January 23, 2010

House #2




This is house #2. We originally saw this house in October and I've been unable to stop thinking about it since that day. It feels like a really good fit for our family. The original portion of the house was built in the 1880's and there was an addition done about 5 years ago. There is still plenty of work to be done but we could live with it's current state until we were ready to make changes. The house is a little Colonial feeling for my tastes but it has great potential and I'm sure I could give it the feel I'm looking for.

 
There is a side and front entrance both of which enter into this huge 22x15 dining room. The door you see on the right is the side entrance. The door beside the hutch is a closet. For an old house there is tons of storage here. Behind that wall is the kitchen.

 
This kitchen is much smaller than what I'm used to but I could make it work for awhile. I love the exposed brick and open shelving and there is space on the wall opposite the kitchen for free standing furniture for more storage. Behind this room is a lovely little sunporch/mudroom/laundry room  and across from it is a full bath complete with clawfoot tub. I've no idea how I failed to get a picture of either of those. The stairs going up are also right across from this area.

 
This teeny tiny room off the dining room would be my studio in the beginning and looks onto the front porch.

 
This little area would be perfect to rip out and put in a built in desk area for our computer. To the left is my realtor Sharon going into the walk in pantry. Sigh. I always wanted a walk in pantry. When you walk past the pantry and built in area you come to the family room. This is part of the addition. As a side note, we would paint every bit of trim in this house white. Probably the day after we moved in. That green has got to go. To the right of this room are french doors that lead out to a lovely little deck in the backyard.

 
This main level master is also part of the add on. It's a nice size for us and we love the idea of being downstairs.

 
This bathroom is nicely done. It's close to what I would have done myself but not quite there. Still much nicer than what I currently have though. There is also a well organized big 'ol walk in closet.

 
When you walk upstairs you enter into this loft space that was part of the addition. That door in the back leads to a good size unfinished space that would eventually become my studio. This is a great place for the girls to hang out.

 
This is the smaller of the 2 upstairs bedrooms and the one that would be Maddie's. She is absolutely outraged that Emma gets to pick her room first but since she's off to college in a year and has always been the one to pick her room, it only seems fair. A lot of these old homes have random doors upstairs so that they could get furniture up there. Quirky huh?

 
This would be Emma's room. There is a jack and jill bath between the 2 rooms. The girls are both already talking paint colors. You can't even believe how excited they are to move. I'm a bit surprised!

 
I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into how we spend a typical Saturday in the Village. After we finished looking at houses we headed over to the newspaper office and bought the Village paper. It's a tiny little thing and I l-o-v-e reading it. The we headed here and picked up a freshly baked bag of chocolate chip scones. After that we headed to the toy store where Emma likes to spend a portion of her allowance on Japanese Erasers whenever possible.

 
And since we are saving every possible penny, afterwards we had a picnic lunch in our car overlooking the park and then we headed to the library where we sprawled on the window seats and read and played Would You Rather with questions like,  would you rather live in the Village or anywhere else in the world? Oh that's an easy one.

 

41 comments:

  1. Oh I can see the potential this house has and how beautiful you would make it. Chocolate chip scones...huh?? Oh those sound yummalicious!!

    LeAnn

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for sharing pics of both houses! It's so fun to share your journey.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such potential in that home...oh the possibilities!
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have so enjoyed your giving us "tours" through your soon to be village/home. It looks charming. I can't wait to see the house you finally settle upon. Buying a house is a "funny" thing. The right one always seems to come around at the right time. Serendipity, I suppose. Cheers - Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm smitten with house #2..looks like a home ;0)
    Lynea

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am new to your blog and I,too,
    have fallen in love with your
    village. Please tell me where
    this charming little(?) town is.

    Love, love, love House #2!! I
    loved House #1's front porch.
    I'm with you, the swing is so
    cute and love the gingerbread.
    House #2 is full of charm. A
    clawfoot tub....how cute is that???

    Good luck with your house hunting
    and thanks for taking us along on
    your journey.
    Becky

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love house number 2! Like the tall windows and the shutters, I like the coziness of the sloped ceilings in the bedrooms upstairs. Like the updated master bathroom. I like the french doors from the living room to the outside... :-) I want to move in!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for sharing your home hunting. I love looking at other old homes. I have an 1880s Victorian farmhouse. What is funny is we are dealing with that same sage green trim, kitchen cabinets, family room built ins and fireplace too! They must have painted at the same time when it was the trend. I'm with you - white! I'll be back to watch your progress.

    Deborah

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love this one! And I think the only reason it looks a little "colonial" is because of the paint colors they have chosen! I was so happy to hear that you would paint all of the trim white ASAP! It was the first thing I said to my husband when I looked at the pictures...that trim color would have to go!

