Bontragers/Bowers/Helferich 9: Oh Nos! Chelsey Married a Maxwell!

[WiseGirl]

The woodwork in the main house is gorgeous.  Too bad they can't split the land and sell the houses and some of the acres separately.  So where is everyone moving to now? It does explain why Allison never blogged about her new house though.

[JermajestyDuggar]

The other house was the house of her sister in law. Where will these two families relocate? I am guessing that Jeremiah’s parents moved before they sold the house and that’s why Jeremiah and Allison could live there. I wish Allison would make a post about moving to a new place but I bet she won’t. 

[nelliebelle1197]

1 hour ago, Melissa1977 said:

The house is big, so at least Helferich children had room enough. But the decor is so outdated! 

Hopefully Allison and Jeremiah are going to buy or rent now, and live independent. 

It is not outdated. It is intentionally decorated to suit the period of the house. This is just an attempt to do a 1900s house. Most of the furniture, bathrooms, fixtures and appliances seem modern in provenance.  It is not outdated, just a style choice. 

Edited June 26, 2021 by nelliebelle1197

[Kylolo]

9 hours ago, Dominionatrix said:

They slashed the price after less than a month on the market, too, which could mean they are motivated to sell quickly. 
 

The way they’ve marketed the property doesn’t make sense to me. It’s two houses on nearly nine acres, plus lots of outbuildings. It’s hard to imagine what kind of buyer is looking for a property like that, especially in a rural area where there is a much smaller pool of potential buyers. Who wants to buy two houses at once? It’s too small to really farm for profit, but has a bunch of agriculturally focused outbuildings a new owner will likely have to remove. It also appears like it shows up in single house listings, and at $600k is probably deterring people who only want one house and don’t want to pay hundreds of thousands extra for a second one. Really, the only folks I can imagine wanting it are a multi-generational family like the Helferiches, or maybe a small commune, both of which are scarce. I’d guess the property has been in the Helferich family for several generations and they don’t want it broken up, but it would make so much more sense to break it into two properties, each with one house and a few acres. 

I don’t think they could break the houses into separate parcels, even if zoning laws allowed, because they are feet apart from each other.

I saw a few similar sized and priced properties (minus the two house thing), so it doesn’t seem all that uncommon for the area. Like you, though, I found it odd and seemingly overpriced. 

For the record, I found this randomly after a convo about real estate with extended family who used to live in MN. The red room is what tipped me off. 

[fundiefan]

So clearly they've been living in the upper floor of the Helferich family home.

Why lie about it? She specifically stated when asked that they were in their own place. 

Here's the thing - her lying and evasiveness created conversation. So if she was ashamed/embarrassed/whatever about living with her in-laws, she created the conversation. Had she said from the start they were staying with in-laws, for a while/for a reason/until something/whatever no one would have given it a second thought. Allison herself is, for whatever reason, not "happy" about living in her in-law's house and she is shamed enough to try to hide it. 

Which I think is among the saddest things ever. In part because it feeds a lot of our discussion about her not being happy with her life. Maybe not entirely unhappy, but she is very obviously not living the life she was sold on as a girl who followed all the rules and she has issue with the life she is now living. 

And little Mrs. Liar - what does your jesus/god think of you bearing false witness? 

 

[SPHASH]

Other than the red rooms that look like a bordello I think the house is gorgeous IMHO.

Cheer up Allison at least you, Jeremiah and Malachi aren't living in a windowless warehouse in Arkansas.

Edited June 26, 2021 by SPHASH

[usmcmom]

If money were no object and I wanted to relocate to…where do they live?…I’d buy that acreage. I’d live in the “newer” house and turn that lovely brick home into a Bed-n-Breakfast. I could look at that house all day and make plans. 
 

Or maybe a tea room. I love tea rooms. Too bad Allison and Jeremiah can’t buy the place. She’d be good at turning it into a quaint little business. 

