Text 10235, 132 rader
Skriven 2014-02-24 17:11:35 av Nancy Backus (1:261/1381.0)
  Kommentar till text 10165 av Dave Drum (1:18/200.0)
Ärende: Re: Houses
==================
-=> Quoting Dave Drum to Nancy Backus on 21 Feb 14  08:12:06 <=-

 NB>> The house my parents bought here in Rochester was also a larger four
 NB>> square, theirs had a full attic atop the 2 stories... and theirs had
 NB>> 4 bedrooms upstairs with 2 baths... theirs had to be built around
 NB>> 1900, also, but I never really researched that.. it was in better
 NB>> shape than the one your parents bought, too.  :)

 DD> That attic was what I called a 1/2 story. The floor was laid with
 DD> rough boards and there were dormers on each of the four sides. It
 DD> could have  been finished - and probably the ol' man had thoughts in
 DD> that direction. But, there was no need, really. 

Technically, I guess that's what the attic would have been for them... I
noticed on our latest tax assessment for our house that our attic is
also considered a 1/2 story... It always feels like a full story to me
when one can see that if one put in a ceiling at the "normal" height one
would still have quite a bit of storage space above it that could be
accessed by the trapdoor that I've seen in smaller homes... ;)

 DD> Thinking back the second floor had four bedrooms also. My brother,
 DD> Phil, and I shared one. Mom and Dad in the master bedroom, my sister
 DD> in her own bedroom and the smallest (converted from a large walk-in
 DD> closet off the master bedroom was for my (then) toddler kid brother.

My parents' had two full bedrooms at the front of the house, with a bath
between them, accessible from either bedroom.  The other two bedrooms
were at the back of the house, with the other bath accessible from the
square hall (and placed opposite the stairs, between a front and rear
bedroom). My parents took one bedroom, one bedroom became Daddy's study,
and the other two bedrooms had some assortment of kids.  My bedroom was
one of the attic corners (not really turned into a room during my
tenure), another sister had a smaller corner, and a larger chunk at the
front of the house housed another couple kids...  but then, there were 8
of us kids... ;)   The previous house, Daddy had made a finished
basement into a bedroom, along with another in part of that attic...
Rarely did one get a room to oneself, usually there were at least two
sharing a room... :)

 DD> Only one bathroom. Although when we were re-plumbing Dad and I
 DD> installed a separate shower and lavatory in the basement.
 
The previous house had a toilet and set tub in the basement, and only
one full bath on the second floor.  That house was in Willow Grove,
outside Philly...  :)

 DD> As I said above - they never did finish that attic. But, my father's 
 DD> hobby was remodeling and construction. He/we completely remodeled the 
 DD> kitchen - with new and very adequate cabinets, new counters, sink(s),
 DD> a breakfast bar, a walk-in pantry and a re-located back door.

Daddy wasn't really all that much into remodeling or construction, but
he was somewhat handy... and his dad had been into simple furniture
making as a hobby in his retirement), which I think he picked up some
on, as I remember some art easels he built for us kids, and a larger
playpen for my baby sister...  

 DD> Until the day he died, no matter where they lived Pop always had some
 DD> home-improvement project or other going. But, that burst aorta got him
 DD> at fifty-four. Then the stroke got my mother three years later - one
 DD> of the (many) reasons that I am somewhat surprised that I have gotten
 DD> as old as I am ... and looking forward to many more years.

That was rather young...  and seems even younger now, as I get older and
older...  (G)  Thankfully not all the possible genetics get passed
along... ;)

 NB>> At least my neighbor's and her neighbor's lots combined were more
 NB>> like two normal city lots, just with the houses quite close
 NB>> together... there was more space on the non-driveway sides of the
 NB>> two houses...

 DD> This was a pretty narrow driveway. And the guy to the north was a (not
 DD> so) secret drunk who would often leave his car in that tiny passageway
 DD> between the houses at three ayem. His (the drunk's) house had about
 DD> four feet of driveway to the south and three or so feet of side-yard to
 DD> the north. After all both places were built on a split 70 foot lot ...
 DD> giving 35 feet X full depth (I think 150 or 60 feet).

The guy that bought the other house may or may not have been a secret
drunk, but he was at least rather inconsiderate of the fact that it was
a shared driveway... and often would block the passageway... this
driveway pretty much butts up against both houses, with only maybe a
foot or so to spare either side... 

 DD> We didn't have much side yard either. But did have a sidewalk and the
 DD> boulevard between the few feet of yard and the street. The best part
 DD> was that Mom was big on decorative shrubs and plants - so there was
 DD> not a lot to mow.  Bv)= 

That can be an asset...  :)  

 DD>> folks moved to Bloomington they sold the place for upwards of
 DD>> 90K (in 1971). 
 NB>> That worked out fine, then... :)   Both the "friends in high
 NB>> places", and the re-sale...  :)

 DD> I saw that place advertised for sale at $140K last year. Dunno what
 DD> the final price turned out to be.

After they finished dickering and all, eh...?  Still, pretty
impressive...  :)

 NB>> I rarely shop either anymore... We did check out appliances at one
 NB>> of the local Sears (one can usually park pretty close to that door,
 NB>> and not need to go thru the mall itself; a couple of the large malls
 NB>> are close enough not to be too much bother), but ended up buying
 NB>> from an appliance store in town when we needed a new refrigerator
 NB>> fast... 

 DD> I can get Sears appliances at the local K-Mart. Kenmore (the Sears
 DD> house brand) was always dead-on reliable if not all that cutting edge 
 DD> exciting. But, when buying durable goods like washers and dryers and
 DD> ice boxes and freezers or stoves - I druther have reliable and trouble
 DD> free than the latest whistles and bells that are prone to breakage.
 
Kenmore was always, at least in my memory, rebranded other brands...
when we went looking (a couple years ago, now), Sears was also selling
other brands, and whoever was making the Kenmore items then wasn't our
first choice for a fridge... don't remember details now, though...  We
agree on the reliable and trouble-free rather than bells and whistles...
I seem to remember that the stuff at Sears was more b & w than I'd
remembered them being...  :)  The fridge we did get ended up a
Frigidaire, minus bells and whistles...  :)  And we lucked into a sale,
besides... the store had extended a once-a-year sale for a day more...
perfect timing for us.  :)

ttyl       neb

... Practice mirth control. Use a conundrum!
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