Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Some more about our new house:
The house has 2 large and 2 small bedrooms on the 2nd floor; the 2 master-sized bedrooms are joined by a walkthrough dressing room with washstand and wooden clothes-closets that date from 1902ish when the house was built. We will probably give the boys each a small bedroom, use one for ourselves, and do the other large room up as an office-cum-guest room, and then have another workspace with desk and office chair in the playroom downstairs so that we can relocate office stuff to the mobile office when guests are with us. There’s also a bathroom on the 2nd floor, with subway-tile- style wall and floor tiles.
The main floor has the entrance from the street up the stoop, with front and foyer doors, and has a beautiful installed parson’s bench at the foot of the staircase for shoe removal and outdoor gear storage. French doors open to the living room with bay windows that look out onto the street; the windows have stained glass detail. There’s no fireplace or mantel, but the living room is all but dominated by a huge wall mirror in a pillared frame, built into the wall. Don’t know what you call it, but it’s really attractive! The living room connects to the dining room, which is quite formal with wainscoting, a coffered ceiling and a couple of built-in stained-glass-fronted cabinets. The kitchen is very small but really nicely done (stainless appliances and intelligent cabinetry). There’s a breakfast nook at the back of the kitchen before you reach the door to the back porch. Said porch has an iron railing and is quite large (BBQ will live there); walk down the steps to the back yard. Back yard is fully enclosed and has grass and cultivated borders; room to plant stuff and room to run and play.
There’s also an entrance from both front (walk down some steps) and back (on ground level, due to slope of ground) to the fully finished basement, which is the only carpeted area of the house and will be an ideal playroom. Laundry is down there at the moment, and will probably stay there (though we may replace the 2 units with a front-loader stackable set). There’s a bathroom with shower in the basement. I have in mind some low Ikea shelving for toys along one wall and a couple of 3-shelf bookcases for kids’ books: for now, nothing so tall that Jamie can’t reach it without adult assistance.
We will be upgrading the electricals before we move in; 220 amp service has been brought to the house, but the internal wiring is still 60 amp. The place has radiant heat, and the furnace/hot water heater is “50 years old but meticulously maintained”, so we’ll be wanting to change that pretty soon. Probably. Who knows? Maybe the machine is one of those built-to-last things that will go forever if properly cared for; I know little to nothing about those big scary boxes. But I will.
We also plan to open the wall between the narrow kitchen and the large dining room. It will mean losing some of the formal character of the dining room, and taking out some of the charming detail on the dividing wall, which is a shame as it changes the original character of the space, but the kitchen will be much nicer opened up that way. We’ll likely put a granite counter on the island we create when removing the wall, add more cupboard space above and possibly below, and maybe get a couple of high stools for casual dining/hanging out with the cook. And it will mean I can watch the boys eat while working in the kitchen. Until that time, I think they’ll be eating in the breakfast nook, but that’s not an insulated space and we’ll probably want to close it off in the winter. One idea I have is to turn that nook into a pantry and put a door between it and the rest of the house, so that in the winter we can use it for extra cold storage.
The electrical work will be a priority. The rest can be done as time and cashflow permit; the kitchen/dining room work is not nearly as drastic as it sounds, and won’t really cost that much.
I love the limestone front, the parson’s bench, the stained glass, the washstand in the dressing-room area…and the space. The prospects of a playroom for the kids and the spare room for guests, neither of which are the living room, are a balm to my mind; I’m soooo tired of trying to live here now. Our little apartment is a really nice space, but for over a year now it’s been inadequate to our needs.
Another really excellent feature is that the best elementary school in the area (indeed one of the top 5 in Brooklyn!) is 2 doors down. We’ll be zoned for a school we’re happy to have the boys attend.
The only real down sides are that Paul’s commute is somewhat longer from that area, and that the house doesn’t have parking. We may consider renting from someone locally if that is an available option, although street parking works on the same system that we’ve got in our current neighbourhood, and we’ve been fine with that since we got the car.
