And I was engaged to another house at the time!
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In 2007, Howard and I had a contract to buy an 1890s house in another community: gorgeous yard, fabulous neighborhood, amazing new maple and granite kitchen, magazine-spread-worthy bathrooms . . . and just a few weeks before we were to close on this purchase, and the sale of our own house, I was stalking . . . I mean looking at . . . other houses for sale, and this picture popped up:
Now you have to understand the depths of my dottiness, in that I saw this picture, and it took my breath away.
I am telling you, my heart skipped a beat.
A normal person would have thought, "Whew! What kind of nutters would buy that old dump?"
But not me. No indeedy. For me, it was Love At First Sight.
There it was, the house I had always hoped to own -- a Greek Revival farmhouse, built in 1832, with loads of original fittings and features, a big front porch, a long upstairs hall with plenty of bedrooms, a separate "family" staircase down to the kitchen, a full walk up attic (I pictured Jo Marsh and her apples and pens), a stone foundation, old wavy glass windows, and -- bonus! -- a recently built conservatory that doesn't even leak.
There it was, the house I had always hoped to own -- a Greek Revival farmhouse, built in 1832, with loads of original fittings and features, a big front porch, a long upstairs hall with plenty of bedrooms, a separate "family" staircase down to the kitchen, a full walk up attic (I pictured Jo Marsh and her apples and pens), a stone foundation, old wavy glass windows, and -- bonus! -- a recently built conservatory that doesn't even leak.
Howard came home from work that day.
Howard: Honey, I'm home!Me: Hi. I found the perfect house for us!
Howard: Honey, we already have a contract on a house.
Me: This one is better!
Howard: Tough toenails, Honey, we have a contract!
Me: I like this one better!
. . . and so it went.
Then, our house buyers pulled out a week before the closing, meaning we couldn't buy the other house, and those sellers found other buyers, and suddenly we did not have a contract on another house . . . but by then, the online real estate listing for the old yellow house with the big front porch was gone. I assumed it had been sold.
Then, one day, months later, while stalking the housing listings again, I saw this:
Different season, same house, same breathless and heart-stopping reaction.My house was still single, still looking for that perfect partner, still available after all!
Kismet. Serendipity. Fate. Whatever . . . it was ours.
And it still is.
We are looking forward to a long and loving relationship.
It would help if That Old House would learn to stick to a budget, but one can't have everything.
She's lucky she's cute, you know what I mean?
And it still is.
We are looking forward to a long and loving relationship.
It would help if That Old House would learn to stick to a budget, but one can't have everything.
She's lucky she's cute, you know what I mean?
P.S. I got pretty much all of my "wish list" features here at That Old House.
Howard had one thing on his Wish List: a garage. Poor Howard. He is the best of husbands.
Howard had one thing on his Wish List: a garage. Poor Howard. He is the best of husbands.
