Confession...

[teeny0518]

We are currently under contract with a beautiful brick 1905 Edwardian that I REALLY do love. We have a lot of original features, we will be in a great area, and it will be a great house that we can continue to restore for our family. It has been well taken care of, is clean, and completely functional, just needs a few things that were done, undone.

But I can't help but still dream about my first love, this grand old girl from the late 1800s that is just sitting vacant. It's 6000 sq ft of house complete with original fixtures, fireplaces, mouldings, hardwood, multiple staircases, slate roof (and ok ok a crappy reno kitchen). it needs a lot of work, but is just BEGGING for someone to purchase it who loves old houses and can fix it back up to its former glory. It is so unbelievable cheap for the size, because it is riddled with black mold. It had a bad leak and has been vacant for so long that it just grew into a huge mold problem so no one will touch it.

Not only does it break my heart, it makes me sad that I wont have projects in my new (old) house like this one would have...or that I wont have an attic or cellar to explore for hidden treasures....or that I will likely find any old memorabilia in the walls. Ive moved on....but am I terrible to continue to dream about my first love???

http://search.jjbowman.com/idx/7140/pho ... ID=1290325

[housecrazy sarah]

they say you never really get over your first love... but first loves are not always the best thing in the long run.

Take lots of pictures of the old place to remember it fondly - but move on! Black mold is a can of worms you don't want to open!

I passed on my "dream home" in the mountains about ten years ago and regretted it, but the thing burned to the ground a few years later. So it was probably a good thing that I didn't get into it.

[YinzerMama]

I agree, mold is something to stay away from!

I assure you you will find projects with this new house. Different projects, but there are always projects.

[S Melissa]

Oh heck - I still have dreams about my ex-husband, and believe me honey, he had more difficult problems than a little mold! So, yeah, that first love thing is a real kicker - shows up in dreams, shrouded by rose colored glasses, and no horrors of untold deep seated issues (structural or psychological) that no matter how hard you work, you just can't fix. Dreams are something you can't control, but they are a useful outlet so go ahead and dream, and then live with and enjoy your new old house. Believe me, any house, like any husband no matter how good it seems at time of purchase, can always be improved!

[pqtex]

I can't help but still dream about my first love, this grand old girl from the late 1800s that is just sitting vacant. It's 6000 sq ft of house complete with original fixtures, fireplaces, mouldings, hardwood, multiple staircases, slate roof (and ok ok a crappy reno kitchen). it needs a lot of work, but is just BEGGING for someone to purchase it who loves old houses and can fix it back up to its former glory. It is so unbelievable cheap for the size, because it is riddled with black mold. It had a bad leak and has been vacant for so long that it just grew into a huge mold problem so no one will touch it.

http://search.jjbowman.com/idx/7140/pho ... ID=1290325

I have looked at the photos of the house...it is lovely. Needs work, but it's lovely. How do you tell the difference between Black Mold and less treacherous things (like mildew)? Can it be safely eliminated? Is the cost to remediate it so out of the question that the house will end up being torn down? I'm just curious...

[Texas_Ranger]

I'd be the last person to shy away from a house with a few small mold spots (unless I were afraid the mold had systematic causes, like the mold in bathrooms of most modern uber-insulated European houses) but if this is a real infestation you might want to read this blog as a tale of caution.

http://thesmellyhouse.weebly.com/house- ... -blog.html

[lavender_bush]

you might want to read this blog as a tale of caution.

http://thesmellyhouse.weebly.com/house- ... -blog.html

Hmmm.... Smelly Jen hasn't been around recently or have I just missed her posts

[YinzerMama]

Oh heck - I still have dreams about my ex-husband, and believe me honey, he had more difficult problems than a little mold! So, yeah, that first love thing is a real kicker - shows up in dreams, shrouded by rose colored glasses, and no horrors of untold deep seated issues (structural or psychological) that no matter how hard you work, you just can't fix. Dreams are something you can't control, but they are a useful outlet so go ahead and dream, and then live with and enjoy your new old house. Believe me, any house, like any husband no matter how good it seems at time of purchase, can always be improved!

I am absolutely howling at this response.

So well said.

[eclecticcottage]

I can SO relate. Only our "dream house" that wouldn't stop nagging us was basically un-buyable. Not exactly off the market, but it had several liens from various places that made it impossible to buy. Although that house is the reason we own the Cottage (long and twisted story). And now of all the darnedest things, it is now up for auction and actually available. After FOUR YEARS of us trying to buy it and giving up, and buying the Cottage! It's not all that old (so it's pretty plain jane-although it needs enough work after being abandoned for going on 6-7 years that it seems older in that area), only 20-30 years, but it has acreage and barns I dreamed of a farm for a very long time (like food plots, fruit trees, goats, chickens, maybe a reindeer or two, Christmas trees, lavender, a separate canning kitchen...)...and the Cottage is on only @ 1/2 an acre, plus most of the space is between us and the lake so I can't really do anything major with it without wrecking the views (well, that and zoning laws in regards to livestock, lol)...

I love the Cottage, really, but that one will probably haunt me for EVER, especially because we drive by it regularly.

I wonder what happened to the Smelly House? I read the blog from the link with interest, but then it just stopped. I'm going to decide all went well and she's now happily living in the UNSmelly House.

The house you showed pics of is drool worthy though, I can totally see why it won't let you forget about it.

[teeny0518]

Update:

They dropped the price on the house $50,000!!! Is this a test? lol