Not sure precisely when the deal will close, though it looks like mid-November is probable. It’s Rosh Hashana now, and most of the real estate law profession is Jewish, so we won’t get the contracts moving properly until the end of the week. Once we sign the contract, our mortgage brokers will send an appraiser in to see the house before issuing the loan, but from the time we sign and inform the broker that the contract is firm, it should take a maximum of 21 working days. We’re thinking it’s likely that we’ll be moving in late November, after the electrical work is complete. We may consider doing another piece of work at the same time; to be determined. Some areas of the house will want carpeting; at a minimum, I think runners on the stairs and perhaps a decent area rug in each of the boys’ rooms would be intelligent. Too many wood floors and the house is too resonant for a home in which children live! We found that out in our Toronto house.
I’m very excited about the move, and the house, and the location. We’re hoping lots of people will come to stay with us!
The house has 2 large and 2 small bedrooms on the 2nd floor; the 2 master-sized bedrooms are joined by a walkthrough dressing room with washstand and wooden clothes-closets that date from 1902ish when the house was built. We will probably give the boys each a small bedroom, use one for ourselves, and do the other large room up as an office-cum-guest room, and then have another workspace with desk and office chair in the playroom downstairs so that we can relocate office stuff to the mobile office when guests are with us. There’s also a bathroom on the 2nd floor, with subway-tile- style wall and floor tiles.
The main floor has the entrance from the street up the stoop, with front and foyer doors, and has a beautiful installed parson’s bench at the foot of the staircase for shoe removal and outdoor gear storage. French doors open to the living room with bay windows that look out onto the street; the windows have stained glass detail. There’s no fireplace or mantel, but the living room is all but dominated by a huge wall mirror in a pillared frame, built into the wall. Don’t know what you call it, but it’s really attractive! The living room connects to the dining room, which is quite formal with wainscoting, a coffered ceiling and a couple of built-in stained-glass-fronted cabinets. The kitchen is very small but really nicely done (stainless appliances and intelligent cabinetry). There’s a breakfast nook at the back of the kitchen before you reach the door to the back porch. Said porch has an iron railing and is quite large (BBQ will live there); walk down the steps to the back yard. Back yard is fully enclosed and has grass and cultivated borders; room to plant stuff and room to run and play.
There’s also an entrance from both front (walk down some steps) and back (on ground level, due to slope of ground) to the fully finished basement, which is the only carpeted area of the house and will be an ideal playroom. Laundry is down there at the moment, and will probably stay there (though we may replace the 2 units with a front-loader stackable set). There’s a bathroom with shower in the basement. I have in mind some low Ikea shelving for toys along one wall and a couple of 3-shelf bookcases for kids’ books: for now, nothing so tall that Jamie can’t reach it without adult assistance.
We will be upgrading the electricals before we move in; 220 amp service has been brought to the house, but the internal wiring is still 60 amp. The place has radiant heat, and the furnace/hot water heater is “50 years old but meticulously maintained”, so we’ll be wanting to change that pretty soon. Probably. Who knows? Maybe the machine is one of those built-to-last things that will go forever if properly cared for; I know little to nothing about those big scary boxes. But I will.
We also plan to open the wall between the narrow kitchen and the large dining room. It will mean losing some of the formal character of the dining room, and taking out some of the charming detail on the dividing wall, which is a shame as it changes the original character of the space, but the kitchen will be much nicer opened up that way. We’ll likely put a granite counter on the island we create when removing the wall, add more cupboard space above and possibly below, and maybe get a couple of high stools for casual dining/hanging out with the cook. And it will mean I can watch the boys eat while working in the kitchen. Until that time, I think they’ll be eating in the breakfast nook, but that’s not an insulated space and we’ll probably want to close it off in the winter. One idea I have is to turn that nook into a pantry and put a door between it and the rest of the house, so that in the winter we can use it for extra cold storage.
The electrical work will be a priority. The rest can be done as time and cashflow permit; the kitchen/dining room work is not nearly as drastic as it sounds, and won’t really cost that much.