    I love the open shelving in the kitchen and the ceilings upstairs!

    Keep us posted!

    Kat :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Loving the village tour. House number two has some definite cottage nest potential. I love that you picnic and putter around your future hometown....someday soon, my friend.

    ReplyDelete
  11. #2 seems to have charm and yet, clean and simple lines. Lots to work with. But before I give my vote, are you going to post more houses?

    Definitely white trim!

    ReplyDelete
  12. it's a lovely house.

    guess what? i mention japanese erasers in my post. there's even a photo! LOL

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  13. That looks a little more like it!!! I smell and offer coming..

    Fingers crossed, if you want me to
    :)
    xoxo
    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jen, I love this house for you! Lots of possibilities but I also like parts of house #1! Oh what you could do with this...like a blank canvas! (almost)

    Lanie

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh I can see you settling into House #2 quite nicely. I would love to see what you would do to make it your own. I can remember when we bought our little cottage how I dreamed of living in it and what we would do to it. Thanks for sharing what you've seen so far.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Looks so nice!! What a sweet village -- the library, scone and toy shop -- perfect!

    Janet

    ReplyDelete
  17. This one is adorable and so much potential to have fun working with!
    Hope it works out!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Adorable house! I can just feel your excitement in your post :) I can't wait to see what happens next.

    melissa

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sweet cottage....so much potential. The village looks quite adorable too!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh wow Jen ~ this house is just gorgeous! I noticed the transom window over the door & the exposed brick and all that gorgeous wood trim & would have fallen in love with it too. Our first home had the slanted roofs in the upstairs bedrooms and I love that look ~ so cozy! I can see why you love this little Village so much ♥

    ReplyDelete
  21. OK, OK, I'm sold!!! It's just perfect. It screams "Jenjen"!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I would jump on that house.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Just found your blog and enjoyed browsing. I will enjoy following your journey.

    ReplyDelete
  24. just went through the same thing (house hunting) and we hope to close this Friday...I adore this house...it is so quaint, charming and cozy! :) darling!

    ReplyDelete
  25. What gorgeous homes (although I think the first is a clear winner for me!) Love your blog, have kind of been a lurker and haven't commented, but I love reading your posts, seeing the pictures, and enjoying the beauty of your home! Please keep on blogging!

    ReplyDelete
  26. What an exciting time for you. Looking at all of these wonderful options, I know that you'll find something just right. Enjoy checking out all the pickings!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I love it that you are taking us on the tour of your village musings. I'm surprised that I like #2 more than #1. I can really see you in this house Jen.

    ReplyDelete
  28. OOOOoooHHHhhhh!!! How cute!
    Thanks for stopping by the other day1 Glad you like my little laundry cart, Friend!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Many, many possibilities .... I would say: It feels good, this lovely house....

    Have a happy monday,

    Saskia

    ReplyDelete
  30. I love it! The addition looks like it was nicely done. When we were house hunting we were looking in neighborhoods that remind me of the Village but alas, it didn't pan out for us. Now I'm daydreaming all over again. I love old houses. SIGH!

    ReplyDelete
  31. That is a great house!! I am so totally with you. The trim would be painted white almost as soon as I moved in!

    Gosh, I can't wait to see what house you choose, and especially can't wait to see how you decorate it. Your village is absolutely charming! I want to live there, too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Beautiful home! Painting the trim white and using your own colors will do wonders for the colonial look. You could turn it into a sweet cottage in no time! Thanks for sharing, I love looking at old homes.
    Kate

    ReplyDelete
  33. I think this one is adorable. I'm with you on the white trim. The kitchen has promise...
    I'm envious of your "village day". Would be so fun.

    ReplyDelete
  34. very cute!!! i would be painting trim too. what am i saying, i should be painting my trim right now. yep, this old farmhouse has regular wood trim. i loved the big dining room and the master bath. gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Oh, I love this house! It fairly screams potential! It would be a dream come true to fix it up a sweet house like this just how you like! :) I will have to go look at the other house now! :)

    I hope you are doing well and having a great week! :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. I love vicarious house hunting with you! And vicarious moving will be great too - no boxes for me to pack!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Oh I LOVE house 2. The huge dining room, the cute kitchen, the master on the main .... EVERYTHING! Of course the fantasy Harry Connick house was nice too .. but House 2 wins.

    ReplyDelete
  38. This is like House Hunters. My fav show! Keep showing houses. LOL!

    I do like both houses you showed from what I saw.

    My boys love Japanese erasers too! Oh and we got Would You Rather for Christmas. It was a big hit with the kids. Of course, now ever conversation with them starts with "Would you RAther...."

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave me a note. It's always so appreciated.