Back from the brink of extinction

Does anyone remember these?
Minidisc2

Minidiscs baby!!! I was so into my minidisc player. I got this kick ass stereo for my high school graduation (gasp) nine years ago from my grandparents.
Garage1

Ohhh also back from the brink, the attic!!! Did you remember I have an attic? I made up this drawing yesterday after walking around and measuring up there with Sciarrino.
Attic3

Bj caught us up there when he got home from work. It’s pretty big, with the option of being bigger by doing a shed dormer (facing the back yard). It would make the total space about 750 square feet. That includes this beauty:
Attic2

The dormer that is shown predominantly on the front of the house.
Front1

Oh ya baby rain fed lawn, oh so pretty (before it goes dormant for summer). Our house is really not an acre off the road, it just looks that way with the wide angle.

So we decided to bite the bullet and have plans made up. Of course that is a tiny little percentage of what it will cost to do the actual work, but with out plans it will be nearly impossible to get any kind of real estimate of the cost of the job. So plans it is. The CADMAN (awesome name, no?) is going to come back Wednesday to do full measurements of the house, the whole house. He was here today and loved our place. He said the upstairs has tons of potential, and that the house is so much bigger than it looks from the street (we get that a lot).

I don’t think I can properly describe how much I love this cottage. So many new house are so blah. No offense if you live in one, even Bj likes how new house have plugs everywhere, and big bathrooms and all of that. But to me that’s not nearly as important as beautiful old wood floors, intricate built-ins and funny shaped brick dormers. I’ve been told there are four of these houses in the neighborhood. One is directly behind us. We think they did the upstairs without adding a dormer, so it’s just one big room probably or maybe a room and a bathroom. The people behind us also turned there garage into a room, and added a kind of carport for their car. They have no awning. We found another one of the houses tonight. They have done the shed dormer, and their front door is recessed so we don’t think they have a coat closet. That house is a block away and I plan on stocking them tomorrow so that I can ask to go in and see where they put there staircase. It’s the only thing Bj and I don’t agree on right now. I think our current bedroom should become a walk through den/man room for Bj and he thinks the stairway should go in through our dining room:
Dining_room1

That makes me want to weep at the thought of loosing one of those awesome corner units. WEEP!!! I think down the road when we sell (hopefully when I’m eighty because I am so totally attached to this house) that saying three bedrooms, two baths, a den, dining, living, kitchen, and 900 square foot basement will be enough. He thinks it needs to be four bedrooms. Come on I say, someones always going to turn one of those bedrooms into a den/craft room so who care is you have to walk through it? Plus I like the idea of all the rooms/bathrooms being on one side of the house, so that if entertaining you don’t have to mix it up. I just can’t see sitting in the dinning room at Thanksgiving with a stairway jutting out one side.  Sigh it’s so hard when you know you’re right, ladies out there you hear me?

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53 Comments

  1. King of the Bongos
    King of the Bongos…I’m the king of bongos baby I’m the king of something yeah…
    You did love that thing.
    As for the stair way…it DOES make more sense to have the stairs go through a central room, but that is a nice room the way it is. Tough call.

  2. I like your idea, sorry BJ.
    Those dormers are awfully cute! But if the stairs did go up from the dining room you would be able to go outside easier from the upstairs and out to your new patio (future patio). It will be interesting to see what the cadman comes up with!

  3. it’s times like that, i often find myself saying to my husband…
    “i would love to agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.”
    but i must say i agree with YOU!

  4. you cannot, I repeat CANNOT, put stairs into your dining room!
    Lose a corner built-int? BJ you’ve lost your mind.
    Sorry. But you have. Those built-ins need to stay put!
    Anyway 🙂
    AWESOME plans for the attic!
    I’m excited to watch the process on your blog!

  5. I’m so excited for you guys about the attic! Sorry to BJ, but he is way totally wrong. Lose the corner built-ins for stairs? Why don’t you just put a giant fireman’s pole in the ceiling while you’re at it!?

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