Turning a House Into a Home: The Benefits You Can Actually Feel

There’s a lot of conversation about home prices, mortgage rates, and affordability right now – and those things are important. But if you’re thinking about buying a home, it’s worth remembering something the headlines rarely talk about: people don’t buy homes just for financial reasons. They buy them for their lives. Because while homeownership can absolutely be a smart long-term financial move, it also comes with some emotional benefits spreadsheets just can’t capture. Maybe that’s why a 2025 survey from Fannie Mae notes : “Consumers were twice as likely to mention lifestyle benefits (67%)—like security, customization, and outdoor space—than financial benefits (34%) when explaining why their homes have become more important in recent years.” Here are a few reminders of what owning a home gives you that renting never will. 1. A Milestone You Get To Be Proud Of Buying a home is a big deal. First home, fifth home – it doesn’t matter. It’s a moment you’ll remember. And when you final...
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Explore Bethabara, NC


Bethabara (from the Hebrew, meaning "House of Passage" and pronounced beth-AB-bruh, the name of the traditional site of the Baptism of Jesus Christ) is a village located in Forsyth County, North Carolina. It was the site where fifteen men from the Moravian Church first settled in 1753 in an abandoned cabin in the hundred-thousand acre (400 km²) tract of land the church had purchased from Lord Granville and dubbed Wachovia.

Its early settlers were noted for advanced agricultural practices, especially their "Medicine Garden," which produced over fifty kinds of herbs. Bethabara grew slowly and today is known locally as "Old Town".

Although later parties of Moravians joined the first fifteen, including women and children, Bethabara was never meant to be a permanent settlement. It was intended to house the Moravians until a more suitable location for their central village could be found. In 1771, that place was completed: Salem. Many of the settlers moved to Salem, and Bethabara became an outlying farm to supply the residents of Salem and other Moravian villages with food.

In 1788, a slave, Johann Samuel, was named superintendent of the farm; he was freed in 1801, though he continued to rent the land from the church. However, the village of Bethabara, as it existed, was no longer needed, and it fell into disuse. The original buildings collapsed, and their foundations were filled in to make more farm land. Only the Church and a couple of other buildings continued in regular use.

Today, what remains of the village, including the excavated foundations of the original buildings, the restored Gemeinhaus, and the reconstructed palisade and colonial gardens, is part of Historic Bethabara Park, which is a National Historic Site serving Forsyth County. The 183-acre park and wildlife preserve is located in Winston-Salem and is operated by the City of Winston-Salem Recreation & Parks Department as an open air museum. The site also features 20 miles of nature trails.

There are frequent festivals and reenactments on the weekends, such as the Independence Weekend Celebration held the weekend prior to or during Independence Day. Winston-Salem State University also runs a summer archaeology program featuring on-site excavation.

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