As the inspector said, the house has good bones. And as others have confirmed, the place feels good.
If I were living here solo, it would be too big for my needs. The second-floor could be reserved essentially for guests in season.
For two of us, both working from home, that second-floor would definitely come into play, and adding a daughter and son-in-law to the mix, even as frequent visitors, makes for yet one more set of calculations.
So here’s what we’re looking at on the horizon:
- Raise the roof into extended dormers across the second floor, plus an addition over the mudroom.
- Get heat for the second floor.
- Grade and better define the parking area.
- Install a wood stove or fireplace in the main parlor.
- Redo the old bathroom, moving doorway to the hallway rather than the dining room.
- Add an upstairs bathroom.
- Add small butler pantry between kitchen and dining room and move washer-dryer to second floor.
- Remove the ramp to the back door and move back entrance in the mudroom.
- Add a deck – we do miss the Smoking Garden – and implement a garden design – one that’s smaller but deer-proof.
- Enlarge the front porch.
It sounds like a lot, but we’re finding it exciting. We did just as much in Dover, only piecemeal.
