A Jewel of a Home
Carmen Leal
I joke that my character
home is the consolation prize for moving from sunny Hawaii to gloomy Wisconsin
in March. Maybe that wasn’t the right time to make such a drastic move, but life
spiraled out of control after a car wreck and the ensuing concussion and traumatic
brain injury. Moving was the only viable option. My son married a girl from Wisconsin
and they moved to Oshkosh, If I could not live in Hawaii where I wanted, I
might as well move to where we had family.
The 1875 two-story home
with both a front and side porch had every must-have on our list; brick, two
story, a first-floor bath and laundry room, a separate office, and a large
enough kitchen. What wasn’t on the list was a yard full of weeds, most of them
invasive to Wisconsin.
Buying a house long
distance meant hours on Zillow scrolling through countless properties where I
learned that some people are not very good at decorating. We did our walk
throughs at obscene times like 6:00 in the morning because of the time
difference and we never got to see the neighborhoods. We researched issues such
as school districts, walkability, and safety, but it’s impossible to get a feel
of the of the community without physically being there.
What I wish I had done
was to hire an independent contractor to come and look at the house before we
made an offer. I would have known about front porch that collapsed after we
arrived, the need to rewire the back of the house so that we could run the
washer and dishwasher at once, the windows that did not open because of the
decades of paint that sealed them shut, and that the back of the house has no
heat source! That coveted first floor bath is like using an outhouse in the
winter.
What I did right was to
listen to my gut. My Italianate
home with massive curved windows and hard wood floors is made of cream city
brick with the trim and ledges painted the traditional dark green and maroon
reflective of many homes in the state.
The
building was structurally sound and, with sweat equity and an interest-free
loan from the city, we now have all new double pane windows, a driveway, a
walkway, a new furnace, and insulation. We found a loan for a rain garden,
front landscaping, and next month we are getting the trim painted thanks to
another grant.
We
painted the interior with brighter colors to offset the fact that the house is
North facing. All new kitchen and laundry appliances, ceiling fans, upgraded
electrical and plumbing, refinished floors, and rebuilt both porches
Antique
and consignment shops are where I found furniture, pictures, mirrors,
Tiffany-style lamps, and more to truly make our house into the prize it was
meant to be.
Now,
if I could only move it Hawaii.
Carmen Leal
Author of I Chose You, Imperfectly Perfect Rescue Dogs and Their Humans
Thank you for being a stop on my blog tour. It was fun thinking of all the ways that we've been able to breathe life into this old house. Another year of gardening has begun!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great guest post!
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