...and in conclusion...
It's been quite an adventure. Not everyone puts $250,000 into their homes and lives to talk about it. I have over 100 images of the house on my site, and I thought it needed some pages that tied the whole thing together. The good, bad & ugly. So here it is, in narrative form. Enjoy.
We bought our house the summer of 1996. Laini was 6 months old and we were living in a one-bedroom apartment in Queens, New York. Eric's employer, called Swiss Bank at the time, was moving from Manhattan to Stamford, Connecticut and offered a fantastic relocation package that we couldn't pass up.
We
looked at approximately 20 houses in Stamford. There were others that we liked,
but this was the only one in the very nice Westover neighborhood that we could
possibly afford. The 1,800 sq. ft. house passed inspection with only minor
concerns. I never loved the house itself, but it would do. It was a ranch house
with 3 bedrooms on the main floor, and a small room off the garage. The decor
was very dated (floor to ceiling pink tiles in the bathroom, need I say
more?)
We found out quickly that previous owners always took shortcuts in home repair. If there was a right way and a cheap way, previous owners always took the cheap way. About 5 years ago, my mother-in-law was over for a visit and we were sitting outside talking about the problems with the house and how we were outgrowing the space. She said that our house would be perfect for expanding to a colonial. Realizing that she was on to something, I started envisioning what the house would look like. I called in a few architects to look around and give us estimates. Of course, it was way out of our price range and I put the thoughts aside. Next...