Actress and Oscar winner Viola Davis recently bought her former family home for her 55th birthday: a house in St. Louis. Matthews, South Carolina, on a former slave plantation. The house is the one Davis was born in, but the actress does not claim that she bought a specific piece of property, but that she now “owns” her story.
Yet it begs the question: Will more people be inspired by Davis and her South Carolina plantation home to buy their own childhood or family homes?
The pros and cons of buying your childhood home
For Davis, it was clearly important to celebrate her legacy and her humble beginnings despite the pain that no doubt comes with knowing that her childhood lay at home on a slave plantation. But it also exposes both the pros and cons of buying the home in which you lived as a child.
First the top. Buying your children at home means that you know where you are going. You (mostly) know the neighborhood, and just as importantly, you know the house inside and out. The fact that major rainstorms flood basements will not come as a surprise when you buy a home where you have spent part of your life. In the same way, you can be ready to spend money on a new roof, knowing that it has been decades since it was installed.
Then there are the memories you need to consider. If that is comfortable, then buying the house you lived in throughout your childhood can only be worth the sentimental value alone.
But that leads to the disadvantage of buying your family home. Doing so may bring you great joy if you had a happy life there, but if your childhood was not so happy, buying that house could evoke unusual memories – memories you can really struggle to escape when you are back on the place where they all happened.
Even if the neighborhood in which you grew up has changed a lot, you may not be happy with your decision. And remember, even if the same stores can be found in the city, they may have new owners. The restaurant you visited every Sunday with your family? It may have a whole new menu. That’s something you need to work on.
In addition, you may hesitate to rebuild your childhood for fear that doing so will serve as an insult to your family. And lastly, if your childhood home is still in the family, it means you have to engage in a financial transaction with a close relative – and that can be tricky.
Will more people start buying their family homes?
Just because Viola Davis made the decision to buy her home in South Carolina does not mean more celebrities – than ordinary people, for that matter – will start rushing to buy the homes in which they grew up. But one thing we can take away Davis’ purchase is that she is proud of her humble beginnings and proud to own her story. And if you buy your family home let you do the same, that may be a good enough reason to move forward.
