by popular demand...
Jun. 21st, 2004 06:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chhotiiOK, the house details:
It's in Wilmington, very close to drbitch and frotz. Style is "unclassifiable"; it consists of a small original house and a large addition. 4 BR, 2.5 BA.
Good points:
* Amazing gardening potential. It's got a fairly large lot, with a large-ish garden plot already dug up in an area that must get many hours of sun. Already established compost heap, strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb. And my organic gardening consultant, drbitch, is not far away. She's seen the land and seems eager to advise me on making good use of it. Mmmm, produce!
* Amazingly close to the commuter rail, thus I can be Farmer Alex and yet commute to my job in town without immersing myself in car culture. frotz measured 0.6 miles from the station to the house. At that distance, it's a toss-up whether walking or biking to the station would be less hassle.
* The barn. It's a bit decrepit, but once we take a few measures to keep it from falling down (replace a couple of dry-rot sills, add some joist hangers, replace a couple of piles of rocks with actual support posts) and fix the potentially leaky roof, a lot of Sweetie hobby clutter can move into the barn.
* A big kitchen, with a gas stove and an oven that gets hot enough for pizza.
* Newly renovated, so no crud or peeling paint, the new kind of windows that are so easy to deal with, and lots of electrical outlets.
Not so great: the floorplan, which is just weird. The livingroom is so large that Sweetie wants to cut it into two rooms, which I don't agree with. But it's not clear to me either how to use the space. The kitchen has a large open area bounded by the island, the pantry door and the laundry nook door where the kitchen table should go, but I'm concerned that a table there will clog up traffic flow. The dining room does not directly open onto the kitchen, it's around a corner, which tempts Sweetie to steal some of the livingroom to make into part of the dining room... irk. But then what would the dining room become?
It's in Wilmington, very close to drbitch and frotz. Style is "unclassifiable"; it consists of a small original house and a large addition. 4 BR, 2.5 BA.
Good points:
* Amazing gardening potential. It's got a fairly large lot, with a large-ish garden plot already dug up in an area that must get many hours of sun. Already established compost heap, strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb. And my organic gardening consultant, drbitch, is not far away. She's seen the land and seems eager to advise me on making good use of it. Mmmm, produce!
* Amazingly close to the commuter rail, thus I can be Farmer Alex and yet commute to my job in town without immersing myself in car culture. frotz measured 0.6 miles from the station to the house. At that distance, it's a toss-up whether walking or biking to the station would be less hassle.
* The barn. It's a bit decrepit, but once we take a few measures to keep it from falling down (replace a couple of dry-rot sills, add some joist hangers, replace a couple of piles of rocks with actual support posts) and fix the potentially leaky roof, a lot of Sweetie hobby clutter can move into the barn.
* A big kitchen, with a gas stove and an oven that gets hot enough for pizza.
* Newly renovated, so no crud or peeling paint, the new kind of windows that are so easy to deal with, and lots of electrical outlets.
Not so great: the floorplan, which is just weird. The livingroom is so large that Sweetie wants to cut it into two rooms, which I don't agree with. But it's not clear to me either how to use the space. The kitchen has a large open area bounded by the island, the pantry door and the laundry nook door where the kitchen table should go, but I'm concerned that a table there will clog up traffic flow. The dining room does not directly open onto the kitchen, it's around a corner, which tempts Sweetie to steal some of the livingroom to make into part of the dining room... irk. But then what would the dining room become?
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no subject
Date: 2004-06-21 05:31 pm (UTC)I assume you've checked out its insulation and energy efficiency. A bad winter heating bill will raise your effective mortgage payment quite a bit.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-21 06:24 pm (UTC)I'm sure I'll be moved to make all sorts of "helpful" suggestions once I see the interior. Then you'll know what to ignore when you ask someone with a real clue.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-21 06:40 pm (UTC)I love being walking distance from the commuter rail. We're the next stop up the line from you :-)
no subject
Date: 2004-06-21 06:55 pm (UTC)It sounds quite wonderful. As for the large living room, if it is open to the kitchen, it would certainly make sense to turn part of it into a dining room. My parents' first house was set up like that; the "living room" went from the front to the back of the house, probably 30 feet, and the back part by the kitchen was used as a dining room when it wasn't being used as a playroom. You could turn the current dining room into an office -- I am greatly in favor of offices being near the kitchen!
As for our house... oh, the kitchen is a disaster! I'll let Ben say more about it, but it's *scary* and fascinating at the same time.