Welcome to The Great House Project where we chronicle our experiences at The Veatch House. We will share stories and photos about the house and surrounding property, the wildlife, our remodeling projects, and the hobbies and interests that enrich our lives. From simple joys to major projects, we want to document and celebrate the journey of creating our forever home.
The Veatch House: A Tribute
At the heart of our experiences is The Veatch House, which is named to honor Erin’s mother’s family. Erin’s mother and her twin brother were the last of the Veatches in their family. Sadly, both of them passed away before we purchased our home. The house stands as a tribute to their memory and to the values and traditions they instilled in us—family, resilience, creativity, and love for the places that shape us. Erin’s mother was deeply connected to her heritage, and in her retirement, she spent years tracing her family line back to its origins in Scotland. Naming our house The Veatch House honors both the past and the future and brings some of that Scottish heritage to Iowa. This home is a symbol of both remembrance and renewal where our family's story will continue to be written.
The house was built in 1977 by the Trow family, and it passed through two other owners before we became its caretakers in late summer 2024. It is nestled into a hill on a 1.58-acre lot along Clear Creek in Ames, Iowa. We also purchased an adjacent 0.85-acre lot, which is referred to as “The South 40” (although, of course, it is much smaller) because it seems like it is a vast expanse of woodland, and it is located south of the house.
The Great House Project
The name “The Great House Project” is a nod to Erin’s favorite books, the In Death series by J.D. Robb. In an ongoing side plot starting in Faithless in Death (book 52), characters Mavis and her husband Leonardo purchase a home that needs some remodeling—much like us in real life. It’s too much house for them, so they decide to rent part of it to two other characters, Peabody and McNab. In Desperation in Death (book 55), a character says to Peabody, “…I want some pictures of the Great Mavis and Peabody House Project progress” (p. 43). In Encore in Death (book 56), Peabody shortens it to “the Great House Project” as she describes progress on the remodeling (p. 122). Although we don’t have too much house or any plans to rent out part of it, in many ways The Great House Project from the books seemed to describe our own massive undertaking of turning a house into a home, one that reflects who we are and the life we want to create here.
—Erin and Christopher