Home Sweet Home

In a whirlwind house-hunting weekend, we were lucky enough to find a house that had all of the qualities that Curtis wanted (easy biking to downtown, walking distance to grocery, shops and restaurants) and all of the qualities that Megan wanted (good schools, quiet street, open floor plan). Which is good, since we had to go to separate corners after every heated house discussion we had. What a struggle to find compromise when we both felt so strongly about the home we wanted.

Surprisingly, we found it. And even more surprisingly, it is in Westmoreland. It's a neighborhood I wasn't very familiar with until Saturday, tucked between the river and Eastmoreland. But, it's spectacular. Nice quiet streets, less density and bustle than the other NE areas where we were looking, yet still close to downtown. (Curtis' bike ride to work will be four miles, most of it on a trail.) From the house, we can walk four blocks to dozens of great restaurants (including Caprials!), gelato, bakeries, and clothing stores. Two spacious parks are both within a few blocks of the house for playground time and jogging. And the river is less than 1/2 mile away, for canoeing and kayaking.

Now, onto the house itself. It was built in 1915 and has all of the original charm. Yet, they just sunk a ton of money into a complete remodel to open the main floor and provide a spacious great room off of the kitchen, so it really flows like a newer floor plan instead of the small, cramped feel that is common in many older homes. The home has a few drawbacks (for example, two full baths, but both have showers, but no bath tubs) but we think we can work around those issues because the house is perfect in so many other ways.

We brought the parents (all four of them) over to the house yesterday. After their thorough inspection of lifting area rugs, identifying non-native plants in the yard (I'm sure you guess who did this!), scrutinizing the furnace and hot water heater, and inspecting the kitchen for ample storage, they all gave a hearty seal of approval.

The sellers accepted our offer last night, and we are delighted! Inspections begin this week, which will probably being a cakewalk compared to the parent inspection process. If all goes well, we will have the keys by mid-July. Get ready for a summer bbq at our place!