Well, unless the owners of The Green House (who are asking double my original budget) decide to come down to my original budget, it seems that I won't be buying it. It's a shame, really, because in many ways the house is adorable. From the outside it is perfectly adorable. It was built in 1902 or thereabouts, with a huge front porch, high ceilings and a tin roof, and it has been painted green with cream trim. From the outside, it is my dream house. The front part of the inside of the house is fairly perfect too (if you discount the fact that whoever did the remodeling put up particle board instead of sheetrock! Now why would someone do that? The four front rooms (two bedrooms, a living room and an absolutely enormous kitchen) were located to either side of a central hall, with high ceilings and many large windows, and were just about perfect. The house has central heat and air (we tested the central heat, and it worked great). The kitchen was bigger than my mom's kitchen, and her kitchen is pretty big. The only flaw in the front portion of the house was that there wasn't a vent for the stove in the kitchen, so that would have to be installed.
The back half of the house wasn't as perfect as the front, although I found no flaws in the back bedroom itself. The first of the two bathrooms wasn't anything to write home about, but it was an adequate bathroom with tub, toilet and sink - what more do you need, right? The problem came with the very back room, what would have probably been a back porch in 1902, and later enclosed to make a laundry room. The remodelers had, for some reason, decided to turn it into a second ("master") bathroom. I suppose that in theory this was a good idea, but they did an utter hatchet job of it. Aside from the fact that they hadn't finished the job (leaving a back-door that wouldn't open, with a gaping hole above it), it was ugly, and left the house without a laundry room. If I bought the house, I know that I would end up ripping out that bathroom and turning that rear room back into a laundry room.
We decided that I should check out the attic. (I should probably mention that the realtor let us into the house, then left for another appointment.) Mom went home to get her ladder (a half-sized ladder, unfortunately), while I amused myself by figuring out where the original fireplaces (alas, no longer there) has been located. When mom arrived, bearing ladder, I ventured into the attic. The entrance to the attic was in the "master bathroom," and was a tiny little Jane-sized hole in the ceiling. So, up I went. I had to stand on the top step of the ladder (you know, the one labeled "Danger: This is not a step!") and then hoist myself up through the little hole (a nice shoulder-wrenching process that I'm going to feel tomorrow). The attic was fascinating! It was huge, and had it not been home to quite so many spider-webs, I might still be up there. I could see the original ceiling (the remodelers had lowered the ceilings, probably to make the place cheaper to heat - although even with the dropped ceilings, they were still pretty high), and the lathe and plaster of the top portions of the walls, a defunct chimney, and the attic's back window. Like I said, I found it fascinating. Unfortunately, I also found that there was absolutely no insulation whatsoever, neither in the attic nor in the walls (which I could see down from up there).
So, there's definitely a lot of work still to be done (did I mention that there are no telephone jacks or plugs for a washer/dryer?), and unless the owners are willing to come down to my budget, I guess I'll be without The Green House in my future. Sigh. It is absolutely adorable though. What do you think?
The back half of the house wasn't as perfect as the front, although I found no flaws in the back bedroom itself. The first of the two bathrooms wasn't anything to write home about, but it was an adequate bathroom with tub, toilet and sink - what more do you need, right? The problem came with the very back room, what would have probably been a back porch in 1902, and later enclosed to make a laundry room. The remodelers had, for some reason, decided to turn it into a second ("master") bathroom. I suppose that in theory this was a good idea, but they did an utter hatchet job of it. Aside from the fact that they hadn't finished the job (leaving a back-door that wouldn't open, with a gaping hole above it), it was ugly, and left the house without a laundry room. If I bought the house, I know that I would end up ripping out that bathroom and turning that rear room back into a laundry room.
We decided that I should check out the attic. (I should probably mention that the realtor let us into the house, then left for another appointment.) Mom went home to get her ladder (a half-sized ladder, unfortunately), while I amused myself by figuring out where the original fireplaces (alas, no longer there) has been located. When mom arrived, bearing ladder, I ventured into the attic. The entrance to the attic was in the "master bathroom," and was a tiny little Jane-sized hole in the ceiling. So, up I went. I had to stand on the top step of the ladder (you know, the one labeled "Danger: This is not a step!") and then hoist myself up through the little hole (a nice shoulder-wrenching process that I'm going to feel tomorrow). The attic was fascinating! It was huge, and had it not been home to quite so many spider-webs, I might still be up there. I could see the original ceiling (the remodelers had lowered the ceilings, probably to make the place cheaper to heat - although even with the dropped ceilings, they were still pretty high), and the lathe and plaster of the top portions of the walls, a defunct chimney, and the attic's back window. Like I said, I found it fascinating. Unfortunately, I also found that there was absolutely no insulation whatsoever, neither in the attic nor in the walls (which I could see down from up there).
So, there's definitely a lot of work still to be done (did I mention that there are no telephone jacks or plugs for a washer/dryer?), and unless the owners are willing to come down to my budget, I guess I'll be without The Green House in my future. Sigh. It is absolutely adorable though. What do you think?
Doesn't it look perfect?
So adorable...
But then there's the back. If you look to the right, you'll notice that the back stairs lead up to the miscolored wall, and that the door (which doesn't open) has an opening above it and no stairs below... and the first window to the left of the discolored wall (around the corner) is walled over on the inside to make room for the "master bathroom." Now, if they had just left that back room alone...
No comments:
Post a Comment