Dear Family,
Real work started on our house today. They started tearing down the walls and gutting the inside of the house. It finally seems real!
Mama and I have talked about creating a house for our family for a long time. First it was going to be over here. Then there. And finally this is the house we decided to buy, re-create and add on to. The house was in the neighborhood we wanted. And most importantly we fell in love with the magical back yard.
The one thing I insisted this house have is a big room. I'm sure that goes back to my childhood where we had one big room that we basically lived in. The big room is where the tv, pool table and most hanging out took place.
Looking back I'm not sure how we lived in that small ranch house with two real bedrooms and one bathroom. Yes, there was another bedroom that was really designed to be an office. And yes, when we were teenagers we added a bedroom and bathroom to the basement four brother Kenny. But the basement wasn't really great. And that seemed like so late in life!
Or maybe I should wonder why we need such a big house today? We'll end up with around 2,500 square feet, two bathrooms, lots of potential add on space, a huge back yard and one bedroom!
Yes, we're spending lots of money to build what is really a one bedroom house. There is a modest master bedroom. And then there is another big room that could be split into two bedrooms someday. Our plan is to build mobile beds that can be moved to wherever the kids want to be that night. If they want to sleep close, we'll move the beds close. If they want alone time or time with just mama or just papa, we'll move the beds apart.
The big open kids room also includes space for a small big room. This is intended to be a play area for you boys separate from the big room. We hope our house becomes a gathering place. And we suspect that at times you'll want to escape the adults.
Our new big room is going to be the whole existing house! We're gutting the whole house to make one big room! There will be a kitchen and mud room. Everything else is dedicated to the big room. There will be room for tv, dining room table, fireplace, separate sitting area and who knows what else! I see lots of puzzles put together on the big open floor. Card games at the table. And probably a hockey game or two when mama and papa aren't around!
We also have potential to add two bedrooms or an office upstairs. The budget didn't quite allow that to be put in now. But I'm guessing you boys as teenagers will want to move upstairs. This means mama and I can take over your space as a
I'm excited and nervous about the new house. It's a huge money investment. Up until this point I've lived "below my means" in terms of what I could afford. The past couple of years I've been paying at least two mortgages a month -- or about what I'll be spending once this house is done -- and it hurts! I've sold a couple of rental houses to help pay for this new house. And I'll pay more of the big debt when I sell our current house and perhaps another rental. So basically I've taken whatever I've made from the house renting business and put it into our family house. And we bought the house just before the real estate market collapsed and sold the rental after the collapse. Arg!
The plan is to live here for a long time. My parents bought the house I grew up in a few months before I was born. My dad sold the house only a few years before he died. I knew one house. I knew one big room. I never thought I'd repeat that. But I don't see a way out of this now!
I want you boys to have memories of a happy home.
We're creating a space where we hope you'll be happy and inspired.
