HGTV may have a lock on all things related to the home buying and renovation experience—the good, the bad and the ugly—but there's a different kind of real estate story that could add a unique twist to its lineup. Call it Home Swap: Lehigh Valley. Andrew Carpenter and his wife, Dana Carpenter, arranged a permanent switch with his parents, John and Sarah Carpenter. But there is one thing that separates their story from a typical HGTV plot line: there's no drama. All parties involved are not only still speaking to each other, they're raving about the changes made to their now former dwellings.
A Planted Seed
While swapping two different households may sound complicated (and in some ways it was, of course), the idea behind the move was simple. It really came down to a matter of space: Andrew and Dana needed more of it, and Sarah and John needed less of it. “We were living in 950 square feet of space,” Dana says, of her now former home in Emmaus—a ranch home with three bedrooms and one bathroom. Continues Andrew: “…which was great for the two of us, but when we had kids, it became tough.” Something clicked when they were attending a family gathering at the Macungie home of Sarah and John a couple of years ago. Dana recalls: “Andrew and I both kind of looked at each other and said basically the same thing at the same time: ‘What if we lived here someday?'”
Andrew later broached the subject with his father. By that time, all three of the Carpenter children (Andrew, Ben and Christina) had moved out of the nearly 4,000-square-foot family home, which, along with the acre-plus property it sits on, was becoming a hassle to maintain for Sarah and John. “They weren't ready yet, but it put the seed in,” Andrew says of his parents. “We agreed to take a year, think about it, pray about it and then come back to it,” concurs John. That conversation was followed by many more conversations, along with some soul-searching on both sides. Andrew says: “The biggest wild card for me—I knew I would be happy—was would my parents be happy in our old home?”
By January of 2019, both couples were on board, but it would be more than a year before the move could take place. “It was like figuring out a giant jigsaw puzzle,” Dana says. There were loose ends to tie up on both sides, including ensuring that Andrew's two siblings didn't have any objections to him taking up residence in the family home. That came off the to-do list with ease—“They were glad to see Andrew and Dana get it,” John says—but another project would prove to be much more time consuming: downsizing. “I'm a collector,” Sarah shares. “Our basement was full of stuff. That was the hard part—giving up the space, the storage.” Many of those items had been amassed as part of Sarah's business as a designer and event planner, but going through the downsizing process with her own parents ahead of a move to Florida was an eye-opener. “They had 45, 50 years of stuff to go through. And we thought, we cannot be doing that,” she says.
Beyond the obvious benefit of Andrew and Dana having more elbow room for their growing family, another reason for wanting to keep the Macungie home in the Carpenter family was strictly sentimental—in 2003, while he was still in high school, Andrew helped his father build the home. “We did all of the electric, the framing. A bunch of the grunt work. It's always been a fond memory for me,” says Andrew. “I learned everything I know from my dad, just watching him. He knows how to do pretty much everything.” As it turns out, John, who works for Walker Technical Company in Center Valley, learned a lot of what he knows from his own father. “We were always building things,” John says, and he's pleased that the tradition continues with his son. “Andrew is very much like me. If I can do it myself, I'd rather do it myself.”
Making It Their Own
That knowledge and DIY gusto came in handy for both couples as they settled into their “new” homes in February of 2020. “Nothing needed to be done,” Dana says. “It was more so making the space our own.” Among the changes made inside the four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom home: gutting the master bathroom and renovating two of the bedrooms for their young daughters. The couple's oldest daughter, Ava, has moved into Andrew's old room. “It's still weird to me to lie there and read her a story thinking, ‘this is where I used to sleep,'” Andrew says with a laugh.
One of the biggest projects they tackled outside the Macungie home was adding a patio in the backyard. Hardscaping just so happens to be an area of expertise for Andrew, who is co-owner of an Emmaus-based landscaping company, Still Waters Grounds Maintenance. They have other plans for the outdoor space, including installing an in-ground pool. But there's no rush. “We have plenty of time to do things,” Dana says. In between renovations, she uses the home's ample natural lighting to cultivate her growing collection of house plants, a hobby that took root during the pandemic. She shares her caretaking secrets on her Instagram page (@fancyplantsclub) and blog (fancyplantsclub.com).
The biggest challenge for John and Sarah was figuring out how to use every available inch of space in their smaller digs. They finished the basement, which now includes an office, TV room and laundry room. They also converted the garage into a workshop and installed extra shelving in the kitchen. Eventually, they may combine two of the bedrooms to create a master suite with a separate bathroom and walk-in closet. “We thrive on this kind of stuff. We're worker bees,” Sarah says.
A Fresh Start
Both couples say there are no hard feelings or buyer's remorse when they visit their now former homes. “It's a younger, fresher feel,” Sarah says of the Macungie property. “The house needed that.” And John agrees: “When we go over there, it feels like we are visiting Andrew and Dana's house. It doesn't feel like our house anymore.” Dana also has a lot of praise for her in-laws' ingenuity in adapting to a smaller space at the Emmaus home. “Andrew and I have looked at each other so much and said, ‘why didn't we think of that?' They picked up the baton and finished it.”
While a home swap might have worked for this particular family, it may not be such smooth sailing for all families. “I wouldn't recommend this for everyone,” says Dana. A strong relationship forged long before moving day helped both couples navigate what could have been a delicate situation. “They're so wonderful and easygoing,” Dana says of her in-laws. “They're the most supportive people and cheered us on as we did things.” And it seems accurate to say they're adaptable, too; both have embraced this new, somewhat unexpected chapter in their lives as a fresh start. “Things are falling into place and it wasn't even our plan,” Sarah says. Echoes John: “We feel like we simplified our lives, and that's been a very good thing for us.”
