Ties to our communities>Family stories

A Room for All…Room for the Whole Family

Jim and Marie King have struggled for years with finding decent and affordable housing. They have five bright and beautiful daughters that include a 17-year old, twin 15-year olds, a 9-year old and a 6-year old. The family moved to Bath County from Grant County when their landlord continually refused to fix major problems in their rental home. They hoped to find better housing opportunities and be closer to Marie’s family with the move. Marie had recently lost her mother, and her brother had moved to Bath County.

The family of 7 found a mobile home with a monthly rent of $200, but, unfortunately the pre 1976 single-wide was of substandard quality. In addition to being in poor condition, the home was too small, forcing the family to squeeze into a space of about 720 sq. ft. Jim added onto the trailer in an attempt to give the family more room, but the addition created a severe mold problem throughout the home. At times, when their furnace wasn’t working, the family had to share one bedroom to keep warm.
The girls’ bus driver, Penny Stockdale, knew the Kings wanted to move to a better home. Penny is married to Ron Stockdale, who is the landscaper for Frontier Housing. Ron had been impressed with the quality of homes Frontier was building and with how the organization helped their customers find financing. After encouragement from Penny and Ron, the Kings took the big step of exploring the possibility of becoming homeowners.

They haven't looked back at the home they left behind.

The Kings went on-line to learn more about Frontier Housing, and then visited model homes at The Community at Edgewood. They were very pleased with what they saw, but were concerned about obtaining financing. James works as a driver for a dry wall supply company in Lexington. The increase in gasoline prices was taking its toll on the family budget. They didn’t know how they could afford a mortgage payment. It took some work, but after several false starts they were able to obtain financing – overcoming a major hurdle in making their dream of homeownership a reality.

The Kings worked with Josh Trent, Frontier’s Communities and Design Division Director, to pick out suitable property and an ENERGY STAR home design that would suit their family’s needs. For the first time Frontier built a home with 5 bedrooms. Finally, the family was able to spread out and enjoy some privacy. When the oldest daughter starts college at MSU in the fall of 2010, each of her sisters who remain at home will actually have their own bedroom for the first time in their lives.

The family is now living in a beautiful 1,560 square foot “Aspen” Frontier home with 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms on a one acre lot. Their neighbors on both sides also live in newly built Frontier homes. James is happy to share the master bedroom and spacious master bathroom with Marie, while letting their 5 daughters have the other bathroom.

Finally, the Kings are able to spend more money on raising their five active girls and less on utility bills and substandard rentals.
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