The view of the house

I went through the house with two friends. Neither liked it a whole lot. It is modern and big. There are light bulbs and closet rods missing. The stove someone tried to remove and couldn't, causing counter damage. There is no fire place when I thought there was one. I can't put an opening in the stairwell to access the basement where I want it. The house doesn't line up with the garage in the right place for the access to be at the top of the stairs. The sky lights are leaking, but they probably just need new caulking. Tom is going to look at the house again. We have time. The bank has still not said yes or no. I told him to take a friend also to bounce thoughts and opinions.


On the plus side, there is a big party room. The living room has hard wood floors. There are lovely bright windows. It has huge spaces. I did get the insurance company to come down a little in replacement costs. $515,000 to replace the house, which lowered our insurance to $1700 a year, still double what we pay now on our Oregon house. They also insured our personal possessions for $350,000. That is a lot of clothes shopping and toothpaste.

I did see an adorable house on Maplewood, but it was only 2400 square feet. Vintage details throughout. It did have a room for the pool table, but that was the only extra room and just big enough to accommodate the table. No extra room for the boys to play. Incredible master suite with an attached sun room/sitting room. A great master bath and plenty of closets. Laundry was in one of the closets, right in the room. Same price as what we are paying for the big house.

I am tempted to paint the ceiling cedar just to tone it down a bit. It may be the busy patterns that overwhelm me. I think I will bring in a design consultant for some opinions.

I have also not given up my dream on the country club address. It still sits neglected and unloved. I can see me in that house so easily. The boys would be down stairs. I would turn the living room and garage into a master suite. The entry area would become the living room. I would open up the wall in the kitchen into the room with the fireplace and have a lovely dining area. Strip the floors down to the hard wood. They have been painted, probably with lead based paint, knowing my luck.

I have a vision of a lovely summer home there. I wish they would turn us down on the big house. I would go right back to country club immediately. I am afraid we are going to lose it. I do know its value and the amount of work it would take. Tom is just so not thrilled with the idea of living in it while we are under construction. What about building just in the back first, a completely independent unit. We want to bump out the back. I sat for months drawing plans. We were planning to put a kitchen and bathroom in that unit. Then we rip off the front end later for the garage area. And live in the new unit and the original structure. We could have it on its own independant power before we move into it.

It could also be a massive money pit. $80 a square foot and limited resources may not get us as big a space as we seem to find necessary. Which is why we offered on the big house.


The downstairs is a dump. We need to go down another foot to make the ceilings the right height. I don't like the two levels of the basement. Only the very original three rooms of the original house are worth saving. It all needs a new roof. The chimney that was removed to make the stairwell downstairs is leaking onto the stairs. The floors have settled heavily. Ah, but it is such a lovely location.

On the big house I am contemplating drywalling and/or painting the ceilings white to tone down all that lovely exposed wood. If it weren't so low or had a pitch to it so you felt less squashed. We'll live with it for a short while. I am going to get decorating advice. The house is just off a little and we want to get that wow factor, not the "interesting" factor. It has the potential and the neighborhood to carry it off.

Both homes are the worst homes in the best neighborhood. Its all about the deal, getting the best price going into it to make it worth while. I just don't see us in 5 years needing 5000 square feet. I also don't want to be driving to and from the club when we could be a golf cart away. I have always been about convenience. The boys will need a car to get everywhere or they wont go anywhere. They will become vegetables in front of their electronic games.