Sunday, February 18, 2007

we have a house!*

it's a 1915 portland bungalow in s.e. portland, much farther from work for me than we'd hoped, but perfect in almost every other way: original leaded glass, craftsman built-ins with original hardware, a wonderful front porch, and in need of much, much work (see the photos below for a glimpse).

we found it on saturday, wrote an offer almost on the spot, because our realtor said we wouldn't find anything similar to it again, and found out that night that our offer had been accepted. totally daunting and exciting at the same time. we celebrated that night with pear and kiwi cocktails at
masu, then a $3 movie at the laurelhurst, and started asking ourselves how we could bear to leave the hawthorne district, where insanely good sushi and wonderful theater-pubs are abundant and in walking distance. we're staying here with the lovely nancy until we close on the house in april, and we couldn't begin to afford the neighborhood, but man is it fabulous.

so yesterday we spent the day exploring the
willamette valley pinot noir country - which is under an hour from our new place - and discovering all the great things about our new neighborhood. it may not have the laurelhurst or masu, but it does have an extinct volcano-slash-nature preserve; a bike path to the river; a park with a pool, skating rink, and off-leash dog area; AND several girly bars within walking distance. perfect.

and then today, we spent the afternoon at the home and garden outpost of
powell's books researching historic home renovation, craftsman architecture and green building techniques until our eyes felt like they might fall ought of our heads. we've got a lot to learn, and a lot to sort through (like how i don't really need arts and crafts wallpaper in a house we're just going to sell, no matter how gorgeous it is); but we're on our way.

*drew says i can't say we "have" the house, yet. we haven't settled, and the home inspection later this week could turn up stuff we're not ready to handle. stay tuned.

a few more photos, including the original glass and box beams, and the oh-so-horrifying kitchen, because that's my specialty:







5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lily!

It's gorgeous! Congratulations. Now you just have to find the coffee shop across the street so that you can sit and admire it until you get to closing. Not that Justin and I did that...

Can't wait to hear more.

Anonymous said...

Lilyandrew, it's so lovely - everything you said and more! Can't wait to hear when Drew says you can say you *have* it, and then forever after to keep up with your blogress....

Love,

~ma

Unknown said...

What is up with that ceiling? Are those miniature inverted pyramids? Meringue? Photoshop just to see if we're paying attention?

lily said...

Mike said...
"What is up with that ceiling? Are those miniature inverted pyramids? Meringue? Photoshop just to see if we're paying attention?"

we're calling those "stalactites." our realtor is calling them "horrible." meringue is actually a pretty good term. whatever they are, they're probably going - but the original box beams will stay.

spenser villwock said...

check out one of my favorite bars of all times the laurelthirst. bluegrass and brick in a comfy neighborhood pub. try the vegetarian chili "cannon ball." pdx is fantastic, congrats.