Our House

Let me introduce you to our house. 




Here it is when we signed our contract - Fall of '07




Here it is during "Snowmaggedon" - February of '10

 It's a modest 1938 center-hall colonial that completely charmed me from the first time I spotted it in the real estate listings.  We had been house-hunting for over 18 months and had not found any other house that met our basic criteria (price, location, location, location, # of bedrooms) and our preference for a traditional colonial style as well as this one did.  Plus, I loved the fact that it had character, but needed some serious sprucing up....  project!

While the charm of an old house is nice - the inherent problems lurking beneath every surface are not!  The day we moved in, we found asbestos in 2 rooms.  Only 9 days after moving in (on Christmas Eve, no less) our living room ceiling sprung a leak (by the way, 3 years later - and the leak is still a mystery, hence the bathroom renovations that we're about to start).  And, about 5 months after moving in, we had a major flood in our basement.  Needless to say, our first year here was less than idyllic.  But, little by little, we've been able to make some improvements over the past 3 years.  Sadly, many of them were costly and terribly unexciting (e.g., abatement of the asbestos problem; new HVAC system; new flat side roofs; regraded backyard and basement french drain system; electrical heavy-up; multiple tree removals; and repointing of masonry). 

Fortunately, we've also been able to make some of the more enjoyable and aesthetic improvements.  Since we've moved in, we've had the interior painted, wood floors refinished, windows replaced and basement completely renovated.  Up next are the 2 upstairs bathrooms. 

I wish I had started blogging the day we moved in - it would have been fun to share details of our projects along the way (I think I would have spared you details of the HVAC replacement and heavy-up!).  But, my late entry into blogland won't stop me from showing before & after pics from along the way.  In any case, our mile-long home improvement list should provide plenty of new material for the blog going forward.