Thursday night, at 2 in the morning, Ian vomited. Ian vomited on his bed. On the rug in the hallway. And about one foot away from the toilet. Ian would continue to vomit for five days.
On Friday, as Ian watched TV downstairs, I spent five hours making a list of all the houses that we wanted to see. And because it's no secret that I'm very neurotic, I did research on every houses using Zillow, Realtor.Com, and NJMLS. I wrote down notes on every house, including pros and and cons. I found out taxes, the time on the market, proximity to the center of town , original asking price, etc… I suppose that I did the work that an agent should do, but whatever. I like control.
The agent looked through my list and crossed off a few and added one or two of her own. Then she made appointments.
Steve, my dad, and I started off at 11:00. I left the puking kid and the increasingly suspicious and stressed out 12-year old with my mom. My mom packed up a sandwich and a coke for my dad. We started off at Town A. Town A is a super small community with no downtown. It has excellent schools with a range of middle class to super rich families. I think a few New York Giants live there. The agent had us look at three split levels in a 60s development.
When we put the house on the market, I told the agent that I wanted a funky, older home. I didn't want a split level, because, really, I don't want to live in the suburbs at all. I want to pretend that I'm living in Brooklyn, but with a driveway and a washing machine. It's very hard to pretend that you live in Brooklyn, when you're in a split level.
However, the older homes that were on the market that Saturday were either ready for the bulldozer or were way too expensive. The homes that were available that Saturday in our price range were split levels. We looked at one older home, but when we heard that it had an underground oil tank, we made a sharp U-turn out of the house.
The agent urged me not to buy one of those wrecks with the nice details. "They need so much work, Laura. You'll have to keep putting more and more money into it. I know you like them. Well, you have good taste in men."
We looked at three split levels in Town A. Two were homes that I had chosen. She threw in a really bad one with a leaky basement in order to make the other two homes look better. Then we drove to Town B.
Apt. 11d 
As always, I recommend Atomic Ranch Magazine (and the Atomic Ranch book).
http://www.atomic-ranch.com/
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I hear you on the split level thing.. We are moving from a Victorian semi in a downtown edgy hip near the university ‘hood to a 1930’s bungalow in a clean Vancouver (west coast) ‘hood next month.
It’ll be a culture shock but it’s a family ‘hood, central, and the city is clean and laid back. Can’t have a Toronto life there and can’t have a Vancouver life here – they are just different.
I’ll miss the grit and the edginess bur also look forward to the clean air and laid back hippy dippiness of the west coast.
And luckily I’ll get my Toronto and NYC fix from annual trips out east..
You will be fine in the split level. Think about all that free non- house repair time!
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Why do split levels get such a bad rap? I love 50’s and 60’s ramblers and splits. Another good renovation site for this style of home, retrorenovation.com
Assuming you’re in contract for a split since the story is going that direction.
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Why do split levels get such a bad rap?:
Because they are generally ugly and combine the worst features of several not-that-great types of homes.
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“Because they are generally ugly and combine the worst features of several not-that-great types of homes.”
This is so very, very wrong. I’ll grant that ramblers are more practical and attractive than splits but they still have a lot going for them on both counts. They’re usually big enough for a family with kids but not so big that they become burdensome in old age. They were designed more recently so they have some of the more open features of a newer home. Central air. Attached garage. Old-style hardwood floors. More than one bathroom. Solid construction.
Ok, I’m obviously biased towards this type of house, but still, you have to grant they have some attractive features.
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Old-style hardwood floors.
Protected by a layer of the finest shag carpet.
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And I thought Part Three wouldn’t leave me hanging. Am waiting eagerly for the whole story and the picts.
Exciting.
If the split-level hints are true, I also look forward to an evolving and eclectic style. I know from your house links that your idea of funky encompasses newer/modern style and it’d be interesting to see that style in a new house.
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My daughter is currently re-decorating her room (from the green & yellow sunflower theme that I chose when she was 3) to a orange & blue Asian (Japanese, inspired by Kokeshi dolls) theme. We’ve been looking at paint colors and she’s just started to notice that our house is painted in “neutrals” (i.e. “bland”).
So, we’re in the mood to peek in on an exciting move and new design.
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“Protected by a layer of the finest shag carpet.”
50 years ago, my grandparents built a ranch house and put in rather nice maple floors throughout. However, having noticed the toll that late 50s/early 60s ladies’ spike heels was taking on their floor (they entertained a lot), they quickly put in carpet. (They’d been building the house themselves bit by bit for the past five years, so they naturally felt very protective.) Fast forward to the present day, and they’ve finally taken the carpet out in the MBR and 50 years later, are finally enjoying their hardwood floor. As a historical note, I’ll add that they never, ever had a mortgage on that house.
“My daughter is currently re-decorating her room (from the green & yellow sunflower theme that I chose when she was 3) to a orange & blue Asian (Japanese, inspired by Kokeshi dolls) theme.”
I’ve been in talks with my kids for a couple of years on the subject of their future rooms, and both would still like an undersea theme with a little paint and a few Amazon items. That’s very simple to achieve, so I’m getting off easy. I expect there will still be a bit of wobbling from my oldest, because she goes back and forth between an undersea theme and a horse theme. She’s never asked for a pony, thank goodness.
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I did have a pony growing up. He was about forty years old and would throw anybody who tried to ride him without first giving him a cookie.
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I got a venerable palomino mare for my fifth birthday. She was skilled at scraping children off on overhanging trees and her favorite hobby involved charging at the cows in the pasture and getting them to scatter.
We’re not getting our kids horses (I hope).
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When they get old, you can eat them.
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The horses (I hope).
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Part IV!!
I actually went and checked your Twitter feed which I almost never do b/c I don’t like Twitter. But I couldn’t stand the suspense. Now I want pictures! Details! All!
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