I love the limestone front, the parson’s bench, the stained glass, the washstand in the dressing-room area…and the space. The prospects of a playroom for the kids and the spare room for guests, neither of which are the living room, are a balm to my mind; I’m soooo tired of trying to live here now. Our little apartment is a really nice space, but for over a year now it’s been inadequate to our needs.
Another really excellent feature is that the best elementary school in the area (indeed one of the top 5 in Brooklyn!) is 2 doors down. We’ll be zoned for a school we’re happy to have the boys attend.
The only real down sides are that Paul’s commute is somewhat longer from that area, and that the house doesn’t have parking. We may consider renting from someone locally if that is an available option, although street parking works on the same system that we’ve got in our current neighbourhood, and we’ve been fine with that since we got the car.
Not sure precisely when the deal will close, though it looks like mid-November is probable. It’s Rosh Hashana now, and most of the real estate law profession is Jewish, so we won’t get the contracts moving properly until the end of the week. Once we sign the contract, our mortgage brokers will send an appraiser in to see the house before issuing the loan, but from the time we sign and inform the broker that the contract is firm, it should take a maximum of 21 working days. We’re thinking it’s likely that we’ll be moving in late November, after the electrical work is complete. We may consider doing another piece of work at the same time; to be determined. Some areas of the house will want carpeting; at a minimum, I think runners on the stairs and perhaps a decent area rug in each of the boys’ rooms would be intelligent. Too many wood floors and the house is too resonant for a home in which children live! We found that out in our Toronto house.
I’m very excited about the move, and the house, and the location. We’re hoping lots of people will come to stay with us!
Sunday, October 02, 2005
WE GOT A HOUSE!!!
Saturday, October 01, 2005
WEBSITE UPDATE: Yesterday I posted a sampling of photos taken this summer (May through early September), including pictures from AJ's first birthday.
The cooler weather has finally arrived here! The boys have been outside in jeans and jackets, and everyone in the neighbourhood seems much happier with life in general the past few days.
AJ will not eat baby food any more; he asks for things by name ("cup", "bread", "up"...) and walks everywhere. He has a fine sense of humour and likes to play games; his receptive language is significant, so our games are fun.
Jamie has started preschool at a new place, just around the corner from our apartment, and is really enjoying it. He likes to finish lunch and run to school with AJ and me panting along behind him; he doesn't use the stroller any more except for longer errands (or times when I need him controlled or restrained!).
We've been making good use of the membership we took at the newly-opened local YMCA. It has a pool and limited but good child care, so I can leave AJ for a play and take Jamie swimming, or just take AJ to the pool when Jamie is in school. The other facilities are supposed to be good as well; they have lots of little-kid gym classes, and we may get Jamie into one of those next session.
However, that will depend where we're living! We have an offer in on a house. I'm really hopeful...and we'll know what happens with it Sunday evening.
Paul's mother is coming for a visit in a couple of weeks. Jamie is already making plans!
The cooler weather has finally arrived here! The boys have been outside in jeans and jackets, and everyone in the neighbourhood seems much happier with life in general the past few days.
AJ will not eat baby food any more; he asks for things by name ("cup", "bread", "up"...) and walks everywhere. He has a fine sense of humour and likes to play games; his receptive language is significant, so our games are fun.
Jamie has started preschool at a new place, just around the corner from our apartment, and is really enjoying it. He likes to finish lunch and run to school with AJ and me panting along behind him; he doesn't use the stroller any more except for longer errands (or times when I need him controlled or restrained!).
We've been making good use of the membership we took at the newly-opened local YMCA. It has a pool and limited but good child care, so I can leave AJ for a play and take Jamie swimming, or just take AJ to the pool when Jamie is in school. The other facilities are supposed to be good as well; they have lots of little-kid gym classes, and we may get Jamie into one of those next session.
However, that will depend where we're living! We have an offer in on a house. I'm really hopeful...and we'll know what happens with it Sunday evening.
Paul's mother is coming for a visit in a couple of weeks. Jamie is already making plans!