[Foudeb]

I was thinking bed and breakfast looking at those pictures. The house looks gorgeous. Add some couple / family friendly activities and it could be a lovely holiday spot. Maaaaybe keep a few farm bits so you can feed guests breakfast made with your own eggs, bacon from your own pigs, that kind of thing. Is it easy to access for city dwellers who might find this kind of thing fun is the only question I have. 

God now I'm fantasising about doing just that myself lol

[JermajestyDuggar]

The house does look like a bed and breakfast. If it was, it would make much more sense for Allison to live there since she has run an inn before. But now they are selling it. I would like to know why. 

[Ozlsn]

10 hours ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

Did I miss something or do we know why this is on the market?

Pure speculation bus but I'm wondering if they have unexpected legal costs.

42 minutes ago, Foudeb said:

Is it easy to access for city dwellers who might find this kind of thing fun is the only question I have. 

I looked up how far to Minneapolis, and it's 2 hours and 35 minutes (I just put the name - no idea what point is taken as centre). It would be close enough for a B&B and you could possibly tap into the wedding market given how beautifully decorated it is.

[fundiefan]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

The house does look like a bed and breakfast. If it was, it would make much more sense for Allison to live there since she has run an inn before. But now they are selling it. I would like to know why. 

A bed & breakfast can only be successful if it is located in a place where people travel to.

I don't think there is anything in Mountain Lake to draw people in. It's not conveniently off I90 or I35. The best they probably have is being a stopping point between other destinations, like Minneapolis and...points south and west. But, the same can be said of all the other small towns along the way. 

In theory, that house would make a great bed & breakfast. It has the look/feel. But it would have to be transplanted to be successful. As it is, it's just a farmhouse in small town Minnesota without enough acreage to actually farm. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

I think rich people might want to own to play farmer and grow vegetables and maybe have dogs and goats. Kind of like Erin Bates Paine.

If there is a separate laundry in the basement, maybe her in-laws created the other space to be an independent space. Theoretically they could rent it out if they didn't have one of their kids living in it. 

According to fundie wiki, the Helferichs only have 3 unmarried children so maybe they're downsizing. 

Hats off to Detective @Kylolo for finding the listing!

[Themanda Duggar]

5 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:But now they are selling it. I would like to know why. 

It doesn’t have to be for any nefarious reason.  Properties like this one are often sold because the older generation needs to step back from the physical maintenance involved and wants to downsize, and none of the younger generation are interested in taking it on.

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 minutes ago, Themanda Duggar said:

It doesn’t have to be for any nefarious reason.  Properties like this one are often sold because the older generation needs to step back from the physical maintenance involved and wants to downsize, and none of the younger generation are interested in taking it on.

I didn’t say anything about it being nefarious. I’m honestly just wondering why. Did Allison want to move into a place she could decorate herself? Did sister in law want to move? Or will they pay rent to the new owners? I just want to know the story but Allison won’t tell. She will just make another post about “real men.”

[ElizaB]

23 hours ago, Queen Of Hearts said:

Well, that confirms what we already knew - the newlywed Helferiches are living in the attic. So who lives in the second house on the property? And where will they all live if the property sells?  Will they all move in together in a new home? So many questions!

Can you imagine how awful it must have been for Allison to get to "know" her husband in those first few weeks in a bedroom right above her in laws head? 

So after being taught that anything sexual is super taboo her entire life, barely knowing her husband before getting married, and having zero sexual experience she is expected to be joyfully available for her husband right above his parents head while worrying that they over hear. No wonder she doesn't seem happy.  

[MomJeans]

10 minutes ago, ElizaB said:

Can you imagine how awful it must have been for Allison to get to "know" her husband in those first few weeks in a bedroom right above her in laws head? 

So after being taught that anything sexual is super taboo her entire life, barely knowing her husband before getting married, and having zero sexual experience she is expected to be joyfully available for her husband right above his parents head while worrying that they over hear. No wonder she doesn't seem happy.  

I am now hoping that the Helferich parents had already moved out, and Jeremiah preferred the attic, for some reason.   

