Where to from here? The current property market in Ireland
would suggest we are throwing good money after bad spending it on the Yank’s House.
After all it is unlikely that the house will ever be worth what we have already
spent on it – not counting all the free labour. So should we cut our losses and
stop? NO! I hear you all cry but come on friend – how much longer can we afford
to pump money and time into this project? And what is the future for the Irish property
market and the Yank's House?
The media sends out such mixed message – Dan O’Brien wrote
an article in the Irish Times in June titled ‘Irish property market has hit
bottom – probably’ http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/ireland/irish-property-market-has-hit-bottom-probably-1.1427997
Ah come on Dan! Talk about not wanting to commit one way or
another. He ends his article property
prices have probably bottomed out. I am no economist – but I could make a
statement like this. After all either way I cannot be wrong.
But then I look at the Yank’s House and I say to myself –
this was never about money. Pat and I
never saw it as an investment. We wanted to save this old house for the future.
Now several years on maybe we were not the right people to have taken on this
project. After all we have limited means and are not getting any younger. So
the question remains – where to next?
It is a pity that these old houses, often a faded memory on
our landscapes are not valued more. And by this I don’t mean their economic
value. These old buildings are part of our heritage and our local history. What
sort of place will this land be if we let them all fall and we forget the
people who built them? See even still I am an old romantic.
For now the Yank’s house will have to sit and wait. Maybe
next year will see Pat and I rejuvenated with a new rush of energy. Maybe we
will win the Lotto and have lots of money to throw at the house or maybe we
will find a new custodian to take over from us. For now the Yank's House is safe and the work we have completed insures it survives into the future.
Maybe the answer is to find a job for the Yank's House - so it can contribute to it's own survival. Pat and I are open to suggestions. Whatever happens - I
will keep you posted.
