and spent birthdays, holidays, and Sunday evenings together. We quickly realized that we would not be far from home and starting a new life in a new place was actually quite appealing.

In the beginning we were having a hard time finding a house to rent in Roanoke and ended up finding a special cottage style house on the Roanoke River in Salem, VA with about an acre of land. We absolutely loved it. I made the decision to be a nanny because of my love for children. I would bring the kids to our home to fish and enjoy the outdoors. After a year of marriage and living in Salem, we decided that we were ready to buy our own home and start a family. We looked throughout Roanoke County for the “perfect” home for us knowing we love land and the countryside. We did not want to live in a neighborhood like the one we grew up in where we had maybe .25 to .5 acre lots…we wanted 2+ acres.

Our first home was perfect…we ended up in Boones Mill, VA with a great starter house secluded away from others with 6 acres of land. We fell in love with our first home instantly and made some major changes to the home and land over the next 3 years making it our first dream home.

While we had our dream home, we did face a major unexpected challenge, not being able to conceive. I was told we had unexplained infertility issues and after 8 months of unsuccessful treatments Colt and I decided to create a mini farm. We built a barn and fenced in about 2 acres of land for our first 4 ‘farm animals’…4 goats. We learned the hard way about health issues common to goats which included Barpole Worms and unfortunately lost one goat. We did more research and educated ourselves quickly on goats.

We also learned quickly about the challenges living in the mountains can bring. One fall morning, we woke up to discover that all three goats had been attacked in the field by what we believe was a bear. That evening I actually saw the bear in our trash about 10 feet from me. I learned very quickly that raising livestock is very different than having ‘pets. Colt and I decided to start over but really prepared ourselves for the next steps in having livestock. Through much research we bought a Great Pyrenees puppy and named her Hope because she would be the one to protect our new family of goats and 8 baby chickens. Hope has exceeded our expectations and I highly recommend a Great Pyrenees to protect your farm no matter how big or small. In addition to Hope we put in lights, security cameras and an electric fence to keep coyotes and bears out.

Four months after restarting our mini farm we came across a farmhouse 20 minutes south with 23 acres in Rocky Mount, VA that was most definitely our next dream home. We did not make any moves on this historic old farm until one day a friend asked, “what are you waiting for?” That kicked us into gear and we decided to take a tour of the property which then led to an offer. Our offer was accepted contingent on the fact that we sold our house. We listed our house the week of Thanksgiving 2018. We had over 30 showings that week and accepted an offer that Sunday. God was moving mountains to say the least. On January 4, 2019 we moved out of dream house #1 into dream house #2 which is Rose Lane Farm.

Rose Lane Farm is now home to 12 goats, 9 chickens, 6 cats, 2 pigs, and 3 dogs. We wouldn’t change a thing about our journey and everything we have learned from it. We are also absolutely thrilled to be adding to our family. After 4 long years of waiting to start our family, we are ADOPTING a little baby boy that is due in late October 2019. We have created such a humble lifestyle and we can’t wait to start our family at Rose Lane Farm.

Some additional facts about the homestead:

The originally family lived here from 1873-1992 the the last original family Member, Margaret Ramsey lived here all of her life until 77 when she willingly moved into a retirement home.. she was born in the home and grew up to be an English teacher at the local high school. They had tea party’s and weddings on the farm. The L shape to the house was added on in the early 1900s. She auctioned off the home which was bought and then sat empty for a couple years before a horticulturist came in and bought it. She did a lot of landscaping and then the Jeavons’ family came in and bought it. They homeschooled and had exchange students here throughout the 8 years they lived on the farm. The house has the original staircase and wood beadboard in the foyer. The original family, Tyree family, has a family graveyard here on the property.