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Why I Invested in a Home I Will Never Own

My duplex is small, near a dorm and owned by my employer, but it’s been a practical and perfect place for me to work and raise my daughters

By Mallory McDuff

"Treat every place you live as if you'll be there forever," my mother said, encouraging me to hang pictures, paint the walls and unpack the boxes, no matter what. Yet I never expected to stay in this red-brick rental for this long.

A woman standing outside in a field with a group of people. Next Avenue
The author, Mallory McDuff with a class outside of her duplex  |  Credit: Courtesy of Warren Wilson College

My two children, 18 and 25, have grown up in a 900-square-foot duplex — two small bedrooms and one tiny bathroom — on the campus of Warren Wilson College, a private liberal arts college where I teach environmental education in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

"Oh, we're so sorry," they'd say. "Isn't the sky beautiful?"

Given the housing prices in this region, I could never afford a home with such sweeping views of the valley surrounded by rolling mountains. So I've gone against conventional financial wisdom and invested in a rental.

Soon after I began teaching at this 1,135-acre campus outside Asheville, I eyed this duplex as an escape route from our previous place, which was plagued with too much mold and too little light. In contrast, this small house boasted wide-open views, good ventilation and plenty of cows, a delight for my daughters who learned at a young age to avoid electric fences in the pasture.

When students played music in front of my duplex under a full moon, I'd sometimes walk to the pasture in my bathrobe and gently tell the drum circle my young child was trying to sleep.

"Oh, we're so sorry," they'd say. "Isn't the sky beautiful?" It always was.

I moved into this airy campus home with four-year old Maya and my then-husband, although I knew my marriage was riding on a rocky road at best. I couldn't have predicted that this view would become more than an escape: It became a foundation after the sudden deaths of my parents, the loss of a pregnancy and the dissolution of my marriage. (It was a season of grief, for sure.)

What I didn't know was that my small improvements — building a deck, replacing cheap linoleum, refinishing the cabinets — created a refuge for my small family in this campus community, in a house I'd never own.

Adirondack chairs looking out over a large property. Next Avenue
Views from the author's rented duplex in western North Carolina  |  Credit: Lyn O'Hare

Making small investments over time became pragmatic as median home prices in our part of western North Carolina exceeded $500,000 for the first time and the state reported significant declines in home ownership. But the advantages for me went beyond finances as my daughters gained a sense of history at this college where all students work on campus in jobs like farmer, gardener, fiber artist and blacksmith with adult mentors.

An Academic Oasis

"My children slept in that same small closet where you kept the toddler bed for your youngest, Annie Sky," said Rodney Lytle, an alum who's worked for the college and mentored students since 1973. When Maya needed help with a history project in middle school, she interviewed Rodney about Alma Shippy, the first Black student to attend Warren Wilson College, in 1952.

When I taught a course on Death, Dying and Climate Justice, Rodney met my class at the Warren Wilson cemetery to share the rich narratives behind every headstone. On the day of the eclipse last spring, he baked an apple pie for my students, which we ate on my grandmother's China plates while sitting on the grass in the front yard.

Other friends and colleagues who've lived in this duplex include the now-retired art professor Dusty Benedict with his family and the former garden manager Donna Price, who transformed the front yard into an herbal and floral oasis. These days I grow vegetables in a small garden in that same space, and I like to think we've shared the same soil.

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These 900-square feet hold so much history with people we love and cherish and those we'll never know.

When I tell new friends I live within spitting distance of a college dorm, I watch their faces for one of two responses: "Wow, what an experience!" or "I could NEVER do that!" And I totally understand. But my former students know where to find me when they return to campus, visiting on the deck with tea and sharing stories of their jobs, their travels and even their own children. It was a lucky break for me to move into this rental, and I don't take it for granted since this duplex has allowed me to teach and parent as a single mom.

It's not hard to feel connected, even as students come and go every four years.

It Takes a Campus . . .

When my kids were younger and home from school for teacher work days, I'd often run to the college cafeteria searching for a student to watch my daughters while I taught. Now, my grown children babysit for the new generation of campus kids. A former student named Joy taught Maya to swim using an inflatable shark, and she now teaches elementary school with two kids of her own. It's not hard to feel connected, even as students come and go every four years.

In my parents' generation, owning a home was billed as a gateway to stability and even community. But that's not the reality for many people these days. This summer, I hosted a small graduation party for my youngest, and most of the guests were adults who'd watched her grow up on campus.

While I'll never own these 900-square feet, this is where my children are known and feel at home. And that's a return on investment that goes beyond dollars and just makes sense to me.

Contributor Mallory McDuff
Mallory McDuff 



Mallory McDuff teaches environmental education at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, where she lives on campus with her two daughters. She is the author of five books including "Love Your Mother: 50 States, 50 Stories, and 50 Women United for Climate Justice," published by Broadleaf Books.
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