When I was looking for houses in the spring 0f 1985 I had four small children, including newborn twins who were born in March of that year. I started looking in April, twins in tow, with the goal of finding a house and being moved in by late August—in time for the start of the academic year. We needed at least four bedrooms and two baths and we wanted to be close to the University. My realtor showed me at least 30 houses, each of them having a deal-breaking flaw. Too expensive or requiring too much work or both. I ignored the house that we would eventually purchase, because it looked small and had a screened-in front porch that looked tacked on. It also had aluminum siding and seemed otherwise nondescript. With time running out my realtor strongly suggested I look at it anyway since the price had just been reduced to below assessed value. When I entered sunlight was pouring in the mullioned casement windows in the living room. I gave it a chance. It had hardwood floors and a fireplace, but most importantly it had five bedrooms and two baths. This could work, at least temporarily. We bought the house, had the hardwood floors refinished, and used the money we saved, by spending significantly less than we planned, to redo (actually do!) the kitchen and add a shower to the upstairs bath. I imagined that we could live in the house until the twins started kindergarten before we could begin to look for another more acceptable house.
But life intervened in so many ways that 28 years later I am still in the house. When you live in a house that long, you enjoy its strengths and accomodate its shortcomings. I’m not sure I care so much about this house as I care about the neighborhood. The house is flawed in many ways and 28 years of our use has taken a toll on its condition. Despite the fact that the house is too big for me and should house another young family, I am staying here for at least another 10 years, if all goes well. During this time, I will try to fix the flaws and bring the house into the 21st century in a way that respects its history and place. This blog will tell the story of the major remodeling I plan to begin in a little more than a month.
I won’t bother with who I am in this section, because I imagine that the only people who will be following along already know me.
September 2013
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