As i mentioned, we had a second chance to look over the old Victorian farm house that first brought us to Upper Bucks County. Walking around outside and in, this second time, made it easier to notice all the problems that would require bucketfuls of money. The milk house had fallen down, unusable and filled with junk and debris. Dead animals in the barn. The eight acres had shrunk to 4, not to mention the growing dump of major appliances (inside and out). Trash piles every place.(talk about 'hoarders' the show should come to upper bucks!) the well was contaminated, The septic condemned...the house needed major repairs. and that was just the outside! still...... we wanted to think about it. Later that week i called the township to inquire about the state of the property. Township wanted it cleaned up and very possibly the new owners would be required to deal with it post haste. Moving in fall, securing the house against unknown winter......commuting to city and suburban jobs. after some discussion... we said no.
Next we saw a former Inn. Fabulous, huge and mostly restored to a large gracious home. how do i explain....on the expansive second floor landing there was indoor plumbing. a small room... a bathroom build in the middle of the big hall! walls build to enclose the bathroom... (an outhouse still outside....). there were 3 families living there as it was the only way to afford to heat the place!
The search continued. It was a very depressing search. One house was worse than the last. The lovely stone house with one large second floor room divided into 4 bedrooms, accessible each through the other. a change of ugly carpeting to announce you were in a different room. The rancher with 8 acres of gully which was filled with years of trash. The list of unacceptable went on and on. Nothing resembled a proper house. Imagine... no closets, floors that sloped and made me dizzy, jacks in basements holding up first floor rooms. Walking on boards through side yards to avoid the mud. Deliverance! Each weekend i wondered which of the unacceptable homes we would be buying.
Just about the time we were resigned to putting off our search, we happened across a little cape cod on our way to an upper bucks Clinic. A call to the real estate agent. The house was tiny. 4 rooms and bath on the main floor. Full cellar & large a dry attic (dry till we moved in) to be converted in the future. The house needed to be repainted inside and out. It was cozy (another word for small). Heck, it was livable! the property was a shock too. On a major highway, but it had been a nursery, with the remains of a greenhouse, a little store, a storage building with a sign that announced "INDIAN RELICS" (and to this day we call it the Indian relic building) everything overgrown, but like walking through a tiny piece of Fairmount park (Our city parks system). Trees and flowering shrub all over. Discussion. Visits. Offer accepted..... more drama...(for example...the owner died just before closing) and 30 years later we are still here in the Country
and loving almost every moment of it!
city girl
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