Saturday, May 26, 2007

Janus House

I have a key in hand. It opens up new possibilities.

We closed escrow on our house yesterday. Our new old house - new to us, almost older than the two of us put together. Finally, life has settled down to the point where it is time to put down deeper roots. To, as Voltaire would have it, cultivate our garden.


So, what about this house? It's old (1924) and large and in need of TLC after a time of neglect. We're the third family to live in it. It has a Mission Revival style exterior, very plain, and a beautiful classic Craftsman interior. This is odd, as the Spanish style exteriors usually go with a plainer interior, thought we're not complaining.

I've set up a website where we're going to write up our renovations efforts, publish pictures, keep a house blog and other things. I did password protect it because I'd really prefer not to give thieves and con men detailed information about the interior of the house and what we are doing. Friends are welcome to email me and ask for a password.

There are a few immediate needs. There is a ficus tree in the back yard that needs to be cut down before it takes over the neighborhood. The kitchen has not been changed or updated since 1924, so it is both quaint and nearly unusable. That will take some major work. The electrical system has been updated from the old knob and tube wiring, but it is woefully inadequate for today's gadget wonderland. And so on.

We expect renovations will take from now until Labor Day or thereabouts.

Anglachel

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