I really hope. Especially with how older homes creak and settle at night.

I still get creeped out having sex in my parent's house.  And we sleep on the opposite end of the house when visiting!

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I didn’t say anything about it being nefarious. I’m honestly just wondering why. Did Allison want to move into a place she could decorate herself? Did sister in law want to move? Or will they pay rent to the new owners? I just want to know the story but Allison won’t tell. She will just make another post about “real men.”

It is interesting, considering it displaces two couples, besides the parents.  Though I wonder if the parents moved out already, and Allison and Jeremiah knew they were only temporary boarders. 

Just more Bontrager weirdness. 

[Black Aliss]

On 6/16/2021 at 9:40 PM, ophelia said:

Regarding the bedrest: I feel like every pregnancy book I read and all the midwife podcasts I heard all promote this. I'm somewhat crunchy (we are planing for a homebirth, to use cloth diapers, etc.) but I'm not against modern medicine at all.
I'll look into the whole bedrest thing again and I appreciate all your advice and concerns.

There's rest, as in taking it easy and letting other people take care of you, and there's bed rest. I'd be very surprised to hear anyone advocating staying in bed for 10 days. That said, listen to your body, stay in bed if that feels right, but be prepared to throw all your preconceived notions about giving birth, post partum, and parenting a newborn out the window if necessary.

I had home births and they were very easy. With one of them I was up and moving around in a few hours, probably because I  had so much energy that I'd stored up for the birth and didn't end up using. I actually had to jump back in bed when a friend knocked on the door delivering dinner to us. I was out and about doing things with my babies after about a week. As always, YMMV.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Black Aliss

[usedbicycle]

22 hours ago, MomJeans said:

I am now hoping that the Helferich parents had already moved out, and Jeremiah preferred the attic, for some reason.   

I really hope. Especially with how older homes creak and settle at night.

I still get creeped out having sex in my parent's house.  And we sleep on the opposite end of the house when visiting!

It is interesting, considering it displaces two couples, besides the parents.  Though I wonder if the parents moved out already, and Allison and Jeremiah knew they were only temporary boarders. 

Just more Bontrager weirdness. 

I doubt the parents moved out yet - the newlyweds living in the attic above an empty house wouldn't make sense. And we haven't seen the Heiferich family host anything in any other house than the red paint/cherrywood overdose.

But now I'm wondering if Jeremiah sold this living arrangement to Allison as something very temporary. Maybe the family was already planning to sell the house at the time they got married and Jeremiah was supposed to find them a place asap after the sale, but for some reason it didn't happen as quickly as planned (Covid really f*cked up the real estate market). Perhaps Allison never thought she would still be living in the attic apartment after having a baby and her apparent unhappiness stems from those failed expectations. 

Maybe this whole time, she's been waiting to blog until she had all her ducks in a row for the perfect tradwife instagram ("This is my kitchen", "this is me hosting 15 people for dinner", "this is my home decor style", "this is the nursery"). I think we know for sure that she's a little ashamed of her current situation, which is ridiculous because many young couples start out small. 

[petrushka]

On 6/26/2021 at 10:54 PM, MomJeans said:

I am now hoping that the Helferich parents had already moved out, and Jeremiah preferred the attic, for some reason.   

I really hope. Especially with how older homes creak and settle at night.

I still get creeped out having sex in my parent's house.  And we sleep on the opposite end of the house when visiting!

It is interesting, considering it displaces two couples, besides the parents.  Though I wonder if the parents moved out already, and Allison and Jeremiah knew they were only temporary boarders. 

Just more Bontrager weirdness. 

The White Pages site lists a Kevin Helferich in Douglas AZ, with a former residence in Mountain Lake, MN.  If this is Jeremiah's father, we might assume they did move a while ago.  Maybe Allison and Jeremiah were living upstairs when first married, assuming his parents still lived in MN,  but in process of downsizing and headed to AZ.  Meanwhile Allison gets pregnant very quickly, and the property in MN is getting prepped for sale.  Who knows where Allison, Jeremiah, and baby are living now?  I'd say her first year of marriage was very unsettled in a number of ways.

