What HAVE we Done???

The afternoon of Sunday, July 31, 2011 found us, once again, headed up the hill to 'the house'. As we walked through the rooms (of which there are many) we saw things we hadn't seen before. Another cubby here, another pantry there. Another hole here. Some damaged eaves there. This time, we had some family with us. I'm sure they thought we were totally out-of-our-minds-crazy! But, my husband can fix anything - and enjoys himself while he's doing it! Okay, so how much time will it take? Is this a money pit? Ummm, may be.

The house itself was advertised something like this. Built in 1949, it has 4-5 bedrooms, 4 baths (2 & 2), 1700 sq ft on over 1/2 an acre with beautiful views of the city. When in fact, it's more like 4-5 bedrooms, 5 full baths, 3 kitchens, 3 living/family rooms, 2 dining rooms, an odd little room thrown in here and there (not big enough for bedrooms, but too big for closets), and a plethora of pantries, closets and cubbies. Plus a wine storage room. The original house (1700 sq ft) was built in 1949, apparently, and did only have 4 bathrooms (2&2). Since then, the house had been added onto who knows how many times, and is somewhere between 3000 & 4000 sq ft (but that's just a guess). Because the additions were done without permits, the square footage is not included on county records. The views of the city are truly amazing, and on a clear day we can see the coastal range, too!

Okay, did I mention it's a fixer? The decking needs replacing in some areas, shoring up in others. There are holes where there shouldn't be, covered windows where there should be light, old flooring that is aching to be refinished, bad shelving that needs to come down, thin glass that needs to be dual pane, eaves that need attending, rooms that need to be finished or taken down/out altogether. And that's just a start. It has no air conditioning (unless you count the wall units in the basement apartment), and the heating is ancient. The grounds were planted by a botanist from the local university (so the story goes) and, I have not doubt, were once incredibly beautiful and inviting. Now, although still beautiful and exotic in places, the foliage has overtaken the patio and the ivy has set in around the property. The hillside (yep, you guessed it - fairly steep) needs to have steps cut into it, and terrace the grassy areas below. Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention that there's no garage and no parking. No, really, no parking.

A view from the deck, down into a portion of the yard. I mean hillside.

Having placed the call to our broker (a close friend) yesterday, the paperwork was already in my e-mail box. The offer was there, just waiting for us to sign. What do we do? Unbelievable that at this stage in our lives, having never purchased a home, we were about to embark on such a big project! On the positive side, we'd have plenty of room for living and entertaining (um, parking?), and, if we needed to remodel a kitchen - we had two others to use while we did it! Pretty sweet, right? Either that or pretty crazy.

As we drove down the hill toward home that day, our brains were swirling with thoughts of what could be done with this old house that had such potential. Back at home, we signed the papers and sent then back to our broker. It's only money, right?

Day two came to a close with conversations about what room would be what. Not like who's bedroom this could be, but more like, "That room, you know, behind the second kitchen... No, off the sunset room. Yeah, that one. I think it might make a great sewing room." and "Okay, the other bathroom off the covered patio... No, the redwood bathroom. Yeah. If we tear out the shower and closet, we can add a soaking tub. Or maybe it should be the guest bathroom."

 What we call the Redwood Bathroom. Love the cool glass blocks!

Day Two.