We have found a very nice family – or perhaps they found us – who want to rent Bedlam Farm for the next several years and we are very pleased to have them living there. They already live in the country, know it well and love the property and can maintain it well. They have three children who have wonderful plans for the farm and some of the barns and we are relieved to have the farm occupied and loved and cared for. The kids are hoping for a donkey, and we can work together on that.
This will relieve some of the financial strain of owning two farms and will ensure that the farm is cared for. Down the road, if the market improves we will revisit the issue of selling the farm again. So there is relief, the financial drain was troubling, sometimes frightening, and in some ways it will continue, but we couldn’t be happier with this family or more comfortable with them. Maria and I spent some time with them this evening and we felt completely at ease and in sync.
The selling of Bedlam Farm has been an emotional roller coaster, and a surprise to me, and we all – me, Maria, Kristin Preble, our determined and faithful realtor – need and want some time off from it. In suspect in a couple of years, the market will be different. My disappointment comes from the fact that in nearly two years, there were many lookers and not one serious potential buyer. The market was not good here, I understand that, but I was taken aback by the number of people who came here, took up substantial amounts of our time and Kristin’s, claimed to be interested, promised to call back quickly and simply never did.
We all came to see that many of them were just pretending, it was a day in the country to see a place that interested them. At first, I came along to answer questions, and stopped when I realized most of these people were not sincere. Poor Kristin had to march up and down our steep hill a hundred times, people wanted to see where I read “City Of God” to Rose and look for the spot where Orson was buried.
Over time, it became clearer to me that these people did not have any real interest in buying Bedlam Farm, they just wanted to see it, find the spot where Rose stood in the pasture, walk the path, see the barns and pastures where my dogs worked and played, lived and died. In a sense, I suppose this ought to be flattering, but mostly it ended up being discouraging. I hope Kristin will eventually get her deserved commission. I suppose it is an inevitable part of celebrity, and I was slow to realize that so many dog fantasies powered these visits and took up so much of our time and energy. We had a couple of scares – some people who were not honest tried to get their hands on the farm, some narrow escapes.
The fantasies became clearer over time. People wanted to bring their dogs up to herd sheep. They wanted to bring their dogs and write a book or two about them. They wanted to bring their horses to live in our pastures. They wanted to spend a night or two on the farm sleeping with their dogs to make sure it felt safe. They wanted to bring their dogs and live alone with them in the country, write poems about them. The pattern became clear, enthusiastic phone calls, long and elaborate showings – they wanted to see every thing, promises to call back immediately with offers. I can easily understand someone coming to the farm and not buying it – surely, it is not for everyone – but it is difficult for me to comprehend so many people proclaiming how much they loved the place, promising to call first thing in the morning, and then vanishing.
I suppose I’m responsible for this, in a sense, I lived out my own fantasies here and wrote books about them. Why shouldn’t others be tempted to do the same thing? I suppose when they return home reality strikes and they just can’t bring themselves to do what they say they will do, perhaps they are embarrassed. Or maybe they never intended to buy the farm at all, they just wanted to see it. Sadly, that is what I think was going on much the time. Over this long period, nearly two years, I don’t think there was one truly serious buyer, just a lot of people coming to gawk and walk through the barns, go through the motions. As one woman told me, it was more fun than going to a movie. That’s the hard part for me, I am grateful to my fans and readers, they support and sustain me, but this is a part of celebrity I don’t care for and makes me sad.
In any case, everything had a purpose and this phase of our loves is over, at least for now. We won’t have to worry about the farm, it is in good hands. This lovely and hard-working family came to us with three very nice and impressive children, kids who will clearly pitch in and enjoy the farm and help keep it in shape.
The kids lifted my heart when they stood on the porch and discussed many plans for the Studio Barn – sleepovers, playhouses. I am happy about it, and relieved. It seems the people who never once came to look were the ones who belonged. I love my life, it is filled with crisis and mystery.