If the elder Helferiches left MN some months ago as I suspect, it would explain in my mind why Praise and Denver got married in Iowa, Minnesota weather notwithstanding.

[nelliebelle1197]

3 hours ago, petrushka said:

The White Pages site lists a Kevin Helferich in Douglas AZ, with a former residence in Mountain Lake, MN.  If this is Jeremiah's father, we might assume they did move a while ago.  Maybe Allison and Jeremiah were living upstairs when first married, assuming his parents still lived in MN,  but in process of downsizing and headed to AZ.  Meanwhile Allison gets pregnant very quickly, and the property in MN is getting prepped for sale.  Who knows where Allison, Jeremiah, and baby are living now?  I'd say her first year of marriage was very unsettled in a number of ways.

If the elder Helferiches left MN some months ago as I suspect, it would explain in my mind why Praise and Denver got married in Iowa, Minnesota weather notwithstanding.

I wonder why they moved? The kids are all in MN and AZ is a burning desert - odd for people who are used to verdant lush and green. It cannot be politics. AZ is turning bluer but while MN is blue, there are extreme conservative areas.

[HereticHick]

3 hours ago, petrushka said:

The White Pages site lists a Kevin Helferich in Douglas AZ, with a former residence in Mountain Lake, MN.  If this is Jeremiah's father, we might assume they did move a while ago. 

Douglas is on the US/Mexico border, right? And the Helferich family used to do missioncations in Mexico? Or did we just know that they did annual missioncations somewhere in Latin America.

According to this June 2020 obituary of Jeremiah's maternal grandmother, the elder Helferich (Kevin and Marie) had already moved to Douglas :  https://sturmfh.com/tribute/details/6855/Constance-Suess/obituary.html

 

1 minute ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

I wonder why they moved? The kids are all in MN and AZ is a burning desert - odd for people who are used to verdant lush and green. It cannot be politics. AZ is turning bluer but while MN is blue, there are extreme conservative areas.

Maybe just to get away from MN winters?

[JermajestyDuggar]

3 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

Douglas is on the US/Mexico border, right? And the Helferich family used to do missioncations in Mexico? Or did we just know that they did annual missioncations somewhere in Latin America.

According to this June 2020 obituary of Jeremiah's maternal grandmother, the elder Helferich (Kevin and Marie) had already moved to Douglas :  https://sturmfh.com/tribute/details/6855/Constance-Suess/obituary.html

 

Maybe just to get away from MN winters?

That would be such a hard choice for me! MN winters or Arizona summers. Which is worse?

[nvmbr02]

1 minute ago, HereticHick said:

Maybe just to get away from MN winters?

I live in AZ. I feel like more than half our neighborhood is from Minnesota or Chicago/Illinois. The other half is from California.

To be fair, I grew up in California and then lived in Minnesota for 10 years. And a few other places in between.

Just now, JermajestyDuggar said:

That would be such a hard choice for me! MN winters or Arizona summers. Which is worse?

I've done both and Minnesota winters are worse (for me). Summer is miserable in Arizona, but it is short compared to Minnesota winters. 

[fundiefan]

I'm in Wisconsin. Leaving Wisconsin for warmer climagtes (retirees, anyway) are about evenly split between Florida & Arizona. Escaping the winters is huge in general - even more so when you are older; shoveling, driving in snow, slipping on ice - it's enough to make  a2 0 year old want to run away, never mind an older person. 

I can count right now, off the top of my head, seven couples in Arizona. Although three of them are the typical snowbirds - they're in AZ from like November to May and here the other half of the year. 

That is just to say Arizona is a very common retirement location for people from the Midwest. 

 

[Foursquare]

Allison's "love story" mentions that she visited Jeremiah and his family in Arizona in winter of 2020.