I did three new posts, so you can see mid-demo, post-demo, then the exterior... just look down.

-b

And, the best one of all - here's the house from the street, without the trees. Amazing. Both Phil and I didn't recognize the house.





And Phil, wondering what house this is!


And, for comparison purposes, here's a picture of the house, as we bought it:



The funny thing is that you can hardly see the awful red and white striped awning over the front door - that, more than the trees, made a huge difference. Of course, now you can see how unruly our landscaping is, but we'll get there.

As always, thanks for checking in!

Post-demo

A few post-demo pictures-

This is the view from the mud room into the half-bath.  Yes, there was a wall there.

Kitchen.  With Phil.  We have since pulled up the floor, though.

Dining room, now without the radiator and appliances.

Living room.  (I just point out that there is some disagreement about which room is which - dining v. living - but until we decide, room next to kitchen is dining and front room with fireplace is living.  Would appreciate your input, though.)

Then upstairs, master bed and master bath (with Phil)

and finally, the attic, all bare bones.

Mid-demo

Finally, the computer and the camera have reached some kind of temporary peace accord and I am able to show some more pictures.

First, mid-demo:

Here's the kitchen, sans wall:

And the basement:

And here is the master bedroom, with the deconstructed master bath right in the middle, then what's left of the master bath:

and the other bedrooms with the pieces from here and there:

and the second full bath:

And finally, the attic - I couldn't actually get up the stairs, so, instead, you get the stairs with all the stuffing hanging out:


It was a mess, but now it is much improved.

In case you've been checking for updates, I'm sorry for the delay. The computer and camera are not getting along, so I haven't been able to update with pictures. and descriptions are boring. The house is empty, now, and we're waiting on the plumbers to take any next steps. (Turns out you should do the plumbing before the drywall... good thing we have Marc to help us.)

As soon as I can get the pictures up, I'll do a new post.

Closing Day, Part 1

5/7/08: CLOSING DAY!!!!

We closed!  It took a while because the address was wrong on most of the forms - incredibly enough, one form said 1346 Hemlock Street and the other form said 1316 Hemlock Place.  The address is 1316 Hemlock Street...  Who'd expect the title people to know that, though?  

It was all fine in the end.  Phil charmed the former owners and managed to get a German noodle recipe.  We learned that the owners' great aunt and uncle bought the house in 1927 and lived there their whole lives.  They never had kids so it passed onto the nieces who rented it to a couple for 37 years!  They moved out in January due to their inability to care for the house (obviously).  And now it's ours, in all its glory.

Pictures below were taken today while we sipped our celebratory champagne.  The orange spray-paint is to mark the demolition work.  Demo workers come tomorrow.

First, the happy homeowners:

The kitchen:

The living and dining rooms:

and the half bath off the kitchen

I'll do another post momentarily with the next floor...

Closing Day, Part 2

(this is a continuation of Part 1)

Here are the stairs, from top and bottom (with special guest star, Marc)

Here is the master bedroom:

and the master bath

bedroom #2

and bedroom #3

and the second full bath

and, last and pretty much least, the attic:

You'll notice all the stuff on the floor - those are mostly blinds, curtains and other add-ons that we pulled down today to get a little light in the house.  The light is fantastic and makes a huge difference!

So that's our house, day 1.  Thanks for looking!