Thanks everyone, for your kind words and encouragement.
The major things seem to be okay. The roof is nine years old and there were some plumbing and electrical upgrades about ten years ago. It did need a new furnace, as it looked like the gravity fed octopus furnace was original. It had been converted to gas from coal in about 1960, judging from the writing on the furnace. The inspector made a loud guffaw when he saw it. There were no safety controls for the gas except for being able to turn the gas on or off.
There's lots to fix and improve. I will post more pics soon. What you can't see in the realtor's photos is the amateur plaster repairs. Some areas are much worse than others, where the plaster was applied like cake frosting, then painted over.
The strip by the driveway was incredibly dense and overgrown. A friend helped me weed and trim back the worst of it. It was so tight that I discovered a fence that had fallen down and a broken vanity mirror. Both were invisible due to the jungle in there. There are some flowering bushes like lilacs and Rose of Sharon.
Older, unrenovated houses are not desirable in this market. The previous owner had worked very hard with the realtor to make the most of the property. All the rooms, with the exception of the porch behind the kitchen were freshly painted. The colors are hit and miss. All the rooms were painted with a medium or dark base paint. I really like the odd green and the mocha color, and the dark grey trim is used on all the trim and doors. What I haven't shown is the very odd yield sign mustard yellow the stairwell is painted. The kitchen has the strangest colors. The walls are sort of a butterscotch pudding color. There are what look to be 1970's embossed tiles, which were painted over with a high gloss cheez whiz orange. The cupboards are MDF. They were placed on top of the original wood trim, which got hacked away to make them flush. The color in the kitchen is a very unsettling combination. The largest room is the dining room, painted deep cranberry. While I like that color, I don't like it in there. The larger windows face north, and with the dark trim and dark floors it feels oppressive.
The full bath upstairs has the original clawfoot tub, but a cheap little new sink. The room is oddly large. It is painted a chocolate milk color, including the ceiling. The plaster is messiest in there.
There are transoms in the three rooms upstairs, but all were replaced by wood for some reason ?
There is a half bath off the kitchen. This room was probably originally the pantry ? It has a tall narrow window. A shower was awkwardly installed, which blocked the window, and the toilet is plainly visible from the kitchen. Because this room was crammed full with the bad shower, a folding closet door replaced the original door. The kitchen is a challenging space to configure, as there is a doorway in every wall , and a large original sash window. The appliances are much too large for the space.
The kitchen has the original tongue and groove wainscotting and chair rail.
All of the windows are original. Several of the panes have what look like damage from a bb gun, and there are more than a couple of cracked panes that need to be repaired. The bathroom windows have that textured 1970's privacy film. I picked away at one window and discovered this film is very brittle and only comes off in postage stamp sized pieces. There are aluminum storm windows on most of the windows. The stained glass in the living room had a section repaired so that glass is a different texture. The bedrooms both have Queen Anne style windows, with alternating square panes of colored and textured glass.
The exterior details are all there, with a few small missing pieces of trim. The second floor was painted the same color as the yellow brick. There are several different types of fancy shingles and corbels and decorations. The paint is peeling down to bare wood, so that needs attention soon. The bricks need repointing in the areas where the gutters failed.
It is simultaneously not so bad and completely overwhelming. I moved in last week.
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The color has been downplayed in this realtor pic. It really is the color of a yield sign:
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You can see where the trim has been cut away for the cabinets. If only they had considered this when measuring for the cabinets ?
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Make yourself at home.
