Old Home Hunt: One that captures our heart

Potential!  It seeps into my mind every time I see an old place!  And after viewing an older home with my hubby as we search for our next, and (likely) final earthly home, our minds are reeling with possibilities.  Due to basic impatience, I did a spontaneous search online and stumbled onto this property.    Our realtors, who also appreciate old homes, indulged us with a tour.    We’ve gone over the typical dream home checklist: location, square footage, amenities, condition, and conduciveness to lifestyle or desired lifestyle as is in this case.  We were excited to see how well matched this place would be to our desired wants.  But admittedly, after this tour, I wasn’t sure what we wanted.

We arrived early to a locked gate, which we knew perhaps might be the case, causing me to suffer through 20 minutes of waiting as the owner had not yet left the property.   That was ample time for me to already imagine the grandkids that we do not yet have mind you, running about the property.   The vantage point from the gate gave just enough of a peek of the house to cause insufferable anticipation.  And who could resist the inviting driving back through those trees?   Come on already, let me in!

So, here we have it!  Oakelde Manor in all her glory as she stands today!

 

 And to think she began as this modest home in 1851.

She’s come a long way baby!  But unfortunately so has her dilapidation.  Oh, she’s cracked and not yet broken, but she is going to need plenty of TLC, time and patience.  Now mind you, that is not what my first thoughts were when we entered our first room, the kitchen.  Believe it or not it was “this is awesome”.

See!  It’s that word “potential”!  And I so saw it here and each room we passed through.  Okay, so we did have to stop briefly in our enthusiasm and glance knowingly at the long hours of grueling work that would play into our lives as hubby Matthew’s gaze implies.  Room by room we realize that a picture may be worth a thousand words, but  they are not telling of the thousands of dollars a renovation will entail!

  But look round the corner and what jumps out again…yep, you guessed it!  More potential!  A huge dining room for great family gatherings and…

a cozy fireplace!  I’m now imagining decorating for the holidays. 

Yep, I’m falling in love and have a feeling I’m crazier than I ever realized!  This place just needs more than I have to give.  But then, there is that staircase with potential now calling!  Ugh, will the madness ever stop!

Oh and now add my wish list French doors, long windows and ample light that exist in the house!

So we’ll take a quick peek upstairs because if we indulge ourselves into every bit of this 3,300 square foot home you’ll never get back to whatever it was you were doing. Atop the first landing and off to the right we found this long corridor with numerous rooms in varied state of repair or disrepair depending on your word choice or more aptly put, your opinion.  There was just enough tilt to the floor to create a fun house effect.  Ah, but that’s the charm of these great old places!

Just a tad more work here and we may have a bedroom ready to be moved into.

 

     Now heading up to the top stair landing…

 

 

   to what would be a wonderful master bedroom suite.  There is even ample space for a closet and master bath;  sweat equity required.

 

And making me even more giddy, yet another fireplace!  This is number three of five.

But to give the full scope and reality of what we are up against on this old place that is capturing our hearts, I’ll take you outside once again.  I’m sure you see why hesitancy bitingly inflicts us.  This poor old porch roof looks as if it was part of the set for the Wizard of Oz.  But wait!  Hubby and I, being the visionaries that we are, both agree what a perfect place of tranquility this porch could become.

And with a view like this, who wouldn’t!!!!?

So in consideration of how this place fairs in granting us our wishes? Location: not too bad, but sounds of the highway nearby diminish her appeal. Square footage: A bit larger than we’d hoped, but then there is room to invite you all in! In terms of character, amenities and condition:  She’s a beaut all right!  But only in the state that lives in our minds and hearts not the state she currently stands in.  And lastly, conduciveness to lifestyle:  I can certainly see myself, Matthew and the family enjoying every nook and cranny our feet would tread, but life would be a buzz with saws and the pounding of hammers for some time.  Okay old girl, where were you when we had the vigor to take you on and four boys to traipse about your ample footprint!?