An architect’s own home

So just how does an architect (me) go about selecting their own home?  The problem lies in the fact that I see opportunity in all, or almost, all of them.  I happened to take a look at three houses in Greenville.  My criteria for my agent, Lynn Skidmore, was pretty simple.  First, a fenced yard with hardwood trees, so the best dog in the universe had a place to run “freely” chasing squirrels.  Second, it should have two bedrooms, one as an office the other obviously for me.  Then I would like to have a screen porch, or the option to add one and a covered parking space would be lagniape.

 

Off we went to look at three houses.  The first was a 60s ranch, a good thing to me, with two bedrooms and two baths.  This one had a good yard and potential to clean up some of the spaces, but I wasn’t sure that I could really make it work.  The location was good, I mean a few blocks from the Taco Casa and just a few blocks from the grocery and Lynn too.  Mind you this was bank owned property and you had to be able to look past the dishes, prom dress and old running shoes left in the closets.

 

So we lined up a local contractor, Kimberly Lawrence, to come meet us at the house one day.  Just in case, we decided to take a quick look at two other houses beforehand.  Turns out we never made it to the others after we looked at the prefect size 50s cottage in Overbrook.  There was room for everything including a nice wide hall for hanging the numerous framed pieces I have stashed in a half dozen closets and under beds now.  In any case, we redirected Kimberly to this house.  There was a lot of work to be done, and it would happen in several phases.  First the kitchen would need to be gutted and completely reconstructed.  Several old windows would need to be repaired or replaced.  The bath rooms weren’t terrible, but would need new toilets, vanities and lighting.  It was a diamond in the very rough, but again in a good location and had lots of potential.  After reviewing the repair estimate and thinking about what I might get back later on if I decided to sell, I couldn’t justify the amount of money it would take.  Though I must say it sort of saddened me, because it really was a sweet house and had nice details.

 

This meant we were on the search again, so I drove around North Main searching for opportunities.  I came across a little 60s non-descript ranch on a dead end street with a very deep lot.  This just seemed like the right spot, so Lynn got me in the next day.  This would be it, the perfect location and ability to really transform the spaces to suit me.  Formerly three bedrooms (now two plus study), one bath, combined living and dining room with opportunities galore.  Move a door, upgrade the kitchen, open up a corner, rebuild the bath, paint, paint and refinish.  My mind wandered every night for a week while it should have been sleeping.  It went through the options, designed the screened room, new bathroom, closet reconfigurations, etc.  Within a week we had an accepted offer and the ball is rolling quickly.

 

Lucky for me Kimberly was willing to take me on even with a limited time frame, tight budget and high expectations.  I think it is only because I know what I want, on most things, that I was able to pull a basic set of drawings with limited notes together in about twelve hours.  She was overjoyed and apparently so were the subs.  It does make it easier to price after all!  At this point closing is set for next week, and construction should start right after Christmas.  With any luck, I’ll be having a St. Patrick’s Day housewarming party.  And with any more luck, I’ll have a chance to upgrade the front yard landscaping a bit as well!