Quote:
Originally Posted by andy
It's not a TV (I never find TVs at estate sales), but I did see something I liked at an estate sale that I finally bought....the entire house. I went to this house about a year ago for an estate sale. I didn't end up buying much from the sale, other than an large image orthicon tube, but I loved the unique house.
The house needs a LOT of work, but it has one killer feature that's almost unheard of in this part of the country, a basement. It has a huge partially finished basement that will be ideal for both TV collecting, and my home business. The basement was redone about 10 years ago, and is pretty much ready to use, but upstairs is still 1973 (and I'm not talking mid century modern). It's got everything we try to forget form the 70s (popcorn ceilings, orange counters, brown vinyl tile floors, yellow shag carpet, fake wood paneling, and brown appliances), but I think it could be great with enough work.
|
The house I grew up in was built in the 1950s, and until the '70s it looked the part. When I moved in 1999 after my dad passed away, and his third wife sold the place, the house still had the original carpeting in the living room and in a hallway that ran to the back -- salt and pepper, not much to look at, and wearing out (there was a very long area rug over the part of the carpet that had worn through to the padding underneath). I can only hope the folks who bought the house and now own it have updated everything, including the carpeting and even the kitchen cabinets, which also date the house because they are the same ones in the place when my folks bought it in 1955 or so.
I haven't been back in my old neighborhood literally in years, but the last time I walked down the street I grew up on, I almost missed the house -- how do you like that! I lived in that house 40 years out of my life (I'm 53, almost 54), and didn't even recognize it; I would have missed it entirely if I hadn't seen the address on the new mailbox outside the front door--that's how much the new owners have changed things with remodeling and all. And that's just the outside of the house. I have no idea what the inside of the place looks like today, but if I were a betting man (I'm not) I would bet that I wouldn't recognize anything in there anymore.
Oh well. It's the 21st century, and that house, let's face it, needed every bit of work it had done on it and in it -- and I'm not just talking about remodeling. I don't have pictures, but trust me, the house was a mess by the time I left there for the last time. Not only did the place need a facelift inside and out to bring it into this century, it needed a lot of work to repair cracks in the concrete garage apron, a crack in a basement wall near the clothes dryer (which, if not repaired, would have caused that entire wall to cave in), and other things too numerous to mention. My dad's third wife offered to sign the house over to me, but since I live on a fixed income (disability) and couldn't hope to keep the place livable, I turned her offer down, left town shortly thereafter, and moved to the apartment where I live today. That turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made in my life to date, as I have no worries about utility bills in my apartment (except for the telephone and cable); the utilities are included in my rent.
I wouldn't want to own a home even if I could afford to -- too much work and responsibility, and at nearly 54 years of age, I don't think I'd be up to it anymore; remember the warnings regarding shoveling snow after one turns 40? I certainly remember those, but I was still shoveling when I was that age, and until I left the house in '99. Now doctors are warning people in their fifties against shoveling snow or
any kind of physical exertion. What on earth is next, I'm afraid?
However, Andy, I'm happy for you. I hope you have many good years in your new place. I saw the pictures of your living room, kitchen, basement, and I agree with you -- the house definitely needs a facelift to bring it into the 21st century. I haven't seen shag carpeting in a house since the '70s, so the pic of your living room brought back memories (I grew up in that decade).
"Fake" wood paneling isn't out of date yet--I don't think. I have dark oak cabinets and cupboards in my apartment, and all of my furniture matches it almost perfectly. My walls are off white, without much hanging on them except a weather station (thermometer, barometer, hygrometer) hanging on the wall near my desk, a wall calendar, and a picture of a white kitten above my dining room table. My landlord has given me the green light to put up more pictures, but I haven't gotten around to that yet -- oh well, one of these days.