Honesty is the best policy! True positives and negatives of this old home.

Whether or not its the Golden Rule, Karma, or whatever you call it, we believe that what goes around, comes around. Here are the nitty-gritty truths about living in our 100+ year old home, and what we absolutely love about it.

The Goods

• The location. We can easily walk to the concerts in the park, the library, downtown shops, the Sheldon, the bluff, the Athletic Field (go Aces!), or one of the 3 parks that are within a few blocks of us. Our 'hood and neighbors (wonderful people who we truly enjoy), are two of the reasons we have not considered moving in the past. 
• Cedar-lined closets - no bugs!
• Front porch where you can see storms roll-in
• Huge fenced-in backyard with lots of flowers
• Walk-in closets
• Bonus room! We use it as an office, but of someone ever had the notion to install French doors, it could be a fourth main-floor bedroom
• Huge eat in kitchen 
• Tons of windows! One of the reasons we loved this house (other than the huge kitchen and yard) was the 15 windows that filled the house with natural light. And most of them stretch almost to the floor - they are beautiful! 
• HUGE storage space in the eve (second floor attic space)
• Beautiful custom cabinets and oak trim throughout the downstairs
• The history - we have heard lot of stories from people who used to live here! We will be sure to pass these along to whoever inherits this beauty. 
• New roof in 2007. New siding in 2007. Newer vinyl windows throughout (no climbing to install the storm windows or screens!). 
• Landscaping completed in 2012 (front and back)
• Beautiful corner lot with mature trees
• New driveway in 2006 
• Two-and-a-half car garage - perfect for a woodshop

The Bads

• This house was build in 1870. For those of you who are counting, that means our home will celebrate its 145th birthday next year! Although this brings lots of great remodeling finds when a project presents itself (old newspapers in the floor! 1927 bottles in the basements! an old can of peas in the wall!) it is not without its disadvantages. The floor is not as plumb as it once was. Although it probably settles over 75 years ago, and is no longer sinking, this did present a problem when we tried to level a large fish tank in our dining room. 
• The wood floors could use a freshen-up.
• There is an old chimney in the wall. Sometimes I forgot and try to hang a picture there. Whoops! Nails do not go through... But I found the invention of those marvelous 3-M picture hangers to be my salvation! They work like a charm.
• The house is old. Things break. Fortunately for the next people, we have already replaced most of the plumbing (all the rest is up to code), the waste stack, and much of the electrical. There isn't much else that is left, to be honest! 
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Why sell this beautiful house?

We love our house. We have poured lots of money, blood, sweat, and tears into our home. We finally have new siding, a new roof, updated appliances, a new front porch, and taken care of all of the major "fixes" that we had on our list when we bought this house in 2004. We love our neighborhood and our neighbors. Our backyard is large and fabulous. So why sell? Well, as our house has evolved over the years, so has our family.

We have decided that having our families close to us is our number one priority. We need a larger house that is able to accommodate two families at once - where our parents who live far away are able to move in with us for long periods of time (say, for three months each summer).  Our house is great for a family of three or four, but a family with four adults and extra children would be a bit of a squeeze. We have also decided to plan for possibly adoption or foster care in the new future, and would like a larger home that has possibilities for expansion.

We love our house, it has history and character - but now we are hoping we can pass it on to a new, loving family who will see it and say "this place is the perfect fit for us!"