Thursday, August 06, 2009

Feelin Like a Million



Or maybe a million and a half... A childhood friend sent me the news that the house I grew up in is for sale for $1,450,000! It didn't look like a bed and breakfast when I lived there, and as far as my brother and I can remember, there was one bathroom upstairs, one in the attic, and a toilet in the basement. It was brown and white and had a lot of character but didn't have this formal la-dee-da look. My parents bought it for $13,000 and my mother said there were rats in the basement when they moved in, and it had been a boarding house. For awhile we had Hungarian refugees in the attic. I'll never forget seeing catfish swimming in the bathtub up there.

One thing it used to have, that this fancy redo can't replicate, was a wonderful secret staircase that went from the kitchen to the landing on the stairs. Originally intended for unsightly servants, it was wonderful to hide in.

I did see the house in its lavender incarnation a few years ago, and noticed the dog on the porch was wearing a bandana that matched the seat cushions on the porch.

5 comments:

Jane said...

Great memories you must have of this place. Catfish in the tub--love it.

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

I had to look up your older post about your Hungarian upstairs neighbors- including the beautiful painted egg (which the artist didn't bother to drain) and the oddball boy who (probably) snuck inside years later to snatch a piece of artwork.

That's cool that the house had a secret staircase!

Linda Davick said...

The house you grow up in is so much a part of you ...... it must be a great feeling to see the house looking so gorgeous.
(Love the secret staircase--you were one lucky kid.)

stray said...

interesting post!

Sally said...

Namowal, amazing you remembered the other stories. It was a great old house, and it's nice they've taken such good care of it but it's lost its funky character.