House Tours!

Oh yes! I said "tours" - plural. Because I have penance, my friends :)

Here's the first one with a little background story:

It's in my neighborhood and I've always loved it. And when you see the outside you will wonder why - unless you love houses and can see beyond the shabby paint (life lesson: don't judge a book by it's cover, people). Anyway.....Noodle was about a year and a half, and we were at the park and there were 2 other Moms there with their girls who seemed to be about the same age as Noodle. One of the Moms lives in this house! So, you just know I wriggled my way inside, don't you?! Oh yes I did!
Her husband is a landscaper and in the back yard? He had built a pool with a waterfall out of huge rocks and cobblestones! It was amazing! However, it was never quite finished and then they had 2 kids 13 months apart, so it really never got finished. He tore down most of it and just made a deck.

Okay, so - it has 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. It was built in 1916 and has 1,835 square feet of living space for $275k. All three levels are finished, but I know for a fact that they've never really lived in the upper floor - though their teenage son used it for a while as his hangout/bedroom. The Mom hated the upper floor - but like I said, 2 kids in 13 months - so fixing it up wasn't a priority for her.

The outside. Shabby, but not-so-much-chic. I still love it.

The kitchen. Dudes. It took my breath away when I saw it in person. All of the original cabinets! And so well taken care of......but as a person who loves to cook - it broke my heart! There is a big old farmhouse sink standing alone to the left of the fridge. It's totally cool, but there's no dishwasher. Look at the chandelier! Cute, huh? I think the Dad is an artist-type. He picked out the chandelier and wanted them all through the house.

The living room. You can see the dining room, too. There's a beautiful built-in buffet in the dining room. They used to have a photo of it, but took it off the tour for some reason. I think the family already moved out, because when I was there, this house was filled with breath-taking art - all original works and it was the first time I had seen such art. It was very cool. Look at the mustard color they painted the ceiling.

Another shot of the living room.

The bathroom on the main floor.

One of the two bedrooms on the main floor. I think they swapped out the chandelier because the one that was in there was very ornate and expensive.

The front porch. Gorgeous, huh?

The front bedroom. They never decorated this one. It's pretty big: 18x11!

The upstairs......you can see why she didn't like this room, but couldn't it be totally cool?

So - that's that one.

Here's another one across the river.....in Minneapolis. You know what? I think I've been in this one, too. With my pal Hilary! We went on a tour of bungalow kitchens and while I don't recall, the kitchen looking all that familiar? The outside rings a bell!

So, this one has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and 1814 sq. feet of living space. It was built in 1921 and it's listed at about $460k.

Cute little cottagy exterior, no? Appearantly, there's a 1 bedroom cottage on the property that rents for $1,000 a month. I don't know why they didn't show it in the tour.....I'd love to see that!

There are 2 bedrooms upstairs.
The kitchen. I'm not loving the range right next to the sink like that, but I like the way they've kept the original cabinets and added those new ones.

The basement bathroom.

The living room. It's 20x12 feet.

The dining room - it's 13x12 feet.
The sun room, just off the dining room.

The basement family room. There's another bedroom down here as well, but it's not included in the tour.
The back yard.

What do you think of these?