Friday, January 28, 2011

House Hunting: Bungalow

The third house we looked at was so charming in the pictures, JEGs and I fell in love with it before we even saw it.

The Stats:
Built: 1927
Style: Two Story Bungalow
Beds/Baths: 3  1/1
Sq Ft: 1,423
Garage:  Yes

When you entered the house from the front door, you were greeted with the most charming living room/ dining room ever.


again, I had to steal some pictures from Trend.  I FAIL at picture taking.

Um... those floors, you guys?  AND THOSE BUILT INS????   I died.  Right there.  There was even a charming pattern between the two rooms


The kitchen was directly off of the dining room




Ok, here is a fun game I like to play.  It's called Where The Hell Is The Fridge?  It's really a personal favorite of mine.

The kitchen was so tiny that the previous owners had to keep it in the mudroom, which was located beyond the doorway next to the stove.  Because the previous owners had taken the fridge with them, it took me a couple passes through the kitchen to realize there wasn't one in the house.

Next to the kitchen was a sun room addition. 



Although we liked the breakfast bar and the idea of a sun room, JEGs and I felt like we could probably turn this into one big kitchen area and reunite the fridge with the rest of it's appliance brothers.


The downstairs hosted a full sized bathroom that was still in pretty good shape

This is what I love about looking at older homes-- finding random things like flip out storage under the sink.  I've never seen this before.


Two bedrooms were also located on the first floor, however one of them had been turned into a den.  The bigger of the two would have been good for a guest room.



The master bedroom was located on the second floor.  I suspect it was originally an attic, but they converted it to a master bedroom with an added office area. They did install skylights to make the room feel airier.


There was even a half bath conveniently located in the bedroom


However, we ran into a slight problem.


Sir JEGs could not stand upstairs.  Hell, I even had a problem if I went too far to the left or right.

The layout



Pros:
 Hello??  Did you not see the living room and dining room?  I bet I could have the  Youngsters drooling with envy over that set up.

Charm GAH. LORE.  I really felt like I could make this house worthy of the name "Falconhead Cottage".

Very large garage and driveway for JEGs to tinker with his vehicles. 

It was  located on a corner lot on a cul-de-sac, so we had a large yard with a good amount of privacy.

Cons:
That kitchen.  That will be a major undertaking and something we will have to save up for at least a year.

JEGs physically could not stand up in the master bedroom.  We have the option of building a dormer so we can have a regular ceiling, but that will also take some saving of the pennies.  Until then, we would have to live in the downstairs bedrooms and have our bed in one room and our dressers in another room.

Location.  This home was located a little further north they we really wanted to go.  It's still doable, but it is adding to my daily commute to work.

Regardless of the cons, we did really like the house and the potential it held.  It's staying on the list, but there are still a couple properties we'd like to take a look at.

Always & Forever,
  ME

5 comments:

Victoria said...

You're right about the charm. That place is adorable. But I had the same thoughts about the kitchen. We have a large kitchen in our rental, so I wouldn't be able to handle a downgrade in size on that. While it would be totally fun to re-do the whole kitchen (imagine the control you'd have!) it would be a pricey undertaking. GAH I can't wait to find out what you decide!

claire @ a peachtree city life said...

wonderful bones!! that living room is gorgeous. i totally agree with your idea of expanding the kitchen (haha your wthitf game would be over!) and that's something you could totally live with while you saved up - not ideal, but livable. too bad about the ceilings tho! i suppose he could just get used to stooping??

Oona Johnson said...

This house is adorable, for reals! I can see where the ceiling thing would be an issue though. lol

Shannon said...

I love it! And who needs a fridge anyway? Just get a cooler and you're set. And I'm dying of anticipation over here...did youse buy yet???

Kim @ NewlyWoodwards said...

I'm dying over the floors in this one. The details are fab.