November 20, 2014

  • DOWNSIZING...?

    In March 2012 we put our way-too-big house in Highland Park, IL on the market. It wasn't a good time to be selling real estate, but it was definitely time for us to move. We took a pretty big financial hit doing so, but by October/November we finally had and accepted an offer, and at almost the same time we made an offer on a new (old - built in 1930) house in Geneva, IL. www.geneva.il.us/ It's a quaint little town in the Fox River Valley. Just touristy enough to make me want to live here, not so touristy as to be annoying, and we are close enough to walk downtown. :)

    I fell in love with this house immediately. These photos are from the first day we saw it. We knew there would be LOTS of work ahead of us, but I looked forward to the distraction and new beginning. We had many reasons for moving (the house was too big, taxes were too high, we wanted to ditch a mortgage, to start over and make new memories, I never felt at home on the North Shore, etc) and downsizing was certainly one of them.

     

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    That's William with our Realtor coming down the front walk.

     

    The house doesn't look very big, does it? While at 2400 sq ft it is much smaller than our 3400 sq ft house, it's still much larger than where we envisioned ending up. The inside of the house was packed to the gills however, so I didn't initially see it as "big." The previous owner really only lived on the first floor. Since then however, we've reclaimed the second floor....and the basement, so somehow it is big. Which is best judged by how much cleaning there is to do! I'm pretty sure the more room you have, the more stuff you gather too. We don't have any empty rooms..

     

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    The side of the house.

    I love the charm and character of this old house, there is some beautiful detailing. I realize old homes are not everyone's cup of tea, but I couldn't be more content.  And all my old stuff now looks just fine.
    It sits on a corner lot. Trust me, I did not think about snow shoveling 2 sidewalks at the time.

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    This is the back of the house, all these pics are from the first look. in the Fall of 2012. A bit has changed since then. ....

Comments (3)

  • Did you try the dashboard to get the feature reading ?
    You can also visit my readers to check and see if their posts interest you .
    Courage, Christine
    Michel

  • Thank you, Michel, I will do that. Yes, I've had lots of courage these last few years. And I know you understand. I see how much Antoine and Manon have grown, they look so healthy and happy. The grandchildren are all beautiful.
    <3

  • Hi Chriss, i suspect you like me got this notice that your site was inactive and then paid for another year! Although i don't get to xanga as much as previously, there is something different about blogging than facebook and yes Michel is a great help.

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