We're still working on our home's staging to do list,
so we can right size our home which is 3300 sq. ft.
and we'd like to diminish it by half.
so we can right size our home which is 3300 sq. ft.
and we'd like to diminish it by half.
But in the meantime, we are still looking for the "One".
A downtown historical cottage we all can agree on.
For Mark, the hubby:
it has to have new wiring/roofing/plumbing and a good foundation,
it has to have new wiring/roofing/plumbing and a good foundation,
3 Beds/2 Baths (or at least two toilets and two bathroom sinks),
near downtown with bike riding trails and lanes.
For me, the home maker:
it has to have all the old charming details in an antique house:
it has to have all the old charming details in an antique house:
wide molding, picture molding, 75 fire places, hardwoods, old doors with glass knobs,
creaking floors, a porch to sit and have coffee, tons of built-ins, and wonky details.
(Oh! And a kitchen big enough to fit all our friends!)
For our daughters, Miss S who is 22 and Miss A who is 18 and are still schooling:
a room to live until they leave the nest/come back to visit that isn't "creepy".
a room to live until they leave the nest/come back to visit that isn't "creepy".
What's important to all of us is a safe, quiet neighborhood.
Too much to ask?
Not here in Greenville, SC, actually.
We have found some quite charming and liveable homes,
it's just that all of our criteria hasn't fit into one house yet.
A few of them have been super-close!
We will keep looking!
This past rainy weekend, with the blessings of my Face Book friends,
we toured this lovely cottage.
Let me show you!
(I am sorry if some of the pictures are dark, it was a cloudy, cloudy day.
Also, the small pictures were taken with my iPhone,
while Miss S took real pictures with the Canon.)
We liked the color yellow, we liked the black shutters,
but the fact that they were vinyl was a turn-off.
But the mailbox is charming, and so are the concrete planters.
This wall thrills my organizer self!
The front door opening location does not thrill me, ha!
Yes, the floor leans to one side.
Yes, the floor leans to one side.
Each room still has its picture molding and the original hardwood floors.
The door on the left below leads to Bedroom #2, which we'll come back to
once we circle around inside the house clock-wise.
If you stand with your back to the fireplace,
this is the other side of the room.
And this is me, arguing with the Realtor about the age of the house.
He says it was built in 1964.
Not.
He also says the records don't go back any further than 1964.
I disagree. The old documents are probably gone.
I have been in an antique home a time or a bunch and have researched them HERE.
And this home has the 4-over-1 windows, plaster walls, and floorplan
(no hallways) to prove my point.
Sure, some things were added later, probably in the 60s.
Like some of the doors, bathtub, and top green kitchen cabinets which you'll also see
once I stop talking long enough to take you in there.
This is the nook I was looking into in the arguing picture above.
This space would be perfect for a desk or music/sitting area.
The wide molding and floor outlets?
1920s.
Turn around with your back to this nook above and this is what you'll see.
The gray living room, aqua dining room, and on through to the green kitchen/laundry closet.
Looking back toward the front of the house and nook.
That door to the left leads to the attic.
So turn back around and let's go to the back of the house and the kitchen.
The cabinetry is decent, I'm diggin' the marble counter tops, and all the appliances are new,
including a French-door refrigerator.
But I think my favorite things would have to be the window over the sink
and the rolling butcher block island.
(I asked, and it does come with the house.)
These cabinets to each side of the sink
(which were likely hung in 1964 *wink) would have to go.
I'd replace them with open shelving like our basement cafe has.
The French door below leads to the deck.
And across from the fridge is the washer/dryer closet.
I could fold laundry on the rolling island!
A fun thing in this kitchen that I would leave
is the tiny spice closet below, directly behind my new rolling laundry table.
I'm thinking (based on observing dozens of other homes built in this era: 1920s),
that its original content was a fold-down ironing board.
The closet to the left is a perfect space for a pantry,
which didn't come with many antique homes.
If you walk to the closet/pantry and turn left, you enter this room,
Bedroom #1.
Aren't all the plantation shutters charming?
We'll probably add these to the home we finally decide on.
This wall closet was awesome!
Wish I'd thought to open the doors and show you inside.
It houses layers and layers of delicious shelving!
The next room is this cute, one and only bathroom.
Original 1920s medicine cabinet.
1964 bathtub.
It may be doable, but there isn't much storage at the moment, is there?
But the details are sweet.
Facing back toward bedroom #1, we have now entered Bedroom #2.
It features this glorious walk-in closet on the left
(which one of my FB ladies said would make an excellent crafting room, too).
The door in the middle leads to the living room once more,
and the door on the right is a weird, tiny closet.
What a light, bright space!
Cabinets and shelving and rods, oh my!
Yum.
Is this a 1964 doorknob?
Methinks not, either.
As I mentioned, there was a door to the attic off the dining room.
And once you've opened the door, this is what you'll see.
I envisioned this upstairs space as a retreat/bedroom area for my girls.
It creeped them out.
I wonder if you'd agree?
After you've come up the stairs, turn round, and this is the wall you'll see.
I love the wainscoting and the door,
and somewhere under the layer of paint are hardwoods.
The other side of the room has this odd, er, um, table. Thing.
But if the table were removed, the room insulated,
and the floors either painted over in white or stenciled,
it would make a darling bedroom!
(I think.)
This fireplace was across from the table thing.
And I like it.
Old doors and doorknobs make my heart go pitter patter.
Okay, my heart also does so when someone else pays for dinner.
This corridor is to the right of the attic entrance door.
The ceiling is actually high enough that even a tall human could walk down it.
This other side of this attic could be another bedroom or sitting space.
This area, as I was informed by my offspring, held the maximum creep factor.
This area, as I was informed by my offspring, held the maximum creep factor.
I love the light in here and the "window box".
No clue what's in the box. It had no lid.
Also creepy, I was told.
The backyard of this quiet neighborhood filled with other Craftsman and bungalow homes.
All we heard were birds chirping. It was divine.
This house had been reduced to $209,900.
However, our Realtor also told us that it had been under contract
the week before, until the inspector came and decided that it needed
$14,000 worth of electrical upgrades.
The buyer backed out and so the house came on the market again.
What I was trying to figure out is, why they are still showing it if it needs repair?
Any thoughts on that?
This concludes our tour of this lovely,
perfect-for-someone-other-than-us historical home.
What did you think of it?
My "Future Craftsman Bungalow" board is on Pinterest HERE.
Other cottages we've already seen are HERE.
Other cottages we've already seen are HERE.


P.S. I still love our Realtor.
