Monday, November 17, 2008

Wanna come with me to see a house?

I know some of you out there are thinking how much fun it would be to go house hunting with me.
So I thought I'd give you a chance to experience what I experience as I go about hunting for a house for Bernie and I to live in.

This particular house that we are going to visit was listed at $319,000, a real steal, and more importantly, the listing noted that it had a MOUNTAIN view. I am all about mountain views...so let's head out and see if this just might be the house we've been looking for!

As we pull up, we get to see the "mountain view".

(Hmmmm...I'm thinking "hill view" but then again, maybe there is a mountain view from inside. )
Kinda of cute...I like the balcony, and the windows on the garage door. I like the nice neutral paint job.

Looks like we're going to have to hike up a bit to the front door though.
Pretty low maintenance landscaping, and it smells nice too. Sort of pine/juniper.
The walk way up to the front door is steep, and buckled.
But that can always be fixed, right?
The black double front door with white trim is pretty cool.
When the door is opened....we see a wall of folding shutter type doors.
Which way should we go now?
Should we turn left or right?
(Bernie turned left, I turned right.)
Oh wow! A right turn and two steps and you are at the kitchen door. The kitchen is in the center of the house.
And check it out: See through yellow plastic above the dark wood cabinets.
Very innovative.
The plain white counter tops are a good balance for the cheery multicolored wall paper.

An excellent harvest gold double oven and range, with a highly useful griddle between the burners. And TWENTY assorted mugs at the ready for whenever nineteen coffee drinking guests drop by unexpectedly to drink coffee with me.
(I wonder if there is a story behind each and everyone of those mugs...)

And check this out: A built in radio in the kitchen wall.
Sweet!
I do enjoy a little talk radio and country western music while I cook. This would be JUST the thing to make me want to get into cooking more.

Well the kitchen certainly is a hit. Naturally if I am going to be cooking a lot so I have an excuse to listen to the radio, I might as well have people over to dine with us.

After all, nineteen coffee drinkers would probably like to be invited to sit down for a meal occasionally.

Ahhh...a dining room that would suit every one's taste.
A crystal chandelier for the fancy-schmancy types that like to serve meals on fine china.
Plus black vinyl modern chairs for the hip folks who think that sort of chair is mod.
And the faux wood tone table for those who long for a nice wooden top table, but want to be able to serve drinks that might sweat, without worrying about any white moisture rings.
(I take a moment to imagine all the festive holiday dinners that could be served at this table.)
Speaking of holidays....Christmas is coming, and what is Christmas without a place to hang up your Christmas stockings for Santa to fill?
Gosh...the former owners must have been very, very bad. It looks like Santa just kept bringing them lumps of coal, and they used the coal to built a fire place!
(I do appreciate the decorative touches that have been neatly arranged on the hearth. It is that kind of thoughtfulness that just makes a house feel homey.


Ohhhh....deep shag rug, in pea soup green! Gosh I loved that when I was first married. We had that exact same style of carpet in our first apartment, except it was orange.
I remember that after you vacuumed it, you then also had to rake it.
I wonder if this house would come with a rug rake?
I'm not sure where you could go to buy one now...

Thinking of dinner guest....time to check out the guest powder room.
Say...that is such lovely wall covering! Expensive stuff.


The hanging glowing egg is such an elegant touch, and check out the pull out spray nozzle on the sink.
You know, that sure would be handy for guest who want to quickly wash their hair between dinner and dessert.
Interesting glass work by the bedrooms.


Now it took a moment but I did eventually remember to look at the window coverings.
Window coverings can get to be very expensive; if there are window coverings that come with the home it can save me a lot of money.

This curtain in the dining room certainly is cheery.
Especially perfect since you can see it from the equally cheery kitchen!

But I am even more fond of the red drapery with black tassel trim.
I'm getting a belly dancing vibe going here, and you know how much I love belly dancing!

I do like these double doors too. The sunny medallion detail is just plain cute as all get out.
Now I suppose you are wondering what this structure is all about.

Here's a different view- it is the stair case going down to the basement, and overhead is the stair case going UP stairs.
(If you scroll back to the dining table shot, you can see the stairway as a pea green diagonal in the back ground.)

At this point we are going to leave Bernie upstairs. He tried going down the stairs, but the upstairs stairs are too low...he would go thunk..thunk...thunk with his forehead on each of the steps above as he went down to the basement.


That thick green shag has been felted down in two straight lines.
That helps makes it easier to tell where your feet should go.

So downstairs there is another cheerful bathroom. This one isn't quite so elegant, but it does give you something brown to read while you, uh, wait for something....uh...brown I guess.
This home owner did not miss a single decorating beat.
They painted the door and floor time to perfectly match the toilet and sink.
This is why I am thankful that I have had an opportunity to visit 75 houses now in the quest to find my own perfect house.
If I hadn't seen it here, it would never have occurred to me to paint door and floor trim in a shade to match the toilet.
The basement has a neat fireplace. Very strong and masculine. Perfect for a cold winter's night in the basement.
This I seriously do like.
Sort of...
And what could be better than playing pool in the basement?
Nothing except knowing that the PERFECT lamp has been found to enhance the pool playing experience.

