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Brandon Mclarty and Catie Coan met during their freshman year of college through mutual friends at Ole Miss, but they didn’t start dating until the end of their sophomore year. Their relationship continued throughout college and they became engaged and planned to marry in May 2020. However, COVID-19 temporarily sidelined those plans. Upon graduating, Catie returned home to live with her parents in Marietta, Georgia. The couple started their house hunt in November 2019. Brandon, who is from Olive Branch, Mississippi, accepted a position as a tax accountant at Reynolds, Bone & Griesbeck PLC and was studying for the CPA exam. He was ready to move to Memphis.
“We contacted Ellie Bennett, of Hobson Realtors, to help us,” explained Catie. “She was referred to us by one of Brandon’s colleagues. We began our house search online, Each of us would find houses we liked and would email the information to each other. Everyday Ellie would put different homes on a site and we would look through those properties. Then Brandon found a couple of houses on his own.“
Catie continued, “We looked at six houses or so in person. But, with the market’s inventory being so tight, we saw a couple of houses we
liked and didn’t even get to make a bid before they were already snapped up.”
Ultimately, Brandon spotted the home that would become their honeymoon cottage. He scheduled a tour with Ellie, then waited on Catie to come to town to see it, too. The couple made a successful offer on the c. 1944 red brick cottage and paid $215,000. With just over 1,400 square feet, the house had two bedrooms and one bathroom. Original hardwood flooring set a vintage tone and all of the living space was on the ground floor. The rooms felt spacious and light-filled. There was a separate living room and dining room, with a cozy keeping room off the kitchen. French doors led to a fenced backyard that had a perfect patio for entertaining and a shed for extra storage.
Brandon moved in at the end of January 2020 and began setting up house while Catie began planning their decor.
“We began shopping for furniture and decided we wanted to play to the home’s vintage feel,” said Catie. “We found several painted antique pieces, like three dressers, a serving piece for our dining room and the side tables for our bedroom.”
Catie and Brandon became Mr. and Mrs. Mclarty in September and the couple returned from their honeymoon to begin their lives in Memphis as newlyweds.
“We picked this house because we loved the street and its location” said Brandon. “Additionally, there weren’t a whole lot of updates that needed to be made. And even though there was only one bathroom, it was larger than most of the bathrooms we had seen in other houses in our price range.”
“We love the vintage feel of our home, with lovely hardwood floors and beautiful crystal doorknobs,” said Catie. “We also love the floor plan. There’s an easy flow from room to room. And, of course, we’re proud new homeowners. This is our first home together, so it’s different because we aren’t living with our parents or in college housing.”
“Our home is in the Joffre neighborhood on a street filled with charming cottages,” said Brandon. “It’s a great location, pretty much in the middle of town. The only changes we are planning are to update the kitchen and possibly paint the exterior brick. We love our friendly neighbors and feel so lucky to have made this our first home.”