A Family Connection

ST. Louisans prove that it's ok to go home again.

- By Charlene Oldham

Christine Smith is remodeling with her mother in mind.

“My mom really, really loved this house,” says Smith, who lost her mother 14 years ago and inherited the Kirkwood home she’s fixing up when her father died, in 2018.

“She thought it was something special, and there were things she wanted to do that she never got a chance to,” says Smith, who’s installing hardwood floors, modernizing the master bath, and refreshing the landscaping on the half-acre property. “I’m finding a lot of value in being able to do some of those things. There’s peace in knowing I’m taking care of something they worked so hard for.”

According to the National Association of Realtors, fewer than 5 percent of Americans inherit homes each year, but arrangements in which people purchase property from family members keep homes, and their occupants, connected. Statistics on such deals are hard to come by, but the trend meshes with data from an analysis by The New York Times showing that Americans are moving less often than they have in previous decades and that the typical American lives just 18 miles from Mom.