Tuesday, February 12, 2008

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?

14 comments:

Patricia said...

I'm not one who generally likes old houses nor the outside look of them. The insides look very nice - in particular, the second one you showed. I don't like the range next to the sink but the decorating is amazing! These homes actually look a lot like German houses, with the exposed beams and smaller windows.

Janet said...

I luv me a good bungalow, but we have very few around here an most of them have been "crappified" (I just made that term up) by owners who wanted them to be something else :>(
Janet

Thirkellgirl said...

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, I know, and believe me my house is plenty small, but these little rooms with all that wood would make me nuts. Maybe it's an east coast taste, but all these little Minneapolis houses look like there's only one way you could arrange the furniture to have it fit.
I'm sure Minneapolans are very nice people, though.

Sister Honey Bunch/Judi maloney said...

I love house tours! Yea!!

Beth said...

I love both of them! As Thirkellgirl said, you don't see many houses with all that wood on the East coast. But since I grew up in the Midwest I *miss* the wide wood trimwork.

I also love all the built-ins that match the trim, too. I would kill or die for a house like that in my price range in our town. :)

Anonymous said...

Growing up in Minneapolis, I LOVE all the woodowrk inside the old houses. Molly would FREAK out over the castle mural on the wall. She is all about castles right now.

I live in a 50's rambler and it is SO bor-ring compared to these little old houses that have lots of character.

Thanks for the tours... perfect penance my friend.

Michelle said...

Those are my kind of houses! I *love* all the original woodwork and built-ins--gorgeous! In Seattle, those would be selling for $500-800k, so my bungalow dreams are a but a dream for now.

Lisa said...

I love them both...I would have such fun decorating and fixing both of those up, but the second one looked like it didn't need a ton of work at all!
Glad your back!

Cindy said...

I love the first house! As I'm looking at the pictures I'm imagining what I would do to decorate it. Wow, I would LOVE to have a home with all that charm!

forcryeye said...

What I think is...that I miss the twin cities! I am also thinking my great aunt's house must be worth some $$$. A little bit of each of these houses reminds me of the house I grew up in, in S. Mpls.

jillskict said...

Favor? I am looking and I LOVE the first one a ton, but not looking in St. Paul, but even so, I would love MLS numbers if you have them?

Feel free to email me, jillski@ hotmail.com

Mrs. Jones said...

Fun, fun. I love looking at houses. The outsides are great. They need to start building new houses like that. I don't like the range next to the sink either, but that sink is awesome!

I'm looking forward to seeing some more doll house tours.

Barb said...

Love love love. Thanks for sharing these. I could look at other people's houses all day.

Anonymous said...

I love the first one. I really like the old houses, but I see the convenience in a new one thats been made to look old. Because, lets face it, do you really want a one bathroom that is adorned by turquoise tile??