I'm drifting back to belly dancing vibe here.
Pool table and belly dancing.
Yup.
Totally works.

So lovely....
So exotic.
Wherever can such a beautiful lamp be found for other pool table/belly dancing rooms?

They must have really had to shop hard to find a window covering that would pull all this together perfectly.

Well, we should head on back upstairs to see what Bernie and my Real Estate agent Luanne is doing.
She has told me that she is a terrible cook.
But this stove...well, maybe with this stove it would be different.
Sadly, we never did find a mountain view from the house.
I looked both high and low.
One time when I was looking high, I saw this great little ceiling lamp in the hall way.
I was so busy staring at it, I almost didn't notice the asbestos cottage cheese acoustical ceiling.
(at least the house would be quiet. Dead quiet...)
So, whaddah think?
Should we buy it?
You've got to admit:
It was a house with something for everyone.
I just don't think it had something for me.
(Like good taste, or more importantly, a mountain view!)

15 comments:

Julie said...

Oh Jill. I had barely started the tour with you .. and you had me in stitches.. I really hope the owners weren't there to hear us ! Although I think they would have been most impressed with your complementary appraisal of their home but my giggles would surely have tipped them off that you were hardly serious !!!
Oh.. yes.. I did like the downstairs fireplace! however,
I'm really sorry but I think this is a 'pass'..

Anonymous said...

Okay, it's late at night as I'm reading this, and you already know that my thoughts have been all over the map, but only one thing comes to mind about this decor: I think a family of gypsies live there! That would explain the hodge-podge, mismatched, plain and gilt style of decorating!

Oh, yeah, did you notice the snakes-in-the-grass carpeting in the pool table room?

Seriously...I think if I go to sleep right now, I'll have nightmares!!

Lovella ♥ said...

Jill, did you hear me groaning? Oh dear, I am amazed that you've seen that many houses. Do you find that there are not many staged houses with good pictures to look at online? The house you sold had amazing pictures online that would help people see the house and decide to buy it from the comfort of their couch. . .oh dear. . at least it gets you out of the apartment on your day off.
Take us to see another one . .

A Lady said...

Oh dear Mom. Now I have an earworm. "Burn baby, burn! Disco inferno! Burn, baby, burn! Turn this mother out!"

Give me a moment while I strike a disco pose...

Love it! Fun fun fun!!!

Dawn said...

wow.

just.
wow.

Anonymous said...

Oh my......takes me back to 30 - 40 years ago! How I miss those wonderful colors and patterns........NOT!!!!! Lori T

Diane said...

I believe the same builder and decorator was active in Alabama! Hope you will invite us all to the next house adventure!

Islandsparrow said...

I remember my dear SIL vacuuming the shag rug - then raking it - then getting mad at her 3 brothers (one of whom was my future husband :) for making footprints on it...

I don't think we want to go back there...

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Gosh! And to think, there was a day when much of that was considered the height of fashion in a home....even by us. I'm so glad things have changed since then!

But, what on earth was that lamp near the pool table all about? I've never seen any lighting fixture quite so astonishing! Or ugly...

The items so carefully arranged on the hearth were actually kind of sad...I kept picturing some elderly woman living there who did all she could to decorate the hearth but so out of touch with any sense of beauty. It made me sad.

Becky said...

Okay, that should be sold for a movie set. They wouldn't have to buy a thing, if the movie took place in the late 60's early 70's. Loved your commentary - made me laugh.
I am just amazed there are so many of these homes still in existence! The reno market could make a killing in SLC should people there ever realize they could renovate!
Still praying! I see he has answered my prayer about your sense of humour! Patience, my friend!

Caroline said...

Extreme ugliness aside, how much acreage was this place on? Because I'm thinking they have a heck of a lot of nerve charging over $300,000 for a house that obviously needs to be completely gutted and have all the appliances (that are older than me by the looks of them) replaced.

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

Vicki: I was wondering if anyone else would start seeing snake themed carpeting.

Caroline: Would you believe .24 acres?

It is up against government forest land, and is in what is considered to be a "toney" neighborhood.

Sara: Whatever woman onced lived there is long gone. A hot motorcycle was in the gargage, and like most horrendous houses, it is apparently being rented by some guys who don't give a fig for home decoration. The stuff on the hearth was probably left over from maybe an estate sale.

Anyone out there hanking to buy this place? See the official listing at:

http://www.utahrealestate.com/846546

Marie said...

Uh.....NO!
Love your tour, though..

L&D said...

I would pay for tickets to see you belly dance.
That house is seriously RETRO......stuck in the 70's. What's crazy is that a lot of that style is coming back in. That shag carpet? Well, come see any brand new built home and that's what it's got. I know, shocking....but it's back. I love the idea of vacuuming AND raking. Because really now, we girls have nothing better to do with our time than rake whilst belly dancing.

Della said...

Are you sure you haven't been sitting too close to the TV while watching the Brady Bunch and gotten sucked into some alternate reality? Was that toilet ...MINT GREEN????????????? That house is a fine example of everything that was wrong with that era, take it from a child of the eighties that wore side ponytails, played with Sea Monkeys and those hideous troll dolls! Every era has their atrocities...I think you just found one! Hilarious...