Love at First Sight

Do you believe in it? I sure do cause it happened...and I have literally been swept off my feet!! Josh knows and understands cause he feels the same way....

Oh yes, we found a house....

We have been looking since Kathleen was a baby, we picked a neighbourhood that I grew up in (about an hour away)...it is upscale and lovely and horribly expensive....but the houses are nice and there was lots for sale in that area. We started going to open houses, and more and more...till we knew the neighborhood pretty good and the real estate agents knew us....

But we could never find the 'right' house, either too big, too ugly, not enough bedrooms, yard was too small, or the yard was  just a cliff....or the big one was the price!! Prices out there are 3 times the cost of our current area.

A few weeks ago my husband mentioned a house down the street from us. It is older, looked larger and has not been lived in for many years. It had been taken off the market but the for sale signs are still up.

I emailed the real estate agent and a few days later I got a returned mail message. Being phone phobic I gave up but Josh ran into the real estate agent at his work place. They chatted about the house, another co-worker had worked in the house...

Josh works like a maniac and so do I, finding a day for us to see the house would be short of a miracle. This weekend we both had it off but Saturday was filled with a photo shoot for Kathleen's Kloset and then the doggy's had a photo shoot in the afternoon.

Sunday rolled around and Josh tried to call the real estate agent and no answer, in fact the phone kept sounding like a fax machine...but he did return our call to say he had been trying to reach the home owner for a few days and no luck and no chance to see the house this weekend. Bummed, we headed out for the afternoon at the family woodlot with my parents. On the way there we noticed the cell was near dead again and refused to charge again...(we need a new cell but I am hanging on to my blackberry!!). Enjoyed our time at the woodlot, kids had a blast, Mom and I had a nice talk, Crosby has fun running around loose and carefree.

On our way home, we noticed the cell decided to charge...and then it rang. Agent said he reached the owner and yes we could see the house! I called Mom and Dad and they met us at the house to go prowl through.

OH WHAT A HOUSE!!!!  The kitchen was nasty and needs to be gutted, but there was a cut little sewing room that could be a nice shop/laundry room. A hidden set a stairs that was for the maids to the upstairs. A dining room that had cupboards built into the wall and a little door that opened from the kitchen so food could be served through. A living room with a real fireplace that works, another living room, a sun porch, a hallway so large it could be another room...hardwood floors and gorgeous woodwork.
The upstairs was insane...there are 6 bedrooms in this house! The furniture was antique and I was terrified of the kids knocking over anything! There are little closets in every room, one room has a hidden set of stairs to the attic, which was as spooky and huge and cool as any attic I read about in books. The yard is insanely huge, and the view...oh it is amazing since it faces the bay and the house is next to the falls.

The downer? It needs work...lots of it just to move in. Needs electrical, heat, a new kitchen, insulation, a fence....so much work and the owner wants a bit too much money for all the work that is needed...but I want it! And so does Josh! This house has some magic to it! It has rooms to be filled and I can see us living there and making it ours...

So the next scary step is Josh going to the bank. If they say no I am hoping we will have time to do what is needed to make the house ours before someone else snatches it away.

But for now I am madly, deeply in LOVE!