I think you are off to a good start with the pictures and having people write down their memories.

Another thought would be to video tape a tour of the house, with someone talking about what is being filmed, " . . . and here's the launcry chute. When I was 6, Big Brother took all my stuffed toys and threw them down the chute. I cried for hours, until Mom did a load of laundry and found them all. Over here is the towel warming cupboard where I hid all his comic books in retaliation."

If they have a yard at their city house, maybe transplant some favorite plants, or start cuttings from them, so they have a bit of the "old home" to see out the windows?

And I know a person who had fond memories of a certain drawer in his grandmother's kitchen, the drawer that was always full of his favorite candy and his grandmother's homemade cookies. When the house had to be sold, it was going to be torn down for a new development. He removed the drawer and incorporated it into the kitchen in his own house. Everybody else choose a piece of furniture or artwork or china or the like. He has a knotty pine kitchen drawer.

How about a framed line drawing of the home? Your parents can have the original and you can make copies for you and your siblings.

I am working on a similar project. DH's family has had an antique shop for many years. A long time ago his grandmother purchased an industrial size roll of this very "interesting" paper for wrapping purchases. For years, all our gifts have been wrapped in the odd paper. DH's Mom is now too sick to open the shop or buy and wrap gifts but the paper roll is still going strong. I recently asked my FIL to cut some paper for me and I plan on matting and framing small sheets for DH's sibs and the grand kids.

is there something similar at your house? Fabric, wall paper, quilt or rug that can be cut up and framed?

Is there something he will miss most strongly? And is there a way to bring it to the new place? For example, if he was into plants, can you set up a patio garden? If he will be losing a special reading nook, can you set one up in the new place? Was there a kids' height mark in the house that can either be removed or photographed and replicated in a closet at the new house?

I had a talented co-worker do a watercolor of our old house and surrounding landscape. We don't have nearly the memories your parents do of their house, but it is a comfort to have since we poured our heart into renovating it. If you want something faster I think they have framing places that will make your enlarged photos look like an oil painting.

One of the most touching photographic moments I have seen recently was the re-creation of photos by a man who lost his young wife to cancer. He and his bride had wedding photos taken in their new home before they moved in. They had a daughter, but then the wife died of cancer and the husband decided to sell the house and move on. So he asked his SIL (who took the wedding photos) to re-create the same photos only with him and his 3-year-old daughter in much the same poses. It was both heart-breaking and touching at the same time.

Maybe if you have some old family photos of you and your siblings and your parents, you could copy those and take some new ones in the old family place and create an album of 'then and now' for them.

I don't have anything to add, but these are wonderful ideas. I especially like Annie's "you can take it with you" ideas.

We have lived in our home for 43yrs and I think I would miss the garden more than the house itself. Take lots of photos outside too and perhaps even grow some cuttings or dig up some bulbs from the garden for them to take with them. Keen gardeners can be extemely sentimental about many of their plants.

Dee.

We were recently discussing the Waterlogue app, it transforms a photograph into a pretty nice looking water-colour rendering, you could try that, then have the waterlogue picture printed in a size you'd like for framing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Waterlogue discussion

My MIL moved on Wednesday from her home of 55 years to a 2-bedroom apt. It was time. It wasn't the house so much that was the problem but all the memories of the things that she had. My DH took pics of things for her so that she can keep them someplace and always have the memories.

I am so glad that I don;t get attached to things.

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas! Now I am inspired to find someone to dig up and move an azalea that was my grandmother's and plant it into the new place. I also love the idea of the home picture/drawing/painting. Thinking of some of my more artsy and tech talented siblings could pitch in with that one. The concept of taking memorable things out of the home also resonates. They currently have some items rescued from the family homestead site in Montana (which I think Mom has moved to the new garden). Makes me wonder why didn't I didn't think of it!

And now that I think about it for a few more seconds, I am remembering that I know an artist who makes custom books out of old books (removing the binding and adding pages to create a kind of scrap book, but saving some pages that are fitting to the subject and peppering them throughout). I'm sure there is some "old house" book (or a book related to where they live) that may be a perfect fit for such a project.... then on to take LOTS of pictures! Thanks again!

I would talk to your dad before surprising him with pictures or other ways of remembering the property. When my dad left his country house for a place in the city, I went out and took beautiful photos of the gardens and his favourite rooms and one of the whole estate. I framed a couple and gave them all to him on his birthday a month after the move. He didn't say a word and put them in the closet and never brought them out again. At first I was hurt, but later realized he had to make a clean break. Having the reminder on display would have made him sad and less able to enjoy his new life. I'm not saying this would be the case with your dad, but maybe discuss it with him first.

You have a lot of great ideas, but has anyone talked to your father about why he is dragging his feet? I think it would be extremely difficult to leave a place where you have raised nine children and spent 45 years of your life. It is probably also seen as a signpost on the road to old age. For me, talking is very therapeutic and sometimes I need to verbalize something to realize what I'm really feeling and be able to move forward.