Tyler and Lauren Bouldin knew their abandoned 1830s stone house would need years of work.
They expected collapsing stairs, missing floors, broken rooms and an endless list of expensive repairs.
What they did not expect was to discover that their dream property had become a thriving snake habitat.
The reptiles were not hiding deep in the woods.
They appeared near the front door, around the abandoned swimming pool and even climbing the exterior walls and enormous trees surrounding the Pennsylvania home.
Tyler jokingly estimated that it felt as though they had inherited “1,000” unwanted neighbors.
For someone naturally terrified of snakes, the discovery was horrifying.
“It was genuinely unsettling for the first year or so while I got used to life out in the woods,” Tyler told PEOPLE.
The couple purchased the neglected Pine Grove property at auction in late 2020. Despite its condition, they were immediately drawn to its historic beauty.
The land included centuries-old trees, a creek, a pond and protected forest.
The stone house itself offered the promise of a remarkable family home—once it could be made habitable.
“The house had been abandoned for years, and the condition showed it,” Tyler said.
The main level had no floors. The grand staircase was deteriorating. The kitchen had disappeared entirely.
But decay inside the house was only part of the challenge.
Years of neglect had transformed the surrounding land into a perfect environment for wildlife.
Overgrown gardens, abandoned debris, gaps in old buildings and a neglected pool provided shelter for mice, rabbits and frogs.
Those animals attracted predators.
Black snakes, water snakes and venomous copperheads found an ideal hunting ground around the property.
The warning arrived on the very day Tyler and Lauren received the keys.
They spotted a black snake climbing one of their huge sycamore trees, apparently searching for wood duck eggs.
It would not be their last encounter.
During the first six months of restoration, the family lived in a caretaker’s apartment inside the barn because the main house was not yet safe.
Lauren was pregnant with their second child, while their oldest son was still a toddler.
Every trip outdoors required caution.
The couple closely watched their child and dog to make sure neither wandered into the overgrown areas where snakes could be hiding.
Initially, Tyler and Lauren tried to coexist with the reptiles.
They had heard that black snakes were useful because they controlled rodent populations and could discourage copperheads from remaining nearby.
Their policy became simple: leave the harmless black snakes alone and allow nature to maintain its balance.
That approach became harder to follow as sightings multiplied.
The black snakes grew enormous. Tyler said one appeared to measure approximately seven feet long.
They slithered through the property with unsettling confidence and were sometimes seen scaling walls or trees.
Then Tyler discovered black snakes and copperheads using the same hiding places around the abandoned pool and beneath a rock near the front entrance.
The supposed protectors were not keeping the dangerous snakes away.
Tyler described the realization as a kind of betrayal.
The couple decided that peaceful coexistence needed boundaries.
But they did not want to kill the snakes or poison the land.
Instead, they began transforming the conditions that had made the property so inviting to them.
They removed debris and garbage from the lawn, stone walls, gardens and woodland.
They cut back heavy vegetation and eliminated hiding places.
They repaired holes in the house and barn where rodents had been nesting.
By reducing the mouse population, they hoped to remove one of the snakes’ main food sources.
They restored the pond and added filters and fountains.
They also planted mint around buildings, believing its scent could help discourage snakes from approaching.
One of their biggest projects involved the abandoned in-ground swimming pool.
The deteriorating structure had filled with wildlife and become one of the most dangerous areas on the property.
Rather than attempt to restore it, the couple demolished the pool and replaced it with a garden.
The transformation cost approximately $15,000 but turned a frightening, neglected hazard into a beautiful outdoor space the family could actually enjoy.
The effort represented their larger philosophy.
They were not trying to destroy the surrounding ecosystem.
They were simply making the immediate area around their home less appealing to predators.
When snakes still appeared too close to the house, Tyler developed a relocation routine.
It was not a routine he enjoyed.
Using a six-foot snake grabber, he would lift the animal into a bucket or bag and transport it far from the home before releasing it back into the woods.
He joked in a video that the camera was positioned too far away for viewers to see his tears.
“Very, very scary,” he admitted.
Despite his fear, relocation allowed the family to protect their children without unnecessarily harming wildlife.
The strategy required patience.
There was no dramatic extermination, chemical treatment or instant solution.
Instead, the couple spent years improving the land, closing entry points and removing the conditions that attracted snakes.
“While it’s not exciting, it has worked well,” Tyler said.
“We don’t want to harm any wildlife, snakes included, and I’m glad that we’ve been able to clear things out without resorting to unnecessarily drastic measures.”
Five years after purchasing the property, the difference is dramatic.
Snakes remain part of living near a Pennsylvania forest, but the family no longer encounters them almost every day.
Tyler estimates they may still see one somewhere on the land during a typical month.
Compared with the constant sightings during the first year, that feels like an enormous victory.
The home has undergone an equally impressive transformation.
The collapsing, abandoned property has become the family house Tyler and Lauren imagined when they first saw it.
Their children can now enjoy the grounds more safely, surrounded by restored stonework, reclaimed gardens and the natural beauty that initially attracted their parents.
The couple’s experience has also taught them that restoring an old property requires accepting the unexpected.
Budgets change.
Timelines collapse.
Wildlife moves in.
Every project reveals another problem that could not have been predicted before the work began.
“If you’re considering buying a big, old, run-down property, you’re going to face challenges related to wildlife, renovations, money and time that you can’t possibly predict or prepare yourself for,” Tyler said.
“Your budget will be wrong, your timeline will be wrong.”
But he believes the struggle can still be worthwhile.
The couple did not eliminate every snake.
They did not erase the forest or sterilize the property.
They found a balance between respecting the land and protecting their family.
What began as an abandoned house surrounded by overgrowth, rodents and reptiles slowly became a functioning home.
The snakes still occasionally appear.
But now they are visitors—not the owners.
