Friday the 13th is a special day in the Rose family; so many events - all positive - have happened on the 13th, and many on a Friday the 13th.
Today, Friday the 13th of January, continues that tradition with Sue and I closing on our new home in New Durham, NH. It seems strange that we just saw the house for the first time on the 13th of December - yes, the 13th!!! And now, one month later on the 13th we own it!
Sue captured this great view from the kitchen out into the back yard.
The former owners, Carl and Patti, were kind enough to join us up at the house after the closing. They took us around the property explaining all of the little nuances and quirks that make the home so special. While Patti took Sue off to troop around theough the snow in the yard, and climb up into the tree house, Carl showed me around some of the house systems and operations. The girls had way too much fun up in that tree house. Those two are trouble, I can see it now....
We were so pleased that they had left us a wonderful bouquett of flowers and a bottle of Pinot Noir as a house warming gift. I told them we'd save the wine for them to have with us at dinner some night. They stayed well over an hour, and we really enjoyed having them share the house with us for that transitional period.
Sue and I stayed on for another hour or so after Carl and Patti left. We took measurements of some of the rooms to determine furniture requirements, and get an idea of what sort of stuff we had that would work in this new environment. If given just a few glasses of wine, and minimal encouragement, I'd leave just about everything behind and start over again.
I'm ready to move in right now. But, we have 4 major renovation projects to complete before we can do that. First, the stairs need be reconstructed to have the pitch reduced from the 9 inch risers to a more manageable 7 inches.
The second project is to remove a couple of the downstairs interior walls to create one large open living and dining room area where folks can gather around the wood stove, watch some tv, or just chat.
The third project is to install a shower in the bathroom. There's only a claw foot tub in there now, and though fine with Sue, City-Boy is not hearing that at all: City-Boy needs his shower. Well, that's always been one of 4 absolute critical "needs" for me: washer dryer on site (here, in the basement), hot shower, good red wine, and finally 52" (or better!) of LCD Viewing Joy.
The forth project is to take the original wide-board pine floors that are painted, rough sand them down, and then apply several layers of polyurethane to bring out the richness of the wood as well as lighten up the inside and make it a little more cozy.
Sue and I are so happy to be the new stewards of this terrific historic property that has been so lovingly cared for over the last 30 years by Carl and Patti. We know how hard it was for them to leave their home, but at least they have all the memories.
Now, it's our turn to make our memories in this home, a home that will be here long after we're gone. It will be our responsibility to pass this on to the next generation of stewards when the time comes.
