We are two weeks away from closing on our second house. We’ve talked about moving closer to Bradley’s work for a long time, and this house sort of came up on us out of nowhere. It will cut the distance in half for him, but as for time a great deal more than half because of traffic. The house is in Marietta, east of I75. When I first saw the listing, I sent it to Bradley with the question: ‘What’s wrong with this house?’ It has over 3 acres of land and is a four-sided brick home with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. The price seemed really low for so much land.
Turns out that the property backs up to Sope Creek, so the back acre is in a 100-year floodplain. We put in an offer right before Christmas, not really expecting the owners to come down to the price we felt like would make us comfortable. After a little back-and-forth, they actually hit our mark on price, so we accepted and lined up inspections. There are things in the reports that I would have expected of a 40-year old home – mostly small areas on the roof, as well as owner DIYs that are slightly off-mark, and the electrical panel, which we had already guessed needed to be replaced. Barring any life circumstances that would force us to move, I am looking forward to staying in this house for a long time, so the thought of putting money into the place doesn’t scare me.
Foyer
Formal Living Room
Dining Room
Kitchen
Den (off the kitchen – leads to garage and screened porch)
Bedroom on Main Level (will be an office)
Things that I really love about the new place that our current house is lacking include: brick on all four sides, space between our house and neighboring houses, a basement for storage (as well as a finished room for crafting and sewing), a bedroom on the main level for Bradley’s office, a screened porch, a side-entry garage, and wooden floors (engineered hardwoods) throughout the entire main level. I also love having a designated foyer and a separate den off the kitchen. The house also has some nice architectural details, like pretty wooden windows with handles carved into them, crown moulding in almost every room, and solid wood interior doors that are stained, not painted. I am interested in trying out the central vacuum system – I’ve never used one before. I don’t know how many there are, but this house also includes some switched outlets, which will eliminate some of the bulky remote controlled outlets we currently use.
The things that will need work over time include: the driveway (tree roots have buckled it in several places), fixing or replacing one of the garage door openers, moving the laundry room from the unfinished basement to the main level or upstairs, and renovating and getting a better layout in the master bathroom and the kitchen. We will also need to do a lot of landscaping for better water run-off as well as aesthetics, including removing several trees and a TON of ivy. And of course, there are a handful of rooms that need new paint colors.
Basement Bedroom (will be a craft room, includes a half bath)
Master Bedroom
Spare Bedroom
Spare Bedroom (will be a guest bedroom, across hall from spare bathroom)
What a great home! I can’t wait to see how you decorate, renovate, and make it your own! Congrats!
Do you recall where you got the white and blue bedding in your guest room you painted with dusty miller? I love it!
I looked back at the original pictures I had and the blue bedding came from TJ Maxx in 2009. The brand is Wellesley Manor, but I can’t tell what the pattern is called from the picture. The white duvet cover was a clearance find at Target in 2011. And the blue bed skirt was made from Waverly Tonga curtain panels. Hope this helps!