The First Walk-Through - the Main Floor

  The more I think about why I am doing this blog it is becoming more obvious to me that I am writing it less for the people that have asked me to, and all the things I mentioned in my first post, but more for myself and my children.   You see I have the WORST memory.  It is embarrassing how bad it is.  I fear that this experience, like so many others in my life will be lost if it is not documented in some form.  We will see how long I keep this up.  I tend to forget many things that I have started because life gets in the way.  ;)   I'm sure you can relate to that.


I left you last with some pictures of our new/old home.

Lets digress a bit to our first walk through and our first impression of this house.

When we were looking for a house I wanted a very functional house.   My conditions, and Matt agreed, were 4 bedrooms, 2-3 bathrooms, a main family area, good size kitchen with a breakfast bar and eating area, a main floor office, 3 car garage, and a mud/laundry room.  I also hoped for a wood-burning stove and fireplace.  I did not want a formal dining room or living room.   Our last house has small version of both and I found that we rarely used either.  In fact in our last home we turned our "formal dining" room into a study area for the kids.  That never got used either.  It was wasted space to us and I was looking for something more functional.  I also hoped for an open concept home with high ceilings and lots of natural light.  Lastly, as I mentioned, land was a must to play on, and park our camper.  We also desired lower taxes than 7.95% and I wanted space to raise animals; chickens, rabbits...... I'll get to that later.

This home had most everything.  It was listed as follows:

This is a Fannie Mae Property! Situation on 15.75 acre wooded lot, you'll find this secluded 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home. Built in 1994 and featuring over 2,600 square feet of living space, you'll love the decks over-looking the yard, above ground pool, two fireplaces and granite counter tops in the kitchen.

FACTS

• Baths: 2 full, 1 half
• Lot: 15 acres
• Single Family

• Built in 1994
• All time views: 6,503
• Cooling: Other

• Heating: Other, Radiant
• Last sold: Mar 2001 for $270,000

FEATURES

• Attic
• Fireplace
• Garden
• Lawn
• Parking: 2 spaces

• Partial basement
• Patio
• Pool
• Porch
• RV Parking

• View: Water
• Wired

APPLIANCES INCLUDED

• Dishwasher

• Garbage disposal

ROOM TYPES

• Dining room
• Family room

• Mud room
• Pantry

• Walk-in closet
• Workshop

CONSTRUCTION

• Exterior material: Brick, Cement concrete, Other, Wood
• Roof type: Asphalt

• Room count: 16
• Stories: 2

• Structure type: Modern

I stated before that prior to the price drop Matt and I viewed the home with our realtor.  At that point the price was at the top of our budget and we were hopeful, that in spite of the fact that this was a foreclosure, that it would be in good shape and not need a lot of work.  As we drove up the long gravel driveway folllwing our realtor we looked over to the right and we were in awe as we looked up the hill and saw the house.  We parked our cars on the concrete slab in front of the 2-door large garage and looked around.   Trees were everywhere!  The weather was warm that day and the sky was clear.  My heart was singing.

We noticed landscaping railroad ties on the side of the garage, a wrap-around porch to the front door and a wonderful looking deck overlooking it all.  Behind us was a old rundown shed that looked to be used as a chicken coop and a lean-to aluminum structure next to that.  There was a large kids' clubhouse down the hill and no neighboring houses could be seen.   Regardless that there were no leaves on the trees the property was breath-taking.   We walked up to the house with with thoughts running through our minds.   What is wrong with this house? Why is the price low? Though the price was at the top of our budget it was hard to understand why this house was listed as low as it was.  With 16 acres and brick and cedar and a deck and first impression it had to be more.  If my gut was right the inside was probably a mess.   And if the inside needed a lot of work then there was no way we could have it because we couldn't afford the price & rehab and we would be disappointed.  (side note....the house that we lost the year before was a mile from this one, larger in square footage, had out-buildings, and only 5 acres.  It was priced $30k higher than this one.)

As we approached the house we observed wear and tear to the exterior.  The cedar looked as though it had not been re-stained in years, there was a broken window, and the driveway was a wreck, but it was winter, and we were only shopping at the time.   We walked around the porch to enter the front door and were immediately overwhelmed by the stench.  Yuck, smoke, musty air, dust and dirty carpets.

But there in front of us was, what looked to be, a stone fountain (not functional) in the foyer. 

We looked to the right and were immediately struck by the wood details in a very large room with huge windows and a double door that exited to the deck.  Unfortunately we had to keep out shoes on because the carpet in that room was black with dirt and stains.

At one point these carpets were white but years of use and shoes left on turned it grey and black. :( 

As we walked through that room we saw a beautiful fireplace
with brick and custom made doors and you had to step down to enter and the walls were stained yellow with smoke and handprints, one of the windows was broken and missing a pane, and the fireplace was cracked and had a leak from the roof which dripped down the wood and the tannins from the wood started staining the beautiful brick.....

We walked through the opening on the right of the fireplace and entered the dining area with ceramic tile floors and a sky-light!  It too had picture windows that overlooked a very dilapidated iced-over swimming pool.

This is the screened porch. Most of the screen was full of holes and the railing
missing in some areas. 

There was a sliding glass door to the outside screened in porch that was full of old wasp nest and holes in the screens.  It was missing railing and had a door to the deck hanging on one hinge.  But, in spite of all the disrepair it was beautiful!








On the back side of the fireplace and fountain was an empty space where it looked like a wood-burning stove once stood.
 Standing in the kitchen looking over where we just came from was bright with sun light and in spite of the smells and dirt I was loving it.

As I turned from this view and looked into the kitchen I observed the unique cabinets.  They were knotty and grainy but beautiful, except for the wooden knobs.  The countertops were granite (I never had granite countertops) and there was a brick feature where the old double oven stood.   The kitchen sink had another picture window above it with a small area to put my herbs that over-looked the back woods and lazy-susan cabinets in every corner.  And up in ceiling near the sky-light was a gaping black hole that had clearly been there for years.   What does that
The refrigerator was missing and the existing appliances were very old and rusty but otherwise a lovely kitchen with under cabinet lighting, a great walk-in pantry and an island with a breakfast bar!

Irrespective of the dirty bricks stained by smoke from food burning in the over or the rotten wood under the sink with mouse poo everywhere or the spaghetti noodles remnants on the ceiling by the cooktop or the cooktop....wait, the cooktop is in a hole in the wall, literally, and the top of that hole is 58' from the floor lined with brick and....wait....I'm 5'9 1/2".   Yes I had to check.  I moved in to pretend I was cooking over that cooktop.   BAM!  I bumped my head on that brick.   Well, that won't work!!......let's move on. Because, honestly, at this point....Oh!  At this point I'm in love.  What's next?

We leave the kitchen after looking in the pantry and there it is!  With double glass doors, my future office with ANOTHER picture window overlooking the front yard and porch and a mantle and a closet! (and more dirty carpet and smelly walls)


We head down the hallway toward the garage.  There is it.  Another "must-have".  A mudroom/laundry room with an exit to the outside and outside there is a clothesline!!! Yippee.   There was also a laundry shoot and a large storage nook behind the wall of the future washer and dryer.  There were cabinets in this mudroom and a double work sink!




Next to that was a powder room with medicine cabinet and window and granite countertop.


The door on the left side -> leads to the garage.   I'll talk about that later.




So far, so good!   Next I'll talk about the upstairs.