Another Ugly House

There is a house that I drive past every Wednesday and Friday while taking Big Sis to tae kwon do. It's located on a street filled with beautiful historic homes. Ever since Big Sis started taking tae kwon do back in November I've fallen in love the the exterior of this house. Picture this, sprawling, two-story, historical red brick home, with grayish blue shutters and a massive front door. Vines crawling up the side of the home. Huge windows, and a ton of them. Decorative rod iron fence in the front, and mature trees in the back. Many times I'd wondered how beautiful the inside must be, and wished it would someday be for sale.


Imagine my delight two weeks ago when I saw a realtor's sign in the front! The realtor told us it was the 2nd oldest home in the city and had much history. The home was built over the underground railroad, and even had access in the basement where the slaves would hide out before making their trek to freedom. And the asking price for this 3,500 square foot home? Only $144,900. I was ready to jump on it!

We met the realtor and he warned us that the home needed "lots of work." The home was being sold due to foreclosure. The home had a few rooms that were added on, namely the kitchen, and an enclosed porch.

We walk into the house. Huge ceilings, beautiful banister, several fireplaces, wonderful crown molding, decent hardwood floors. And then we discovered why the home was being offered at only $144,000. The home was not insulated. The mortar on the brick was disintegrating, causing water to enter the home, and there evidence of mold on many of the walls. All the windows needed to be replaced. The plaster had cracks. Bad foundation. Needed all new electrical wiring, plumbing and furnace. Bad roof. The list goes on and on. It would cost at least another $200,000 to renovate, and the contractor we brought in said that the heating bills would run at least $700 a month! Ouch. Oh, and did I mention asbestos in the basement?

I was definately bummed. I know that back in the day the house had to have been extremely beautiful. But it looked like no one had kept it up for many, many years. We decided to take a pass on this house. We'd be in over our heads. Plus with two young kids, all our activities, my dad's health issues, and me not working....well, it's just too much for us to handle. I hope whoever buys the house will sink a lot of money into it and restore it to it's beautiful original state. The realtor said someone made an offer of $56,000, if that tells you anything about the awful condition of the house.

I don't have photos of the outside, but took some photos of the inside.

Here is one of the windows. Yes, that is a dove. It would look marvelous in a church, if it were truly stained glass. It's actually cheap plastic! And this window is in the kitchen!!! The kitchen floor is hideous green linoleum stick-on tiles. The kitchen was one of the rooms that was added on (and not very well, I might add).


Looking for some decorating ideas for your bathroom? Love ducks? Well, listen up. Buy a duckie bath mat. Cut the ducks out. Glue the ducks to the wall directly above the toilet. Paint some blue around it to resemble water. Then get some artifical plants and staple those on too. You may also add a decorative duck wallpaper border in case there's not enough ducks in the room. Voila! Instant sophistication for under $20!




Below is one of the fireplaces. Notice the black soot, indicating that there's a problem with the chimney.


Below is one of the most intriguing things in the house...a 14' portrait of a man walking a dog, encased in an ugly faux-gold frame. Yep, this painting actually goes from floor to ceiling. You can tell that they drywalled over a fireplace and then put this painting over the drywall.